[Loic]

In fact they have a name for it internally: "Cover my ass assignment".

Just come to provide the results the boss wants to have for him to rubber stamp and justify the cost cutting.

[SoftTalker]

Yep. The ability to say "the design was vetted by McKinsey" is exactly the cover that they were being paid to provide.

[tyingq]

"scapegoat as a service" is another common nickname for it.