Friday 7th Jun, 2013
Anyone who has been on an aircraft has had that unsettling feeling when, thirty seconds-or-so after take off, the plane suddenly feels as though it's about to stop. "We're stopping!" you think. "Why are we stopping? Stopping isn't a good thing now that us and the ground have parted company! Captain! Captain! Put your foot down, or whatever you do in an aircraft!" What's happening, of course, is that you're decelerating. You're not stopping, you're not even slowing down, but the rate at which you're speeding up has decreased, and that makes it feel as though you're coming to a juddering halt.
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.
Wednesday 29th May, 2013
Big data, analytics, cloud, mobile: they’re all now converging on a single point – digitization. Although cynics may argue this is simply the latest in a series of ideas hyped by consulting firms, our conversations with clients tell us that they're as keen on the concept as anyone. The idea that easier, cheaper and more accessible data and technology could provide new ways to engage customers and to work with colleagues without raising costs is just too tempting a prospect for most organizations, especially when all other avenues of growth appear to have been exhausted.
Wednesday 29th May, 2013
Big data, analytics, cloud, mobile: they’re all now converging on a single point – digitization. Although cynics may argue this is simply the latest in a series of ideas hyped by consulting firms, our conversations with clients tell us that they're as keen on the concept as anyone. The idea that easier, cheaper and more accessible data and technology could provide new ways to engage customers and to work with colleagues without raising costs is just too tempting a prospect for most organizations, especially when all other avenues of growth appear to have been exhausted.
Monday 13th May, 2013
We’re a cynical bunch at Source Towers. Last year, when we heard consulting firms talk about transformation, we suggested it was the latest in a long line of grandiose posturing unlikely to sway clients’ views, let alone their budgets. We were wrong. It turns out that clients have been far less dismissive than we anticipated – to the point where we estimate that between one third and two thirds of organic growth among big consulting firms in 2012 came from large-scale transformation projects.
Wednesday 8th May, 2013
“Well, in our country,” said Alice, still panting a little, “you'd generally get to somewhere else — if you run very fast for a long time, as we've been doing.” “A slow sort of country!” said the Queen. “Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!”
Wednesday 8th May, 2013
As we travel around the world talking to consultants about their local consulting markets, our primary aim is to give people the facts; to tell them what our research tells us about what's going on, without couching any of it in language designed to please them.
Wednesday 8th May, 2013
The UK consulting market, still the biggest in Europe, grew by just over two per cent between 2011 and 2012. Recovery (if you can call it that) came in the form of a surprisingly resurgent financial services sector and a public sector which, though greatly reduced from its size a few years ago, was nevertheless fairly bouyant and...yadda yadda yadda. Up a bit, down a bit. A few per cent here, a few per cent there.
Monday 15th Apr, 2013
“If you had to be reborn anywhere in the world as a person with average talents and income, you would want to be a Viking”, wrote The Economist recently.
Tuesday 26th Mar, 2013
Speed: we’ve lost count of how many times we’ve heard that word from clients based in the Gulf states over recent weeks. Here’s a typical comment, from a senior Saudi executive: “We want to get a move on. We need to make decisions and get started.” Whether it’s their corporate strategy that’s being talked about, a leadership development programme or the implementation of new technology, time is of the essence.
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