Management Consulting

50 Things That Made the Modern Economy

BBC

Business

4.8 • 2.6K Ratings

🗓️ 16 September 2017

⏱️ 11 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Managers often have a bad reputation. What should we make of the people who tell managers how to manage? That question has often been raised over the years, with a sceptical tone. The management consultancy industry battles a stereotype of charging exhorbitant fees for advice that, on close inspection, turns out to be either meaningless or common sense. Managers who bring in consultants are often accused of being blinded by jargon, implicitly admitting their own incompetence, or seeking someone else to blame for unpopular decisions. Still, it’s lucrative. Globally, consulting firms charge their clients a total of about $125bn. Voting for the 51st Thing has now closed. The winning “thing” will be revealed on Saturday 28 October 2017. Producer: Ben Crighton Editors: Richard Knight and Richard Vadon (Image: Business team present, Credit: Shutterstock)

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, welcome to the podcast.
0:01.9	Management consulting is coming right up.
0:04.4	But first, I wanted to let you know that if you're listening to this in September or early October 2017,
0:10.8	you can now vote on a 51st thing that made the modern economy.
0:15.4	Details coming up at the end.
0:24.8	50 things that made the modern economy.
0:27.7	With Tim Harford.
0:30.9	The Place.
0:34.3	A textile plant near Mumbai, India.
0:37.5	The time.
0:38.8	2008.
0:40.5	The scene.
0:43.6	Chaos.
0:45.1	Rubbish is piled up outside the building.
0:48.3	And there's almost as much inside for that matter.
0:50.9	There are piles of flammable junk and uncovered containers of chemicals.
0:55.5	The yarn that the factory produces is scarcely neater.
0:59.5	It is at least bundled up and protected in white plastic bags,
1:03.2	but those bags are scattered around the plant in unmarked piles.
1:07.9	Such shambolic conditions are typical in the Indian textile industry,
1:12.1	and that presents an opportunity.
1:15.2	A team of researchers from Stanford University and the World Bank
	...

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