James O. McKinsey was an Accountant.

TylerT

Yeah, and Marvin Bower started out as a lawyer turned "Management Engineer" whose vision was to create a "Management Engineering Firm" that had the same values that made great law firms successful.

Honestly, there are some incredible consultants who have the CPA / CA designation. I'm with Big 4, and the best Turnaround Consultant I know (drop in CFO into bankrupt companies) is a CA, and it is part of his strength. He knows Operations and Strategy, but in desperate times a lot of companies need someone who knows how to maximize cash flow and controls. The last project he was on he took a Hospital that was out of credit, and had 2 weeks operating cash and left it with $24 million in the bank at the end of 3 months because of that relenteless focus on driving out expenses (renegotiations, controls on expenditures, and his ability to put together clear financial reports of where the company was). Impressive guy.

TT

I don't see how anyone could call themselves a management consultant without knowing accounting really well, including it's limitations. It is the language of business and if I hired someone to consult me and it was clear they lacked this basic knowledge I would quickly show them the door. Something like building a quick useable cost accounting model, pro forma if you will, showing the cash breakeven per week, month, etc. and understanding where the numbers come from is good skill to have.

Let's be honest, and this comes from many management consultants I have studied, implementation is the most critical aspect. I recall reading in Gerstner's book how determining what strategy to follow isn't all that difficult these days, it is getting an organization headed down the proper path executing and implementing the strategy that is difficult. John Malone (former McKinsey) has said similar in a round about way.

Your guy sounds very impressive. I met a similarly talented person who previously worked for Arthur Anderson, accounting and economics degree. I believe he may have been a CPA / CA as well. He specializes in doing turnarounds as you describe for a PE firm.