03569nam a2200313 i 4500 OSt 20260115122354.0 221003t20242023xxkd grb 001 0 eng d 9781802060263 RM 72.00 paperback PPAK eng PPAK rda 23 658.46 658.46 MAZ G Mazzucato, Mariana, 1968- author. THE BIG CON : How the Consulting Industry Weakens our Businesses, Infantilizes our Governments and Warps our Economies / Mariana Mazzucato , Rosie Collington [UK] : Penguin Books, 2024 ©2023 xvii, 343 pages : charts ; 20 cm text rdacontent unmediated rdamedia volume rdacarrier Includes bibliographical references and index. Introduction: The Big Con: A Confidence Trick -- What is the Consulting Industry? -- Where Consulting Came From: A Brief History -- The Outsourcing Turn: Government by Consultancy and the Third Way -- The Big Confidence Trick: Consultology and Economic Rents -- Evading the Risks, Reaping the Rewards: The Business Model -- Infantilizing Organizations: When Learning Is Undermined Across Government and Business -- Colliding Interests: Consultancies and Democracy -- Climate Consulting: An Existential Threat? -- Conclusion: A Government That Rows So It Can Steer... "A vital and timely investigation into the opaque and powerful consulting industry--and what to do about it There is an entrenched relationship between the consulting industry and the way business and government are managed today that must change. Mariana Mazzucato and Rosie Collington show that our economies' reliance on companies such as McKinsey & Company, Boston Consulting Group, Bain & Company, PwC, Deloitte, KPMG, and EY stunts innovation, obfuscates corporate and political accountability, and impedes our collective mission of halting climate breakdown. The "Big Con" describes the confidence trick the consulting industry performs in contracts with hollowed-out and risk-averse governments and shareholder value-maximizing firms. It grew from the 1980s and 1990s in the wake of reforms by the neoliberal right and Third Way progressives, and it thrives on the ills of modern capitalism, from financialization and privatization to the climate crisis. It is possible because of the unique power that big consultancies wield through extensive contracts and networks--as advisors, legitimators, and outsourcers--and the illusion that they are objective sources of expertise and capacity. In the end, the Big Con weakens our businesses, infantilizes our governments, and warps our economies. In The Big Con, Mazzucato and Collington throw back the curtain on the consulting industry. They dive deep into important case studies of consultants taking the reins with disastrous results, such as the debacle of the roll out of HealthCare.gov and the tragic failures of governments to respond adequately to the COVID-19 pandemic. The result is an important and exhilarating intellectual journey into the modern economy's beating heart. With peerless scholarship, and a wealth of original research, Mazzucato and Collington argue brilliantly for building a new system in which public and private sectors work innovatively for the common good" Consulting firms Business consultants Consultants Collington, Rosie, author. ddc B 202746 202746 0 0 PPAK G 2026-01-21 0 658.46 MAZ A01900636 2026-01-21 14:20:10 B 0 0 SP G 2026-01-21 3 658.46 MAZ A01900637 2026-07-04 2026-06-13 13:12:08 2026-06-13 B 0 0 JT G 2026-01-21 0 658.46 MAZ A01900638 2026-01-21 14:20:10 B 0 0 LW G 2026-01-21 0 658.46 MAZ A01900639 2026-01-21 14:20:10 B 0 0 KM G 2026-01-21 0 658.46 MAZ A01900640 2026-01-21 14:20:10 B