Tuesday 4th Jun, 2013
We know how big the UK consulting market is. We know what’s grown and what hasn’t. We even know which firms are doing well – and which aren’t. So what? If the last five years have taught consulting firms anything, it’s that the past is no guide to the future. If you want to know what’s going to happen, you need client data. Which is why we’ve spent the last few months asking more than 100 senior executives in UK multinationals about how their use of consultants may change in the future.
Thursday 31st Jan, 2013
By Fiona Czerniawska It’s not just a question of glamour (‘consultant’ sounds so much more upmarket, as any hair or sales consultant will tell you), but hard cash: consultants can charge more than contractors.
Monday 14th Jan, 2013
By Fiona Czerniawksa Procurement is something of a dirty word for many consulting firms. Procurement is what gets in the way of client relationships; it introduced bureaucracy and brings down prices. (And, of course, such criticism is ironic: consultants helped pioneer the introduction of more formal and rigorous purchasing methods into organisations so shouldn’t have been surprised when the weapons they provided were turned back on them.)
Tuesday 4th Dec, 2012
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.
Thursday 1st Nov, 2012
The belief that the 'pyramid' model of consulting may have had its day is one that's becoming increasingly widespread, not least because we keep talking about it. What replaces it is the subject of much conjecture and no little amusement. Some talk of slimmer pyramids, some of diamonds; those of a more macabre inclination are drawn to the idea of the coffin-shaped firm, while we've spent some time in the past trying to get everyone interested in the hourglass.
Thursday 6th Sep, 2012
“What I want lies somewhere between consulting, outsourcing and interim management.
Sunday 10th Jun, 2012
For the last 20 years or so, consulting firms have sought to improve their profitability by launching new services. Operational improvement firms have sought to raise their fee rates by doing more strategy work; strategy firms have sought to increase utilisation by doing more operational improvement and even technology work. ‘Brancheglidning’ the Danes call it – gliding from one area of business to another.
Wednesday 28th Mar, 2012
It really is a billion dollar question.
Saturday 11th Feb, 2012
Consulting in the manufacturing sector has traditionally either been big business or virtually no business depending on the country you work in. A hugely important part of the German economy, the sector accounts for more than a quarter of all consulting there, it’s only about a tenth of the UK market where it’s dwarfed by financial services. It’s a substantial market in India but negligible in the Middle East.
Tuesday 6th Dec, 2011
There's a growing consensus amongst consulting firms that the pyramid model, around which their industry has so far shaped itself, might have had its day. Geared towards the idea of a nice shiny partner selling in his formidable knowledge before deploying legions of fresh-faced young guns with intellects the size of Massachusetts to mop up margin, clients are starting to question whose interests the model serves best. Few are concluding that it's theirs.
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