Monday 16th Feb, 2015
By Fiona Czerniawska The answer is easy: just about anywhere, at least in the short term. We’ve just published our projections for growth in consulting markets by sector and service across the globe, and the picture is positively buoyant. Three factors matter here.
Thursday 11th Dec, 2014
By Alison Huntington “We’re going through a transformational process at the moment because we need to be driven by our customers to a much greater extent. But, as we move into new markets and use new technologies, we’ll be asking ourselves if we really understand what our customers need. We do, and will continue to, use consultants to help us, although we’d like to rely on them less if we can. The problem with the big consultancies is that you don’t know who’s going to be shipped in or how much experience they’ll have, and they’re often not as good as you expect them to be.”
Wednesday 10th Dec, 2014
By Alison Huntington “Our challenge is to get as much oil out of the ground as possible while spending as little as possible on anything else.” That’s the oil industry in a nutshell, as summed up by the HR director of a major oil company. It sounds so simple that you’d be forgiven for wondering why oil and gas companies buy any consulting support at all. But, as our new report on consulting in the energy and resources sector makes clear, they do – to the tune of about $6.6bn - a figure we expect to grow by about 5% in 2015.
Tuesday 2nd Dec, 2014
Is South East Asia the Snow White of the global consulting market? Clocking up 7% growth in 2013 and set to grow even more over the coming year, it certainly looks to be one of the ‘fairest’ markets around, and the consultants we spoke to are positively overflowing with enthusiasm for the region.
Wednesday 26th Nov, 2014
By B.J. Richards There’s been an idea floating around for a while now that Chinese businesses have been unusually slow to adopt new technologies. It seems to have started with a McKinsey study (as these things so often do), was quickly picked up by the business press, and then, perhaps even more quickly, became one of those things people were saying to sound smart over drinks at tedious work functions. And so a new truism was been born: Chinese businesses are slow to adopt new technologies.
Monday 17th Nov, 2014
I can’t imagine there are many consultants in Brazil cheering the election result. A narrow 3% margin keeps the economy in the hands of interventionist Dilma Rousseff, and that’s not the result consultants wanted to hear. The election had more twists and turns than your average thriller novel, causing the consulting market to slow down while clients put off making major decisions and investors hedged their bets, waiting to see the outcome. The uncertainty was noticeably stifling the economy, and an even bigger distraction than the World Cup.
Tuesday 28th Oct, 2014
By B.J. Richards Times have certainly been tough in the Benelux consulting market. After a 3% contraction in 2012, 2013’s 0% growth actually came as something of a relief. Source is predicting the market will finally make some gains this year -- we’re predicting 1-4% growth across the region’s three countries -- but with the Eurozone recovery largely grinding to a halt, it could still be a while before this market is truly back on track.
Monday 20th Oct, 2014
By B.J. Richards When we talk to consultants in Africa, one of the fundamental things they always want us to understand is that it is really a tough place to do business. Depending on where you are, inadequate transport links may mean you can’t always get where you’re going; the lights may be unreliable and the internet even more so; and a good deal of your work could depend on donor money that may or may not be there tomorrow.
Friday 3rd Oct, 2014
Growth is slowing in the German consulting market. Having been the most reliable engine of growth for consultants in Europe in the last five years (other markets have sometimes grown more, but have been less dependable), there are signs that growth this year may be 2%-3%, rather than the 6% we saw in 2013.
Tuesday 30th Sep, 2014
Competition is fierce in the French consulting market, where a sluggish economy means clients are putting intense pressure on prices and are reluctant to make big investments. But while firms are busy battling it out for their share of hard-to-find business, they may do well to consider the possibility that the real threat to their survival comes not from each other but from their clients. That’s because with tight budgets and lots of work to do, businesses are increasingly looking to their own staff to do work that would traditionally have gone to consulting firms.
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