The History of Consulting goes way back to the 1800s, which clearly shows that consulting has always existed. But what was the past of consulting like? And how does it stand in the present? And also, what does the future hold for the consulting industry?
Apart from the above, you’ll also find answers to the following:
✅What is consulting?
✅What is the consulting market today?
✅Is consulting being disrupted?
✅How are consulting firms adapting?
✅What does that mean for clients?
A few days ago, we hosted a live webinar on the topic of the history of consulting. For those who were unable to join us, we have made this slideshow presentation that covers all the main points that were discussed during the webinar.
We hope you enjoy the slides and find them useful. As always, we welcome your feedback. If you have any thoughts or comments on the presentation, please feel free to get in touch.
2. Hélène is a consulting sourcing
thought leader and consulting
market expert.
Hélène Laffitte
CEO Consulting Quest
Laurent is co founder and CTO of
consulting quest and editor of This
Week in Consulting.
Laurent Thomas
Chairman Consulting Quest
HOST SPEAKER
Joe is a leading authority on the
consulting industry and a
consultant to boutiques and small
consulting firms.
Joe O’Mahoney
Professor & Growth Advisor
SPEAKER
Our speakers today
joe@joeomahoney.com
helene.laffitte@consultingquest.com laurent.thomas@consultingquest.com
3. *
The future belongs to people who
see possibilities before they
become obvious.
Theodore Levitt
4. What you will learn
4
Agenda
What is consulting?
1
What is the consulting market today?
2
Is consulting being disrupted?
3
How are consulting firms adapting ?
4
Questions & Answers
6
WEBINAR
What does that mean for clients?
5
6. But what is a consultant exactly? WEBINAR
6
con•sult•ant
1. someone who advises people on a particular
subject.
2. a person who is a specialist in a particular
subject and whose job is to give advice and
information to businesses, government
organizations, etc.
Latin Consultare : To Discuss
Dictionary Definition
7. What do consultants do? WEBINAR
7
Consultants accumulate experience,
gather knowledge & data, organize
information, process information,
organize findings into
recommendations and support
implementation plans.
8. When did it start? WEBINAR
8
800BC
Jehoiada The Priest
Advisor to King
Joash in Judea
1200BC
Antenor
Advisor to King
Priam inTroy
500BC
Croesus
Advisor to King Cyrus
inGreece
600
Saint Eloi
Advisor to King
Clotaire II in
France
800
Alcuin
Advisor to Emperor
Charlemagne
1000
Polonius
Advisor to Emperor
Claudius in Hamlet
1800
Talleyrand
Advisor to Emperor
Napoléon
1300
Marco Polo
Advisor to Kublai
Khan
1500
La Malinche
Advisor to Hernan
Cortes
1650
Colbert
Advisor to King
LouisXIV
1800
Hamilton
Advisor to
George
Washington
9. How has it evolved? WEBINAR
9
1886
Work rationalization Operations & IT
Strategy Digital
1914 1916 1926 1963 1967 1973 2010
2000
1980
Management
Engineering
FW Taylor
“Piece Rate System”
“Shop Management”
Bedaux
Organization &
Management
A Chandler
“Strategy &
Structure”
Experience Curve
Growth Share Matrix
M Porter
“Competitive
Strategy”
Strategic
Planning
Value
Chain
Excellence PBR
Value Creation
Acceleration &
Globalization
Emergence of digital
players
We are here!
11. What is the size of the market today? WEBINAR
11
North America
2018 2022
43%
110
134
CAGR: +5%
163
91
2026
2026
106
127
EMEA
2018 2022
34%
87
CAGR: +5%
Asia Pacific
2018 2022
20%
42
62
CAGR: +10%
LATAM
2018 2022
4%
10
12
CAGR: +4%
14
~$300B
Revenues 2022
+6%
CAGR 2018-2026
*Conavigo.com, Source Global Research
3%
Equivalent Payroll increase
2026
2026
12. How is it organized? WEBINAR
12
Niche
INDUSTRY
EXPERIENCE
CAPABILITIES
Industry-centered Specialist
Capability-centered
Specialist
The industry is organized along two
main dimensions: the capabilities
(the functional expertise) and the
industry experience.
The region where the consulting firms
operate is also crucial. Making the
segmentation a cube.
One –stop-shops or large generalist
consulting firms usually cover all
three dimensions.
13. 2020 was a disastrous year for consulting… WEBINAR
13
~10%
Market contraction
The outbreak of Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has
decreased the need for consulting services in 2020 as
governments globally imposed lockdowns and
restricted trade & travel.
14. 2021 showed a strong rebound continuing at full
speed in 2022
WEBINAR
14
The crisis is not structural and does not relate to
fundamental weaknesses in the market or the global
Economy.
~9%
Market growth
Healthcare and Life Sciences
Fastest Growing sector
BFSI
Largest Market Share
16. Is consulting a good candidate for disruption? WEBINAR
16
Clayton M. Christensen
defines "Disruption" as a
process whereby a
smaller company with
fewer resources can
successfully challenge
established incumbent
businesses.
