Thursday 6th Oct, 2016
By Edward Haigh.
Tony Soprano, lead protagonist of the critically acclaimed HBO TV series, was a hardened criminal and brutal murderer. I liked him. I doubt I was alone.
I liked him because he was a family man who would come home from a day of hardened criminality and brutal murdering and try to do the best for his family. And then sit down in front of the TV with a bowl of ice-cream. I liked him because he was vulnerable.
In fact that vulnerability was sufficiently acute that it led him to the psychiatrist’s couch, confirming in the process both that America’s psychological problems extended to all corners of society, and that Americans really, really, like talking about themselves.
Monday 26th Sep, 2016
By Zoë Stumpf.
The Italian consulting market, after years of high expectations counterbalanced by poor performance, finally achieved a little bit of growth in 2015. True, only 1% growth, but any growth at all in a market that has experienced years of negative or low growth has got to be seen as a good thing.
Monday 19th Sep, 2016
By Alastair Cox.
As one would expect, the revelation of Maria Sharapova’s use of banned performance-enhancing substances provoked an extremely negative response from the tennis and sport-at-large community. As a result, Sharapova received a two-year ban from tennis. Meanwhile, and on a slightly more existentially-significant scale, Russia annexed Crimea and found itself on the receiving end of massive economic sanctions.
Thursday 11th Aug, 2016
By Julie Ahadi and BJ Richards.
As I found myself reading through a brief history of Poland in the 20th Century the other day, one thing stood out amongst the wars, pacts, uprisings, strikes, etc., and that was The Rolling Stones performing in Warsaw in 1967. This fact was sandwiched between mass anti-Soviet riots and the election of Pope John Paul II, no less. I’m sure that at the time the concert was a life-affirming moment for any and all Polish ‘Stoners’, and playing a gig behind the Iron Curtain for the first time must’ve been pretty groovy (man). But on a historical level, it did seem like a rather odd, or at least out of place, fact to throw in.
What it did provide, however, was a refreshing reminder of two fundamental truths about Eastern Europe and its relationship to the rest of the continent. First, that East Europe’s recent past is not all non-stop doom and gloom as our schools’ modern history curriculum would have us believe—sometimes fun things happened, too, and it’s nice to be reminded of them. Second, that however estranged Eastern and Western Europe may be, there are some things they will always have in common, even if it’s only rock ‘n roll.
Monday 4th Jul, 2016
By Edward Haigh.
So, the consulting market’s bifurcating between high-value traditional consulting work and low-cost commoditised work. You’ve probably heard us banging on about that quite a lot recently. It’s creating a big challenge for consulting firms who are forced either to choose between what feels like two increasingly distinct markets, or to attempt the trickier challenge of operating in both.
Turns out the Germans have something of an innovative solution to this particular dilemma: they give the low-cost bit to another country.
Thursday 30th Jun, 2016
By B.J. Richards.
Several months ago, I was talking with a gentleman in the fitness industry who excitedly told me about an app he’s working on. Its purpose is to encourage friendships among his gym’s members, presumably in the interest of building brand loyalty. Among the app’s many features, it will send you notifications throughout the day when someone from your favorite fitness class is nearby, “so you could maybe get together and grab a coffee or something.”
Monday 27th Jun, 2016
By Fiona Czerniawska and Edward Haigh.
Like 48.1% of the people who voted in the UK last Thursday, we were profoundly shocked by the result. Living in the London bubble, as most of us do, we’d catastrophically and unforgivably underestimated the fears and frustrations felt by other parts of the country. There should have been–and now needs to be–a far more serious engagement around the question of how a small island in north western Europe adapts to the consequences of globalisation.
Monday 9th May, 2016
By Edward Haigh.
Stockholm’s much vaunted start-up scene is having little direct effect on the fortunes of Swedish consultants, but its indirect effect could yet prove significant.
Not that Sweden’s consultants need much of a leg up at the moment: The Swedish consulting market, already the Nordic region’s largest, grew by a respectable 4.9% in 2015 and shows few signs of slowing. Cross the Oresund, Svinesund or Torne river bridges (connecting Sweden respectively to Denmark, Norway and Finland) and you find a starkly different situation.
But the presence of what many are calling Europe’s Silicon Valley within their midst raises interesting questions for consultants in Stockholm because of what it says about the willingness (or not) of a new breed of digital businesses to turn to them for help.
Tuesday 26th Apr, 2016
By Alison Huntington.
When you look at the conditions endured by French peasants in the late eighteenth century, it’s surprising the revolution didn’t happen sooner than 1789—the French elite had it coming for a long time.
It mirrors the situation consultants in France find themselves in with respect to digital, just without the angry peasants, the riots, the beheading, and general goriness. So not at all really. Except that, like the late eighteenth century, the conditions are all set for a revolution—but it just hasn’t come about yet.
There’s a lot of talk about digital in France, but to date, little action. Despite this, there’s a definite sense of urgency that something needs to be done. Clients have seen decades-old business models turned on their heads by plucky digital disruptors, and know they could be next for the guillotine (sorry).
Monday 4th Apr, 2016
By Fiona Czerniawska.
The good news is that 2016 looks as though it will be another good year for the consulting industry: 67% of the senior clients in large-scale multinational corporations we surveyed at the very end of last year say they expect to spend more on consulting services this year, compared to last, and only 9% think they’ll spend less – roughly the same as last year.
But the bad news is that this might be as good as it gets. Think of demand for consulting like a balloon. Clients, getting busier and busier, simply don’t have the capacity or capability to do everything themselves and increasingly turn to consulting firms.
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