Third-party tango: how to kick the keiretsu habit and hone in on value; the use of third-party organizations to support a company's non-core capacities is on the rise--and here's how to do it right.(Feature) From: Japan Inc. | Date: March 1, 2004| Author: Presley, Peter | COPYRIGHT 2004 Japan Inc. Communications. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan.  All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group.Copyright information

THE CLOCK STRUCK 9:30 A.M. It was time for another project huddle--except this time the huddle involved approximately 300 people, 85 of whom were consultants. I was unsure what disturbed me more--the consulting firm's judgment to bring such a large number of people together, or the client's failure to understand that this working environment was not going to be productive.

Average consultant billing rates of [yen]25,000 per hour would be multiplied by 85 consultants for ...