Stephen A. Biciocchi, Associated Consultant Friday, 06 March 2009 16:57 Steve Biciocchi, Founder, C3 ConsultingMr. Biciocchi is a founding Partner in C3 Consulting, which focuses on developing consumer centric solutions in Supply Chain and IT for Retail and Consumer Goods firms.Prior to C3, Steve has been providing thought leadership, senior client relationships and hands-on direction of major projects in business and supply chain strategy, customer service, business process redesign and technology as Managing Director of CSC’s US Retail and Consumer Goods industry practice.Major clients have included Chevron, Kmart, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co, McDonald's, Michaels Stores, Randall’s Food Markets and SYSCO.Before beginning his consulting career 20 Read more...   Obama at the Augean Stables Tuesday, 24 March 2009 13:27 Maureen Dowd, The New York TimesWe missed Maureen Dowd's columns throughout her December hiatus. She returned this week with fresh themes for a new administration: the novelty of "hot nerds" in the Cabinet and the looming internal conflict between fiscal stimulus and deficit control. Most intriguingly, she compares Obama's challenge of managing the Clintons to the Fifth Labor of Hercules, cleaning the Augean Stables.Dowd writes as sparingly as a poet, asking the reader to complete her inferences. Wikipedia tells us this about the Augean stables:The fifth of the Twelve Labors set to Hercules was to clean the Augean stables in a single day. The reasoning behind this being set as a labor was Read more...   Jon Stewart: All Kidding Aside Tuesday, 24 March 2009 13:29 Jon Stewart (right) and Jim Cramer, The Daily Show, March 12, 2009Fight of the Century. Comedy Central vs. CNBC. In one corner, Jon Stewart, court jester extraordinaire and master of "fake news;" in the other, Jim Cramer of the adolescent voice, purveyor of fake investment advice.Stewart takes off his comedy gloves and delivers a series of left jabs as Cramer retreats to the ropes, murmuring apologies. Stewart pulls him to his feet and delivers a hay-maker, forcing Cramer to view a clip of himself explaining to an interviewer some of the tricks he had used to deceive investors back in his trading days. Bewildered, Cramer staggers from the set. Stewart never cracks a smile. The Read more...   General Motors Surrenders Wednesday, 01 April 2009 03:35 Steven Rattner (left) and Ron Bloom (right) - Time MagazineThere is an element of politics whenever a chief executive departs, just as there must be in the timing of Rick Wagoner's departure from General Motors. In this case the White House has made quite clear its rationale in strict legal language. This week findings of the Presidential Task Force on the Auto Industry were posted on the White House website, including "Determination of Viability Summary: General Motors Corporation," which states:The Loan and Security Agreement of December 31, 2008 between the General Motors Corporation and the United States Department of the Treasury ("LSA") laid out conditions that needed to be met by Read more...   Websites of Clients Sunday, 05 October 2008 20:09 JP Farrell has provided paid consulting services to the following corporations:Allison Engine CompanyAnheuser-Busch, Inc.Applebee'sBank of AmericaBanta CorporationBarillaBasic American FoodsBell CanadaBlueCross BlueShield of VermontBristol-Myers SquibbCaterpillar Inc.Ciba-GeigyColgate-Palmolive CompanyEDSEli Lilly and CompanyElmers Products, Inc.Exxon Mobil CorporationFedEx CorporationGlobal Cola CompanyHarris-Moran Seed Co.Kellogg CompanyLeading Wine LabelManaged Care ProviderMcDonald's CorporationNaya, Inc.Pactiv CorporationParmalatParty CityPillsburyQuaker OatsSearsSoftdrink BottlerSoftsoapSouthern Wine & SpiritsStarbucks Coffee CompanySUPERVALU Inc.Target CorporationWMSWyethYUM! Read more...   Our Veterans, Our Heroes Need Our Help Thursday, 23 October 2008 17:32 Our Veterans, Our Heroes Dog Tag NecklaceSome of the most creative producers in the music industry have launched a foundation to help the veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces and their families with the medical, emotional and financial problems they face.You will be hearing a lot in the coming months about the concerts the foundation will be sponsoring in 2009, but you can help now. The foundation is offering an attractive collection of gift items, including dog tag jewelry, watches, and pins, just in time for holiday giving.Of course, direct contributions to the foundation are also welcome. Please visit them at www.OurVeteransOurHeroes.com.Introducing Our Veterans, Our Heroes©2009 by JP Read more...   