Global versus local: the passport to consulting success

Over the last three months, we’ve interviewed around 250 people in 150 consulting firms across 35 different countries, asking them how their local market is performing, how and why that may change in the future, and what the key challenges are that they face.

From the massive amount of data we collected, summarised in our new report, launched on Thursday, one message stands out: the ability of a consulting firm to provide an integrated global perspective will determine its success over the next five years. You might think there’s nothing new in this, especially if you work for a strategy firm that’s accustomed to fielding multinational teams, but there are three reasons why even the most global firm should pause to consider.

The first is about clients. One of the lessons they’ve learnt from the last three years is that economic sustainability depends on having a presence in emerging markets: companies that have, have emerged more quickly and strongly from the recession than those that don’t. This recognition isn’t confined to big business – sizeable companies which are still primarily national in focus now understand globalisation is both a threat and opportunity for them, too.

The second reason relates to competition. These organisations have tended to buy consulting services from local, mid-sized consulting firms in the past (ones that, in effect, are a bit like them). But what will they do in the future? Potentially this represents a new market for bigger consulting firms and leaves mid-sized consulting firms stuck on the slow lane with small, domestic clients.

But the third, and most important question, is what we mean by global. It turns out that clients mean two, quite distinct things. First there’s footprint, the extent to which a firm has a physical presence around the world which is important for projects that entail global roll-out, consistency and standardisation, particularly IT, regulation and some types of operational improvement. But being everywhere isn’t everything. The second thing clients are looking for is people and/or firms that can make global connections, helping them understand what it is for a Belgium manufacturer to move to Vietnam or a Spanish firm to target consumers in South America. This is mindset not an office network, so it’s not limited to the very biggest consulting firms. Indeed, it could reshape the consulting industry. It’s heresy to say it in the current climate, when most firms have ambitious plans for growth, so I’ll just whisper it: size may not matter.