The Consulting Games: Catching Fire in China

By B.J. Richards

Last weekend, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire – the second instalment of the wildly successful movie franchise based on Suzanne Collins’s wildly successful book series – had a record breaking weekend at the box office, raking in an astonishing $307m worldwide.  By now you probably know at least a little about the story (you can blame your teenage daughter if you’d like; we won’t ask any questions), and it has captured the imaginations of millions around the globe.  But one can’t help wondering if the real reason for The Hunger Games’s success is that at its heart lies a thinly veiled parable about the far more compelling Chinese consulting market.  Consider the following:

When we first meet the fiercely independent Katniss Everdeen, she’s a determined survivalist, scraping out a living as best she can in the woods of District 12.  For a while now, handsome baker’s son Peeta has admired her from afar, but Katniss hasn’t even noticed:  she’s far too busy snaring rabbits, felling deer, and generally taking care of business.  Besides, to the extent that Katniss does indulge in such frivolity, she’s far more interested in fellow survivalist Gale – a guy who not only knows the local terrain but is considerably more relatable than well-off Peeta.  Poor Peeta doesn’t stand a chance.

But then things change!  Katniss suddenly finds herself far from home, faced with a terrifying new challenge that puts her very survival at risk.  Everything is unfamiliar, and her beloved Gale can do nothing to help her here.  But in this time of trial, who does she find at her side?  None other than the reliable Peeta.  Sure, Katniss doesn’t quite trust him at first, but a few fabulous dresses and a lot of jaw-dropping violence later, she comes to realize that he’s the perfect partner for this new adventure.  And (spoiler alert!), maybe she even wants to keep him around for the long haul.

I mean, can you believe it?  The similarities are so glaring I’m surprised Ms. Collins could even get away with it. Katniss, clearly, is little more than a stand in for the scrappy home-grown businesses of China, thus far resistant to the charms of Western consultant Peeta.  Successful though China’s businesses may be, they’ve had little interest in consulting so far, focused as they are on simply making their businesses work.  To the extent they have used consulting, they’ve much preferred their fellow locals – with their on-the-ground knowledge and easy cultural familiarity -- to the offerings of glossy Western firms.  And so the Chinese market has proven a tough one to crack.

But now things are changing!  China’s businesses are looking for opportunities beyond home, launching themselves into an unfamiliar, sometimes scary larger world where a false step or miscalculation could cost them their lives.  However useful Chinese consulting firms have proven in the past, they can’t help here, and China’s growing businesses know they need reliable, experienced help if they are to succeed beyond home.  Enter the international management consultant.  Armed with a deep understanding of Western best practices and strategies for success in the global market, this long overlooked hero suddenly has a lot of offer.  If he can find a way to apply his knowledge to Chinese businesses without trying to change them too much (never try to change Katniss!), he may be more than just a good match for the challenges of today – he could prove to be the one Chinese businesses want by their side permanently.  No violence or flaming formal wear required.