High Margins Degrading
Customers
Experience
Consolidated
Industry
High level of
Intermediation
High
Regulatory
Entry Barriers
Technology is
Outdated
17. Disruptive forces Affecting the Industry WEBINAR
17
• Talent more demanding
• Competition with GAFAs
Talent
• Internal Consulting
• Experts & Research
• Marketplaces
Threat of Substitution
• Constant Renewal
• Strong Knowledge barrier to
entry
Threat of New Entrants
• Consolidation
• Convergence with Digital
• Specialized Boutiques
Competitive Rivalry
• No major Change
Supplier Power
• Digital Procurement
Solutions
• Culture of Risk vs Costs
• Self inflicted wounds
Customer Power
• Audit / Consulting
• Government Pressure on
Costs
External Forces
• Sustainability
• Digital
New Arena
• Access to Data
• Delivery of E2E Solutions
Technology
19. Strategic moves by the key players WEBINAR
19
Mc Kinsey BCG Bain Accenture EY-Parthenon Deloitte
PWC
Strategy &
Leadership
Changes
Bob Sternfels (2021) Christoph Sweitzer
(2021)
Manny Maceda
(2018)
Julie Sweet
(2019)
Carmine Di Sibio
(2019) - Split Audit /
Consulting
Punit Renjen
(2015)
Bob Moritz
(2016)
Marketing
McK Quarterly
YouTube (120k)
SEO, Adds
Newsletter, BCG
pages on …. Linkedin,
Youtube (40k), SEO –
FT/HBR
Bain Insights, Linkedin,
Google Adds, Youtube
(12), SEO
Subscription center,
Adds (on and of line),
Linkedin, Youtube
(57k), SEO
Editor’s pick
newsletter,
Youtube (40k),
Linkedin , SEO
Insight Magazine,
Insight App
Strategy&Business
Publication, Youtube
PWC & Strategy&
(40k), Linkdein, SEO
New
Offerings
Digital, AI, Agile,
Sustainability,
Implementation
Climate &
Sustainability, Digital,
Social
Digital, DEI,
Sustainability,
Digital, Organization,
Sustainability, Cloud,
Security, ….
Digital, Cyber security,
EY Sustainability
Deloitte Digital
(design & techno) ,
Sustainability
ESG, Legal Business
Solutions, …
Solutions /
Products
Mc Kinsey Solutions &
Companies (AI,
Pricing, Benchmark,
Spend Analytics,
Transformation)
BCG Gamma, AI, Co2,
Smart Banking, Pricing,
Marketing
Vector Digital
(innovation,
marketing, Analytics,
Automation,…)
Accenture Song,
Accenture X,
---
Outsourcing
Managed Services, EY
Virtual Auditors, Audit
Analytics, M&A Tools,
…
Outsourcing
Financial Suite
Sales Force, Legal
Tech,Doc Miner
Pricing, Change
Management
Outsourcing
Crypto Center, Risk ,
Change, ESG
Reporting, Customer
Data, Cyber Incidents,
Field service, Students,
…
Outsourcing
M&A
Supply Chain, AI,
Cloud, E-commerce,
Software, Climate,
Digital, Spend
Data, AI, Sustainability,
Purpose, Digital,
Simulation, Design,
Procurement,
Analytics,
Procurement, Digital,
Private Equity,
Insurance,
Manuafcturing,
Marketing, Strategy,
Cloud, Supply Chain,
Sustainability,
Leadership,
Organization, Ai,
Branding …
Ai, Cybersecurity,
Digital Risks,
Innovation, Change,
Asia. Legal, Project
Mgt, Technology,
Data, Forensics,
Parthenon (2014)
Data, Machine
Learning, Cloud, Tech,
SalesForce, Learning,
Insurtech, Health,
Economy,
Cybersecurity
Monitor (2013)
Innovation, Privacy,
AWS, Cloud, Sales
Force,
Booz (2014)
Alliances
Google, AWS,
Microsoft, SAP
Main tech companies,
NGOs
40+ Ecosystem Avanade, hundreds of
partnerships
Main Tech, Audit
Board, Shopify,
Main Tech, Apple,
Twilio,
Main Tech, hundreds
of partnerships
20. How small and mid-sized consulting firms are
adapting?
WEBINAR
20
Focus on
Innovation
Associate Model
Automation: PSA
& CRM
Grow to Sell
Strategy
Partnerships &
Re-Sellers
SaaS & Platform
Mix
22. What does that mean for clients? WEBINAR
22
Much ado about nothing then?
• An arena ripe for disruption.
• Perceived value and brands with no measure of performance
• Lots of small changes but nothing major, yet.
• Self-inflicted Inertia from clients
Where could disruption come from?
• Digital – Consulting convergence
• The right consultants for each project
• Unbundling of the value chain
• Smart Consulting Sourcing Practices
