The client imperative
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What is the impact of changing buyer behaviours?
Buyers of consulting services, including a growing procurement-led strand, are increasingly discerning and demanding of greater quality at higher speed. Services and business processes need to adapt to meet these demands while mitigating the risk of a competitive race to the bottom.
How do you manage an agile workforce?
Securing talent
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Consulting remains a people business, and firms’ greatest assets are their human capital and intellectual property. The combination of changing client demands and talent expectations is driving a greater focus on agility and flexibility, along with an evolving focus on building suitable retention and incentivisation structures to attract talent and prepare for succession.
How and where should you invest in technology?
Harnessing technological disruption
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Technology has opened up new streams of work for consultants as businesses across the economy seek to manage digital transformation. Consultants themselves need to embed the skills and expertise to manage this new work while also having a core focus on their own smart utilisation of technology.
How do you balance scale with agility?
Achieving growth
ambitions
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Firms must define their growth strategy, and make a choice between organic and inorganic growth, with M&A offering an important route for firms to expand service lines or enter into new geographies. At the same time, broader decisions need to be made regarding whether achieving growth ambitions means a pursuit scale or a focus on agility. In each case, client demand and type of work targeted must be the strategic focus.
Find out more about the options for exit
Realising value
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For many business owners and entrepreneurs a key concern is unlocking the value that they and their business have created, and securing their legacy. This may include M&A activity or a capital event such as an IPO or a sale to private equity. Whatever the strategy, businesses need to be prepared with robust planning to improve viability and attractiveness and ready to explore innovative options to create real value.
