What’s so bad about the billable hour? — from bloomberg.com by Arianne Cohen
John Chisholm says it leads to unethical behavior and runaway costs.
Excerpts:
What would force a change in the model?
The Big Four professional firms [Deloitte, PwC, Ernst & Young, and KPMG] have exponentially increased their legal services over the last few years. While those firms predominantly billed by the hour, their foray into other services such as consulting means they have experimented with other pricing models. One of the Big Four will change its pricing model before any global law firm, and all will follow.
…
How does someone at a firm start a conversation about billing for deliverables that actually mean something to clients?
Try saying, “Recording time is inaccurate and nontransparent, and no one values it. Our clients value projects completed on time, revenue, and new intellectual property.”