Business Consultancy

Ernst & Young’s breakup plan is in jeopardy and the accounting firm’s leaders are trying to salvage the deal by placating restive U.S. partners without pushing its overseas executives too far, people familiar with the matter said.The Big Four accounting firm has suffered a series of delays in its plan to split its global auditing and consulting businesses. Now, top executives are considering several backup options, including selling off just the non-U. S. consulting operation, likely to a private-equity buyer, the…

Since at least 2009, McKinsey & Co. has been a consultant to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the federal agency that oversees healthcare for millions of retired military service members. During part of that time, the consulting giant also advised some of the world’s biggest opioid producers to target the agency for sales of their products, according to newly released documents. The firm advised opioid companies including Purdue Pharma LP and Endo International PLC on how to increase sales…

Silicon Valley Bank’s failure boils down to a simple misstep: It grew too fast using borrowed short-term money from depositors who could ask to be repaid at any time, and invested it in long-term assets that it was unable, or unwilling, to sell.When interest rates rose quickly, it was saddled with losses that ultimately forced it to try to raise fresh capital, spooking depositors who yanked their funds in two days. The question following the bank’s takeover Friday: How could regulators have allowed it to grow so quickly…

Does your company network or a frequently visited website force you to come up with a new password because it has declared your old one is past its expiration date?If you find that annoying, you’re not alone. What’s worse: It’s actually bad for cybersecurity, say researchers. The scheduled-replacement policy is one of a number of poor or ineffective password practices that make logging into sites, apps and services more complicated and annoying than ever. We’re not just talking about issues with government and…

Demand for U.S. workers shows signs of slowing, a long-anticipated development that is showing up in private-sector job postings even while official government reports indicate the labor market keeps running hot. ZipRecruiter Inc. and Recruit Holdings Co. , two large online recruiting companies, say their data show the number of job postings is declining more than Labor Department reports of job openings. Investors recently hammered shares of those companies…

LONDON—Europe’s defense contractors are boosting orders and enjoying surging stock market valuations, lifted by higher government spending and the expectation of more sales to come as the Ukraine war grinds on. BAE Systems BAESY -0.88% PLC, Europe’s largest defense contractor, was the latest in a parade of big arms makers to post a large jump in annual orders for 2022. It joined peers such as Sweden’s Saab AB and Norway’s…

McKinsey & Co. plans to eliminate thousands of positions, adding the consulting giant to a wave of companies that are cutting corporate jobs. The firm, which is known for helping companies streamline their operations, could shed as many as 2,000 jobs in what would be one of its biggest headcount reductions to date, according to a person familiar with the matter.  McKinsey & Co. plans to eliminate thousands of positions, adding the consulting giant to a wave of companies that are…

Andrew Florance, who has built CoStar Group Inc. CSGP 1.73% into the world’s largest commercial-property and rental-apartment online marketplace, now has the single-family home market in his sights, with a potential deal for the parent of Realtor.com.  CoStar is in talks to purchase Move Inc. from News Corp, NWSA 0.39% News Corp confirmed earlier this week. If CoStar succeeds, the deal…

Egg prices are hitting records, driven by an avian-influenza outbreak that has killed tens of millions of chickens and turkeys this year across nearly all 50 states.Wholesale prices of Midwest large eggs hit a record $5.36 a dozen in December, according to the research firm Urner Barry. Retail egg prices have increased more than any other supermarket item so far this year, climbing more than 30% from January to early December compared with the same period a year earlier, and outpacing overall food and beverage prices,…

Big-company CEOs are worrying more about the global economy than either professional investors or their counterparts at midsize companies, a new survey suggests.At least two-thirds of CEOs of the biggest companies surveyed said they expected the next six months to bring worsening customer demand, industry conditions, access to capital, and domestic and global growth, the survey from CEO advisory firm Teneo Holdings LLC found. By contrast, among both midsize company CEOs and large investors, two-thirds or more expect…