The Case against the Paulson Plan Sunday, 26 October 2008 16:47 Professor Robert Shimer, University of ChicagoIn a letter to Greg Mankiw, Professor of Economics at Harvard, Professor Robert Shimer of the University of Chicago shines a bright light on the $700 billion financial system bailout proposed by Henry Paulson. His prescription, that financial institutions be forced to raise capital in the market to increase their liquidity, would put the onus on the institutions themselves, and not the taxpayers, to solve their crisis. Participation would need to be coerced because no individual institution has the incentive to do so acting alone, fearing that such a unilateral move would signal desperation.Greg Mankiw's Blog: The Case against the Paulson Read more...   Glossary of Terms Used on the Site Sunday, 23 November 2008 17:49 Search this page for definitions of terms and jargon used on A Management Consultant @ Large:Business Model - a conceptual description of a company's purpose, offerings, strategies, infrastructure, organizational structures, trading practices and operational processes and policiesCAD - Computer-Aided Design, usually referring to graphical design, but also including concept development and image managementCAE - Computer-aided engineering is the use of information technology for supporting engineers in tasks such as analysis, simulation, design, manufacture, planning and simulation, diagnosis and repairCAM - Computer-Aided Manufacturing, software tools that assist engineers and machinists in Read more...   The US Economy and the Bailout Monday, 15 December 2008 06:44 See these posts from our blog, A Management Consultant @ Large, for our perspective on the Political Economy and the issues confronting economic policy makers the U.S.Paul Volcker's Harsh Economic Medicine reviews Volcker's stand against inflation in the early 1980's as Chairman of the US Federal Reserve Credit Default Swaps: Recent Stories from NPR provides further explanation of the role of credit default swaps (CDS) in destabilizing the world economy. The post links to stories from National Public Radio about CDS.Financial Crisis: Stepping Back from the Precipice comments on the latest U,S. Treasury plan to directly invest in U.S. banks. The article reviews commentary by economists on Read more...   McDonald's: Relevant Retailer for a Down Economy Saturday, 17 January 2009 22:42 McDonald's restaurant, circa 1960The lead business story in this Sunday's New York Times on the continuing success of McDonald's Corporation sounds a number of themes that readers of this column will find familiar.The chain has broadened its merchandising appeal beyond kids and young parents just as management's renewed focus on value, quality, service, and cleanliness has taken hold.Minor adjustments in the menu in the form of fresher food, better coffee and more savory seasonings (including a return to the Big Mac sauce in use when CEO Jim Skinner and I worked on McDonald's crews in 1971) appeal to the tastes of an aging population. Reformatted restaurants feature more comfortable Read more...   Responses from Readers: Auto Industry Bailout Saturday, 17 January 2009 22:54 Chevy SuburbanLast week we posed a simple question to readers of some of the new discussion boards on LinkedIn:Do you think funds from TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program) should be used to help the U.S. automotive industry? How about other troubled industries, like retail?Readers from the Strategic Business and Competitive Intelligence board had the least sympathy for the industry. Eric Garland's first post favored the market-oriented approach:If we really believe business is about innovation, then having businesses "too big to fail" is likely incompatible with future success. Plus, as a U.S. taxpayer, this is starting to get maddeningly expensive. Break them up, or let them fail.Jorge Read more...   Financial Crisis: Stepping Back from the Precipice Saturday, 17 January 2009 23:07 Tarpeian Rock, RomeEconomists, bloggers and amateur historians will read with interest the rich exchange of ideas on the Paulson bailout plan instigated by Christopher Carroll, the economist from Johns Hopkins University, on the Economists' Forum blog of the Financial Times, TARP and the Ruin of Pompeii: An Analogy.Professor Carroll poses a simple model of a financial system in crisis that results when an under-capitalized bank holding mortgages of the citizens of Pompeii learns that its balance sheet has been compromised by an unforeseen event, the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Writing during the critical days immediately following passage of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of Read more...

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