Accentuate the positive
I have written in this blog before about the extent to which the difference between clients and consultants has been eroded by increasing management education, by the availability of previously...
View ArticleThe consulting gamble
Speaking to a senior executive within the pharmaceutical industry about the value consultants deliver recently, I was struck by one particular comment: ‘Everyone knows that half of consulting works and...
View ArticleThe things that go wrong
When we carry out the research for our briefing notes, we usually ask consulting firms what – in their opinion – the main causes of underperforming consulting projects are. Having written 18 briefing...
View ArticleYet another Enron?
I suppose it was only a matter of time. Writing our forthcoming report on consulting in the financial services sector, I’ve been struck by just how much went on hold during the recession. We all know...
View ArticlePublic sector consulting: the great detox
Our latest survey of quarterly buying trends gives an idea of just how fast public sector consulting is changing. It’s a point we’ll be exploring further in a report to be published later in the...
View ArticleWorking in partnership: three words to avoid
What is it about the consulting industry? It picks up harmless, unassuming phrases and converts them into linguistic behemoths. “Working in partnership” is now so ubiquitous it’s become the equivalent...
View ArticleJudgement Day
What do a pen and a children’s playground have in common? A couple of weeks ago, I was in Copenhagen with a Danish consultancy, Valcon. It’s an unusual firm, employing mechanical engineers and product...
View ArticleMeasuring value: inputs versus outputs
Value has never been a more important – or contentious – issue in consulting. Much of the discussion around cutting back on the use of consultants during the recession, now being echoed in public...
View ArticleThe true meaning of professionalism
Management consulting is sometimes – and I think erroneously – described as a profession. Most definitions of a profession are based on there being (a) a single and codified body of specialist...
View ArticleShould we set a time limit on consulting projects?
As I recently pointed out, the recession has apparently not cured clients – or consulting firms, for that matter – of their confusion between “staff substitution” or “contingent labour” and true...
View ArticleThe reputation gap cuts both ways in the UK consulting market
By Alison Huntington It’s always slightly creepy when you meet someone new and they say, “I’ve heard a lot about you.” Oh god, you think as a cold sweat forms on your brow, what on earth have you heard...
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