Volume Fifteen: Issue Five May 2013

www.consultingmag.com

THE PROFESSIONS BEST SMALLFIRMS AWARDS GALA

+ PLUS

Johan Aurik takes overa firm thats rediscovered itsgroove. Renewed optimism,regained confidence and are-invigorated sense of purposedefines the new A.T. Kearney.

Now, he says,its time tostep it up

even more.

A.T. KearneysEvolutionary Change

TOPCONSULTANTS

2013

5252

MAY13_COV.qxp:c1cmag 5/1/13 9:37 AM Page 1

Excerpted and posted with permission to A.T . Kearney f rom Consult ing magazine, May 2013 Kennedy Information, LLC Expires 5/13/2014

Printed Copy for Personal Use Only. Not for Distribution.

johan aurik

Johan Aurik was elected Managing Partnerand Chairman of the Board of A.T. Kearneylate in 2012. He officially took over the reinsfrom Paul Laudicina in January. Aurik says heis taking over a firm thats in a much betterposition than it was at the beginning of Lau-dicinas term six years ago.

At that time, A.T. Kearney was slumping after morethan a decade under EDS thumb. Following a man-agement buyout, Laudicina took over as the head ofA.T. Kearney and began rebuilding the firm.

Paul has done a fantastic job over the last six yearsof rebuilding A.T. Kearney not quite from scratch but italmost felt that way, Aurik says. In 2006, we were afirm with very little confidence in ourselves and Paul re-turned us to where we are todaya very confident firmthats basically been rebuilt.

Today, A.T. Kearney generates $1 billion annually inrevenue. The firm has grown both its revenue and its net-work by more than a third since 2006, Aurik says. Thefirm now has 60 offices worldwide, 280 Partners andsome 3,000 consultants.

Aurik says its been a very smooth and orderly tran-sition so far. This is an evolutionary change, he says.Paul and I were very much on the same page and we

come at this from very similar positions.During his tenure, Laudicina was very focused

on returning A.T. Kearney to it roots, the very principlesof honesty, integrity and the essential rightness thatwas embraced by the firms founder, Tom Kearney.

I will 100 percent continue in those same footsteps,Aurik says. In fact, when Laudicina took over in 2006,Aurik was the head of the strategy committee so the twodeveloped that strategy together. It was already crystalclear to us both at that time that we needed to return toour roots and the differentiators that have always sepa-rated A.T. Kearney from our competition, he says. Ithink its absolutely essential that we stay on that samepath. Its whats returned confidence to the firm.

Aurik, who has been a partner with A.T. Kearneysince 1997, says the firm is as healthy right now as itsbeen in quite some time.

Were healthy in the sense that we are debt free com-pletely, and that is really important right now, he says.Some of our competitors, especially some of thesmaller and mid-sized ones, have suffered from toomuch debt. Were not in that position at all.

In fact Aurik says its time to step it up and useA.T. Kearneys regained confidence and sound finan-cial footing to accelerate its growth. That was exactly

TOP 5CONSULTANTS2013

2

JOHAN AURIK SAYSA.T. KEARNEYWILL DOUBLE ITSREVENUETO $2BILLIONBY 2020.IN ORDER TO DOTHAT, THE FIRM WILLNEED TO AVERAGEDOUBLE-DIGITGROWTH FOR THENEXT SIX YEARS.

MAY13_TOP25_1013.qxp:Layout 1 5/7/13 1:55 PM Page 12

Excerpted and posted with permission to A.T . Kearney f rom Consult ing magazine, May 2013 Kennedy Information, LLC Expires 5/13/2014

Printed Copy for Personal Use Only. Not for Distribution.

EXCELLENCE IN LEADERSHIP

TOP 5CONSULTANTS2013

2

the platform on which I ran and was elected to lead lastsummer, he says.

Aurik has said A.T. Kearney will double its revenueto $2 billion annuallyby the end of the decade. Inorder to do that, the firm would need to average double-digit growth for the next six years.

To achieve that goal, Aurik says A.T. Kearney willredouble its efforts in North America, initially. A NorthAmerica rebound is coming, he says. It is, handsdown, the No. 1 consulting market in the world and wethink there will be significant growth in the sector, par-ticularly in Financial Services, Banking and Energy.

The emerging markets, of course, will also be key,Aurik says. China, India, Latin America and dont un-derestimate Africa, he says.

Another reason Aurik is so bullish is because the

firms regained confidence gives A.T. Kearney a leg upin the ever-present talent war. Weve rebuilt our em-ployee satisfaction levels, and its as high as its everbeen, he says. Quite a change from where it was in2006, he says.

Aurik says he is a firm believer that consultanciesparticularly at the high end of strategycompete onculture. Everyone has smart people and everyone hasa global network, he says. Ultimately, it comes downto how you can use your culture to attract and keep thebest people and achieve high-impact result for clients.Culture is a key strategic driver for us.

Aurik says he hears that all the time from clients.We are so collaborative and clients love that about us,he says. They always tell us were different becausewe work with them, not for them.

MAY13_TOP25_1013.qxp:Layout 1 5/1/13 11:27 AM Page 13

Excerpted and posted with permission to A.T . Kearney f rom Consult ing magazine, May 2013 Kennedy Information, LLC24 Rai l road St reet , Keene, NH 03431-3744 USA Te l : 800-531-0007 or +1-603-357-8100 Fax : +1-603-357-8113

Emai l : consu l t ingmag@kennedy in fo .com Web: www.Consu l t ingmag.com Expires 5/13/2014

Printed Copy for Personal Use Only. Not for Distribution.