Monday 30th Jul, 2012
Prior to the financial crisis most large consulting firms had written off mid-market clients.
Thursday 26th Jul, 2012
We weren’t convinced about this last year. We heard a lot from consulting firms about their ability to address the growth ‘agenda’, helping clients respond to the challenges of growing their business in complex and uncertain economic conditions. But the numbers, when we came to unpick them, painted a different story; of a very small market which was struggling to establish itself. Consultants, we suggested then, had become too closely associated in clients’ minds with back-office operational improvement. They might have been addressing the agenda, but their message wasn't getting through.
Wednesday 20th Jun, 2012
Big firms are growing faster than smaller ones. They’re using their scale to deliver work across borders, their brand to cement relationships in uncertain times, and their financial muscle to keep prices low. But because none of these things will deliver the level of growth they need, they’re also making acquisitions. A plethora of small and even mid-sized firms have been snapped by the Big Four firms over the last couple of years and there’s no sign of a let-up.
Monday 16th Apr, 2012
When my son was younger, just starting to relinquish my hand as we walked along the street and perhaps slightly intimidated by the enormous world around him, he always used to look down at the pavement. One day the inevitable happened and he crashed into a tactlessly-positioned lamp-post. This is a good analogy to the predicament the consulting industry finds itself in today.
Friday 30th Mar, 2012
“If you insist on beginning only with certainties, you shall end in doubts,” wrote Francis Bacon in the seventeenth century, “but if you will be content to begin with doubts you shall end up in certainties.” It is advice, we feel, consulting firms would do well to listen to.
Wednesday 28th Mar, 2012
It really is a billion dollar question.
Thursday 19th Jan, 2012
For a while now we’ve been sending out summaries of what we think is the best thought leadership on a given subject. Leafing the newest selection, I was struck by material which, although aimed at client organisations, should also be required reading for consulting firms themselves.
Monday 16th Jan, 2012
The thing about a double, whether an espresso or a recession, is that it implies that the second experience is the same as the first – and that’s a mistake.
Thursday 8th Dec, 2011
Today sees the launch of our short report, Planning for Growth in an Uncertain Market, which looks at the main five options consulting firms have to grow their businesses and at which segments of the industry are likely to gain or lose ground in 2012.
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