"Consultant" Loai Deeb consulted other consultants' websites

UAE's cut-and-paste consulting firm

Plagiarism raises questions about Deeb's company
 
Deeb Consulting FZF is a company based in the tax-free zone of Ras al-Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates. Its sole proprietor is Loai Deeb who formerly ran a fake university from his home in Norway and is currently president of GNRD, a human rights organisation which Norwegian police are investigating on suspicion of money-laundering.

Deeb Consulting used to be the first of five companies listed by GNRD as its sponsors, though their names were removed shortly after news of the police investigation became public. According to Norwegian media, Deeb Consulting provided funds to GNRD and the relationship between the two forms a central part of the money-laundering investigation.

Given Deeb's history with his bogus "Scandinavian University", it's probably not unreasonable to ask whether Deeb Consulting is a real business and whether it actually knows anything about consulting.

A look at its website suggests, at the very least, that Deeb Consulting has a severe lack of original ideas. A section describing the services on offer begins:

"Unstable market conditions can be rather frustrating. Deeb Consulting FZF works with heads of the companies and their management teams to address growth challenges as opportunities, including guidance for Market Expansion strategy, product Diversification strategy and New Product Strategy development requirements or launches – all critical components to your business growth strategy."

This is remarkably similar to a paragraph on the website of another consulting firm, Chief Outsiders, based in Houston, Texas:

"Slow growth or a declining market can be quite frustrating. Chief Outsiders works with CEOs and their management teams to address growth challenges as opportunities, including brand strategy consulting, planning and operational guidance for a new market expansion strategy, new product development requirements or launch planning, as well as product diversification strategies — all critical components to your business growth strategy."

Deeb Consulting continues:

"One of the main challenge[s] of the promotional investment is the calculation of its effectiveness. Thus, we work hard to provide our clients with it. We offer visibility into the Return on Marketing Investment, and work on Brand Strategy and Pricing Complexity. We make our clients address potential Channel Conflict in their routes to market. By tapping market insights to increase relevance while assuring the most effective plans for execution, their promotional activities will result is a greater level of precision, and as a result greater efficiency."

And Chief Outsiders continues:

"Perhaps the most urgent requests we receive from CEOs relate to the effectiveness of their promotional investment as they implement their go-to-market strategy. They often lack reasonable visibility into the return on marketing investment. Or even before going to market, they may face challenges including poor brand strategy, pricing complexity or have not addressed potential channel conflict in their routes to market. By tapping market insights to increase relevance while assuring the most effective plans for execution, their promotional activities will result is a greater level of precision, and as a result greater efficiency."

Note the last sentence in these two paragraphs. The mistake, "will result is", instead of "will result in", occurs in both Chief Outsiders' version and Deeb's version.

This is followed by several sentences plagiarised from the website of Point B, another consulting firm:

Deeb Consulting: "We find best solutions for the clients to design the right structures and elevating team performance."

Point B: "We help clients improve the effectiveness of their organizations by designing the right structures and elevating team performance."

Deeb Consulting: "We help clients develop and deploy HR and talent strategies that align with their overall business objectives, workforce trends, and company culture."

Point B: "Point B helps clients develop and deploy HR and talent strategies that align with their overall business objectives, workforce trends, and company culture."

Deeb Consulting: "We work with client executives, individually and in groups, to improve their leadership capabilities and increase their impact in the organization."

Point B: "We work with client executives, individually and in groups, to improve their leadership capabilities and increase their impact in the organization."

Deeb Consulting then has some sentences which are almost identical those on the website of yet another firm, Alix Partners:

Deeb Consulting: "Our IT experts help companies use their information effectively, quickly, and at lower cost while realizing greater value."

Alix Partners: "Our IT and Applied Analytics experts specialize in helping companies use their information effectively, quickly, and at lower cost while realizing greater value."

Deeb Consulting: "To help a company extract valuable meaning from big data, our Applied Analytics experts develop fast, affordable, and customized analytical solutions that deliver real-time insights into the company’s business and that drive maximum performance."

Alix Partners: "To help a company extract valuable meaning from big data, our Applied Analytics experts develop fast, affordable, and customized analytical solutions that deliver real-time insights into the company’s business and that drive maximum performance."

A check via the Wayback internet archive shows that the words quoted from Point B's website have been there since June 2012, and possibly earlier. Deeb Consulting's website was not registered until February 2014, so there's no real doubt about who copied whom. It has not been possible to date the relevant web pages of Chief Outsiders and Alix Partners.

Deeb and GNRD deny money-laundering and blame the government of Qatar for the allegations against them.