Killing Strategy: The Disruption Of Management Consulting

Five years later nosotros posted "Clayton Christensen: The Next Industry Headed Toward Disruption--Consulting", it looks similar the disruption is here.

From CB Insights, May 31:

Since onetime Boston Consulting Group consultant Clayton Christensen kickoff used the words "disruptive innovation" inwards 1995, nimble startups bring challenged incumbents inwards every plain from music to manufacturing.

The industries that bring proven the most vulnerable to disruption bring been those with:

• One or a few major players
• Relatively outdated concern practices
• Slow technology adoption

Oddly, management consulting is rarely named inwards discussions about industries vulnerable to disruption (unless you lot inquire Christensen), despite the fact that it meets all of the above qualifications.

But the disruption of management consulting is non a hypothetical. Management consulting has already been beset on all sides past times competitors together with novel technologies. They bring maintained condition together with increase through prestige, branding, together with long-time client relationships, but they’re ultimately no to a greater extent than immune to the forces of disruption than whatsoever other industry.

“[W]e’re silent early on inwards the storey of consulting’s disruption… More probable than not, alarms won’t audio until it’s already also belatedly inwards the game.” —Clayton Christensen

Like the taxi industry, management consulting is primarily human-driven. Hourly or per diem billing, rather than number or value-based pricing, is still the full general dominion (even equally industries similar constabulary movement away from billable hours). The increasing measurement of technological alter way that to a greater extent than together with more, consultants’ recommendations are out of engagement nearly equally presently equally they’re made.

Consulting, in other words, is inefficient, inflexible, together with tiresome to adapt. Any of these weaknesses alone would threaten disruption — possessing all of them points to a major arrive at out ahead.

McKinsey, Bain, together with BCG, of course, bring weathered existential crises before. These consultancies offering a highly brand-driven, prestigious, together with hard-to-quantify production to Fortune 100 companies alongside enough of cash to spend.

If you dig deeper into the specific types of services that these firms offering their clients today, however, it’s clear that a tectonic disruption is hitting management consulting only equally it has hitting many other industries before. It may hold out a tiresome together with gradual change, together with the big names may good suffer — no thing how thinned their ranks — but a alter is coming.

Table of contents

• The innovation of strategy
• The iv functions of consulting
• Information
• Expertise
• Insight
• Execution
• Disrupting the disruptors

The innovation of strategy
Before Bruce Doolin Henderson opened the doors of Boston Consulting Group on July 1, 1963, the concept of “competition” barely existed inwards American concern culture, permit alone strategy.

There were great, successful companies. Companies made plans. Those companies were not, however, thinking analytically together with rigorously at a high score almost the classic iii C’s of strategy: their customers, their costs, together with their competitors.

“What companies didn’t bring earlier the strategy revolution was a way of systematically putting together all the elements that determined their corporate fate… the pre-strategy worldview lacked a rigorous feel of the dynamics of competition.” —Walter Kiechel

Before BCG, McKinsey, together with Bain, those who owned together with ran businesses in America generally dismissed “strategy” equally something for generals together with political campaigns....MUCH MORE