Big Four firms

Writing up some of our client research earlier this year, we estimated that as much as 15% of all consulting goes on what we called ‘validation’, an activity which ranged from genuine research and analysis around a particularly thorny issue to signing off on a decision already effectively made by senior managers.

It looks like a good match.  Deloitte, like all the Big Four firms, would like to expand its footprint in the strategic consulting space, giving it greater sight of, and input to, the type of issues and decisions which drive organisations and their use of consultants.  Strategy work continues to command higher fees so there’s important margin to be won here too.

It’s hard to distinguish between Big Four firms – at least that’s what we thought.  But our recent research with 400+ clients tells us otherwise.

There are certainly areas where clients do think these firms are hard to tell apart; “they’re all much of a much-ness”, was how one of them put it.  Certainly everyone associates them with financial management and regulatory-driven work: no surprise there.  And almost everyone says their people are “good”, though rarely anything more than good, even if their knowledge of specific industries tends to be rated highly.