A clouded outlook
Time 8/2/2010
by Michael Schuman
Part of Japan's economic problem can be associated to outdated boardroom practices. Work-your-way-up-the-ladder promotion systems and consensus-based decision making have made managers risk-averse and opposed to outside influences. "Japan's consensus-based management becomes counterproductive in certain situations, when they use it as an excuse to not make tough decisions," Jean-Philippe Biragnet, a partner at Bain & Company Tokyo, says. "What needs to be done is not rocket science. You need leaders who will be bold enough to make certain decisions."
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July 2010

How to give it: Jenny Davis-Peccoud
Financial Times 7/31/2010
by Angus Watson
This is an interview with Jenny Davis-Peccoud, 39, who is a senior director of management consultants Bain & Company's global organization practice. She is head of the firm's Bain Cares network, which links and bolsters charitable work across the firm's worldwide offices.
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Lessons from the end of the Charles River deal
The New York Times 7/30/2010
by Steven M. Davidoff
Shareholders and market analysts unsurprisingly prefer chief executives to focus on building and maintaining their businesses rather than undertaking risky -- and possibly wealth-destroying -- deals. This is sometimes called the "Bain Problem," after a well-known study by Bain & Company that concluded that most mergers destroy value and ultimately mean losses for the buyers, particularly those who lack execution discipline (and do not hire strategic consultants like Bain & Co. for assistance).
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PE firms now look for pros within
The Economic Times 7/27/2010
by Mahima Puri & Paramita Chatterjee
Between 2004 and 2008, PE and VC firms invested nearly $43 billion in India and have funded around 1,400 companies, as per consulting firm Bain & Company. The rapid growth in such a short span of time led to a dearth of trained professionals in the senior level said a CEO of a PE firm who asked not to be named.
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Universities can save millions by cutting administrative waste, panelists say
The Chronicle 7/25/2010
by Josh Keller
Bain & Company's high-profile contracts­ - with Cornell University, the University of California at Berkeley, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill - to identify and reduce wasteful and inefficient practices in administrative areas has attracted considerable attention over recent years as colleges try to weather deep budget problems. All three campus officials said their efforts with Bain & Co. were paying off, especially in the area of procurement, and were saving millions.
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