Case 9.1 Boomer Consulting 1. How does the Boomer Technology Circle illustrate the concept of the bidirectional service supply relationship? 2. How has Boomer Consulting, Inc., made the client a coproducer in the service delivery process?

3. How is the concept of leverage achieved by Boomer Consulting? 4. Can the Boomer Technology Circles be applied to other industries? What are some of the risks in pursuing this strategy?

Boomer Consulting, Inc. 17 CASE 9.1 Boomer Consulting, Inc. (BCl), began as a division of the small are spread throughout the United States, United Kingdom, regional CPA firm of Varney \& Associates. The division was Australia, Canada, and India. Clients typically call on BCI for headed by a single partner, L. Gary Boomer. In 1995, as the a number of services ranging from traditional one-on-one division's revenues grew, the firm separated the consulting engagements to membership in the Boomer Technology and accounting practice, creating a wholly owned subsidiary, Circles. The wide range of services makes BCl an integral part which was headed by Boomer and named Boomer Consulting. of many firms' strategic planning processes and positions BCI In 1997, Boomer bought out his partnership agreement and as as a coach to many in the industry. CEO transformed BCl into an entrepreneurial company. In the early days of BCl, a Sunday afternoon flight out of L. Gary Boomer is recognized in the accounting profession Kansas City to New York was the norm for Boomer. Clients as the leading authority on technology and firm management. were dispersed primarily throughout the United States and Since 1995, he has been named by Accounting Today as one Canada and he might be in New York on Monday and Tuesday, of the 100 most influential people in accounting. He consults San Diego on Wednesday, Jackson, Mississippi, on Thursday, and speaks internationally on management and technology- and back home late Friday night. This schedule was necessary related topics such as strategic and technology planning, to allow one-on-one consulting with clients at their office locacompensation, and developing a training/learning culture. tions, the method of delivery for consulting services in those He acts as a planning facilitator, provides coaching, and serves days. This was a tiring schedule for one person to maintain on many advisory boards. so Boomer contemplated ways to reduce the level of travel. Realizing that many of his clients, especially those of similar THE ACCOUNTING INDUSTRY size, had shared issues, he looked for a way to stand ind inderdize the "The Big Eight" and "all others." Owing to industry consolida- delivery of his knowledge and experience. tion and major scandals (most notably the Arthur Andersen BCl's services then evolved from one-on-one client-specific and Enron events), the industry morphed into "The Big Four" projects to a more standardized set of services. Today, these and "all others." The recent scandals also resulted in increased offerings are encapsulated in a five-phase process-oriented regulation (e.g., Sarbanes-Oxley) and concern about litigation. solution called The Technology Leadership Process shown in These issues affected both the cost of doing business with Figure 9.6. a big four accounting firm and the workload required of the BOOMER TECHNOLOGY CIRCLES-A employees of those firms. As a result both clients and employees are moving to smaller national and regional firms (i.e., "all SERVICE INNOVATION others"). In an effort both to reduce travel and standardize the process, The scandals also increased the industry's focus on ethics Boomer developed a unique service offering that transformed and management issues. Major issues in the industry include the BCl business model. Instead of traveling constantly to the increasing corporate governance as firms shift from a part- client site for one- or two-day projects, he created the Boomer nership model to more of a corporate-management structure, Technology Circles (Circle) where the clients come to BCl. document management and records retention, succession The Boomer Technology Circles were built on the concept planning, offshoring tax-return preparation, strategic planning, of "roundtables," where clients share common concerns and and general management topics such as human resources and solutions. The circles are held at a hotel in Kansas City, Miscompensation. The industry also is notorious for being late souri, which provides a centralized location for the geographiadopters in terms of technology that stimulates considerable cally dispersed client base. Circle members are placed into interest among clients in both hardware and software. one of ten different circles, and each circle meets three times BCI per year for a one and one-half day conference. Each circle Boomer Consulting. consists of two employees from about 15-20 firms that are of similar size, increasing the probability of having common tize and geography. Clients include firms issues and concerns. BCl avoids placing clients who are direct firms with just a handful of employees. Geographically, clients all parties agree. Chapter 9 Service Supply Relationships 271 EinIIDE a= The Circle meetings are designed to meet a number of BCl employees play the role of facilitators during the conobjectives, such as issues that Boomer regards as "hot top- ference, only presenting information to clients for two out of ics" in the accounting industry, information sharing among the twelve hours of meeting time. This practice helps to keep clients through breakout sessions and participant-led presen- clients abreast of the major issues facing the accounting industations, accountability through the 90-day game plan, progress try today and provides BCl employees with some "face time" reports, and planning future meetings. during the meetings. The focal point of the meetings is information sharing Accountability is achieved by using a 90-day game plan among the Circle members. During the breakout sessions and and progress reports. At the end of each meeting, each member-led presentations, members share the most pressing participant fills out a 90 -day game plan form that includes issues in their firms and the solutions they are pursuing. Break- short-term goals during the next three months. These plans out sessions have only five-to-seven participants and provide are shared among participants in the breakout sessions. an intimate setting for knowledge transfer. The member-led At the beginning of the subsequent meeting, each participant presentations are assigned to members at the previous meet- also fills out a progress report that lets the members reflect ing and cover industry topics agreed upon by the members. on those goals that have been accomplished and those that require additional work. The progress reports also are shared clients with an opportunity to have one-on-one discussions among participants during the breakout sessions. This pro- with Boomer Consulting employees. cess creates accountability for goals and adds an element of Special care also is taken to ensure that all elements of the peer pressure. Circles promote an image of prestige and exclusivity. Meet- Finally, the Circles also involve the members in the ings are held at The Fairmont Kansas City at the Plaza, one of planning process for the next meeting. BCl facilitates the the finest hotels in Kansas City, and most members also stay suggestions and ultimate decisions for the next meeting's at the hotel. Exclusivity is achieved by giving Circle members agenda, but the ideas and decisions ultimately are provided access to a special section of the Boomer website www.boomer. by the Circle's members. This process also helps to ensure that com and to a variety of tools not available to non-Circle clients. content is fresh and relevant because it comes straight from the members who work directly in the industry. Questions 1. How does the Boomer Technology Circle illustrate the RELATIONSHIPS AND IMAGE concept of the bidirectional service supply relationship? BCl develops long-term relationships with its clients by posi- 2. How has Boomer Consulting, Inc., made the client a coprotioning itself as a coach to accounting firms and assuring that ducer in the service delivery process? the content of the Circle meetings is timely and relevant. Social 3. How is the concept of "leverage" achieved by Boomer events are built into each meeting to strengthen relationships: Consulting? Breakfast is served each day before the meetings begin, and 4. Can the Boomer Technology Circles be applied to other an optional cocktail hour and dinner provide two additional industries? What are some of the risks in pursuing this opportunities for members to interact. These activities provide strategy