McKinsey's client-server project encounters common setbacks

The most important resources for an international consulting company such as McKinsey & Co., are its people. Accordingly, McKinsey set out to develop PeopleNet, a companywide human resources information to keep track of staffing assignments and related information about the firm's employees. During the project McKinsey encountered many of the common setbacks consultants often help their clients with. As a first foray into client-server computing, the project was a departure from the company's previous focus on mainframes and PCs, and some of the people in the IS group never agreed with the technical approach. The expected infrastructure based on a $20 million telecommunications project was not available because that project was later judged too expensive. Consequently the PeopleNet project had to bear the unexpected burden of building infrastructure incrementally.

McKinsey's highly independent branch offices worried that a uniform set of guidelines would reduce their traditional local control over staffing. After many meetings, control of the part of PeopleNet related to tracking staff assignments was given to local offices, which agreed to share with headquarters only a limited amount of personnel data, such as languages spoken, skills, and experience. There were also problems with data discrepancies between the Scandinavian offices and headquarters in New York, resulting in a massive cleanup. Originally seen as a 12 month, $4.9 million project, the revised projections were that it would run 30 months, cost $12 million, and produce a system somewhat different from the one originally envisaged

Questions:

1. Use the WCA framework to organize your understanding of this case and to identify important topics that are not mentioned.

2. Explain why you do or do not believe the problems encountered were related to the system's use of a client-server architecture.

3. Explain why you do or do not believe the outcome was optimal from the viewpoint of McKinsey as a complete enterprise.

Source: Caldwell, Bruce. "Consultant, Heal Thyself." Information Week, June 21, 1993, pp. 12-13.

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