McKinsey's biggest sin isn't valuing profit, it's pretending not to

It claims to create "positive, enduring change in the world", saying that "high ethical standards" are at its core as a "values-driven organisation". Yet, as Bogdanich and Forsythe lay out with clinical detail, McKinsey's usually "secret" work often values profit and nothing more. "The firm", as it is known in corporate circles, worked for state-owned Chinese companies providing economic and military support for Xi Jinping, for example, and Russian companies under sanctions designed to punish Vladimir Putin for seizing Crimea. Purdue Pharma was another client, and its work for that Oxycontin developer included sales programs that promised to "turbocharge" sales…