Cologne Place of work in Germany, customer headquarters in New York or Shanghai – it is still a new kind of everyday work for some consultants at Strategy&, the strategy consultancy of the auditing company PwC. “Some colleagues help out in Asia or the USA – and do it from Germany,” says Andreas Späne, Head of Strategy& for Europe since the beginning of July.
Zoom instead of jet, living room instead of waiting area at the airport: In the consulting business, too, people are increasingly working remotely. International consulting companies in particular find it easier to deploy the urgently needed specialists where the customer is pushing the most. “This has enabled us to be more flexible when filling projects,” says Späne.
Traditionally, consultants are set up to react to changes – after all, in many cases they are hired for exactly this task. But with corona risks, supply chain chaos, energy price uncertainties and the turmoil of war, many developments are coming together that are increasing volatility among customers and the consultations themselves. “We are used to living and working in crises,” says Späne, “the only new thing is that the crises overlap.”
These are ambitious times for management consultants. Who will master them well, who will provide customers with the best possible support? In a survey, the Handelsblatt Research Institute (HRI) examined the consulting market. The best consultants for 2022 were determined in 22 areas from automotive to insurance. In addition to the industry giants, who are represented in several categories, the HRI analysis identified numerous specialists who have a high reputation.
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Resilience is in demand in the industry. Because very carefully, delicate gray clouds gather in the consultant sky, which has been brightly blue for years. The business climate index for the industry, collected by the Federal Association of German Management Consultancies (BDU), fell for the second quarter – for the third time in a row.
The larger market participants in particular are more skeptical about the order situation in the next six months. “When things are going well in business, it’s very good for consulting. If things are going badly, it’s also good for advice,” says Christoph Hardt – the former McKinsey consultant is co-founder of the Comatch platform, which places freelance management consultants. “What’s not so good is insecurity.”
The days of almost unchecked growth could be over for the time being. This leads to a rethink – and a conversion phase in some consulting firms. A trend of the last few years is increasing. Being extra flexible is becoming the gold standard. However, modifying your own advice accordingly often increases the effort at first.
The effort grows
As a service provider, the consulting firms must follow the companies. And they have become more erratic in the past few months. There are still carefully prepared transformation projects, some of which last for several years. But shorter-term inquiries are more common today, says Ralf Strehlau, owner of the medium-sized Anxo Management Consulting and President of the BDU. “You can see that since the corona crisis, the duration of the projects has tended to be shorter. And that on average they start with less lead time.”
As a result, executives at the partner level, who typically bring in new business, have to put in more effort – and more carefully consider what priority an urgent customer request has for them at the moment. “Increased flexibility means greater marketing effort,” says Strehlau, “in our industry today we drive more on sight than five years ago.”
Globally positioned houses bring an advantage. “Larger consultancies are able to shift resources accordingly to a large extent,” says Strehlau – this is made easier by remote work.
The methodology of the ranking
Another trend is also gaining ground. Companies usually no longer just want a strategy paper from the consultants. They also ask for help to implement the plan or to train the workforce. “Even a larger consultancy can no longer have experts for all work internally,” explains Comatch founder Hardt, “you are more credible for the customer if you get someone else to do a special job.” Large consulting firms have tried special consultancies or digital agencies to buy in order to be able to offer as much as possible from a single source.
Smaller consultancies have to find other ways to react faster. Agile project management is gaining in importance for 90 percent of customers and consulting firms, according to a recent study by the market research and consulting company Lünendonk & Hossenfelder. “Without a network of partner service providers, it will not work in the future,” it says.
The medium-sized companies in the consulting world are therefore on the one hand strengthening themselves via platforms such as Comatch and booking freelance specialists. Hardt observes that the first consultations plan this assignment centrally – and that individual partners do not go on the search ad hoc because a project is urgent.
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On the other hand, the consultancies build up their own lists of freelancers or form long-term alliances with agencies. “You can work more efficiently if you are well adjusted to each other,” says BDU President Strehlau. As a general contractor, even smaller consultancies can venture on projects that were previously out of the question for them. But the more parties involved, the higher the coordination and communication effort.
Well-established teams are particularly in demand at the present time, when the circumstances for companies often change at short notice. The consulting firms use their own programs to monitor how energy prices are developing – and what impact this could have on customers and their own business. “The daily volume of information is increasing,” says Strategy& Europe boss Späne.
More: The billion-dollar business of strategy consultancies in Germany