News
| Kerkhoff Consulting is a Hidden Champion of the consulting industry |
| Düsseldorf, May 20th 2009 - Kerkhoff Consulting enjoys the highest reputation among German Executive Board members with regard to purchasing and procurement. This is the result of a recent study conducted by Professor Dietmar Fink of the FH Bonn-Rhine-Sieg, specialized on consultancies, and the 'Scientific Society of Management and Consulting’ (Wissenschaftliche Gesellschaft für Management und Beratung; WGMB). |
With this achievement, the consulting firm from Düsseldorf succeeded against well-known international competitors such as McKinsey, the Boston Consulting Group and Roland Berger. "In 1999, we deliberately positioned ourselves in the purchasing niche ", says Professor Dietmar Fink and his team of the 'Deutsche Gesellschaft für Managementforschung" (German Institute for Management Research) commended Kerkhoff Consulting a so called "Hidden Champion" of the consulting market. Ten small and medium-sized consultancies have been awarded this commendation across different disciplines. Kerkhoff Consulting came in first in the field of purchasing based on its high reputation, rated by German Executive Board members with 406 points, which after all is 74 points ahead of Boston Consulting Group, 76 points in front of McKinsey and 89 points ahead of Roland Berger. "I want to thank all of our clients, our cooperation partners as well as other business partners and primarily our employees for this outstanding result", says Kerkhoff. "When I established the company together with my wife and ten additional consultants, I never would have thought that we will one day prevail over McKinsey and the big consulting firms." Gerd Kerkhoff (51) is leading Kerkhoff Consulting GmbH together with his wife Stefanie and his fellow partners Christian Michalak and Dirk Schäfer, with 215 employees and eight branch offices worldwide. Apart from the German headquarters in Düsseldorf, the company runs offices in Vienna, Shanghai, Warsaw, Mumbai, São Paulo, Istanbul and Cape Town. Kerkhoff, who has two daughters, was Managing Director and Partner of the medium-sized coffee roaster company Tempelmann in Dorsten before starting his own business. Tempelmann is one of the leading German coffee roasters for trade brands and supplies the large retail chains. About the methodology of the study: For the third time, Prof. Dr. Dietmar Fink (FH Bonn-Rhine-Sieg) and the Wissenschaftliche Gesellschaft für Management und Beratung (Scientific Society for Management and Consulting) conducted the study focused on the "Hidden Champions of the Consulting Industry" (the last study took place in in 2006). It is not possible to apply for a participation in the study; in fact the companies are being chosen based on an external selection process. Among other things, the selection criteria encompass a client base comparable to those of the big consulting firms as well as a degree of popularity less than 15 per cent among German top managers. Only then, the company can be selected as a "Hidden" champion. Media contact |
company founder and Managing Director Gerd Kerkhoff ". Over the course of the last years, we have been building up a significant expertise which made us the prime partner of choice at the executive board level, if a company is looking for assistance to change the way it does purchasing."