Disrupting the Management Consulting Industry - A study of the internal forms of organization and external forms of collaboration of consulting firms
Abstract
Disruptive innovations are radically transforming and revolutionizing several industries nowadays, among which the management consulting one is not an exception. Its consideration as one of the sectors immune to the threat of disruption has been challenged by different vulnerabilities existing within the consulting companies’ operations and strategies, such as the presence of excessive human labor, outdated business practices or not sophisticated revenue models. This study aims to identify if and how internal forms of organization and external forms of collaboration across management consulting firms might lead to disruption in the business. In this regard, internal forms relate to phenomena such as the implementation of new strategies, the creation of novel units or innovative business models. External collaborations concern networks building and partnerships across the consulting firms.
The research has been developed through a deep literature review of disruptive innovation and its application in the management consulting industry through new internal organizational forms and external collaborative settings. The theory has been then complemented by information collected through qualitative semi-structured interviews with consulting firms of different sizes and offerings. An extensive analysis of the literature and the responses of the interviewees demonstrated an awareness and topicality of the threat of disruption towards the management consulting industry, even if the phenomenon is perceived differently across the market’s actors. In this context some internal forms of organization and external collaboration forms leading to disruption have emerged, ranging from new sophisticated revenue models based on subscriptions to strategies of self-disruption of the consulting company itself and networks of organizations collaborating together within ecosystems. Based on this, some practical recommendations are provided by the author. These include, for instance, familiarize with the concept of disruptive innovation and maintain a wide view over the market by becoming aware of the new strategies, models, organizational and collaborative forms emerging in the sector in order to face in a more proactive manner the disruptive threat.
Degree
Master 2-years
Other description
Double Degree MSc in Innovation and Industrial Management, MSc in Management
Collections
View/ Open
Date
2019-07-05Author
Anedda, Luca
Keywords
Innovation
Disruption
Disruptive innovation
Management consulting
Consulting
Consultant
Business model
Innovative business model
Network
Collaboration
Series/Report no.
Master Degree Project
2019:41
Language
eng
Metadata
Show full item recordRelated items
Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.
-
Managing innovation from a leadership perspective in an IT-consultancy firm - A case study of Cybercom Group
Eriksson, Daniel; Bard, Lukas (2020-07-23)The IT-consultancy industry faces a paradigm shift. Successfully transform from resource-based consulting to asset-based consulting can be the difference between prosperity and being disrupted away. Instead of fulfilling ... -
IT strategy as a service - A service developed to meet a new customer demand and digital market changes; A case study on consultancy service development
Crafoord, Cornelia; Eriksson, My (2016-09-27)As companies today face rapid digital developments and changes in customer demand, the need and ability to respond quickly to market changes is critical. The traditional way of working with IT strategies with updates ... -
Understanding One Management Consultancy Practice
Thorpman, Peter; Lindmark, Mathias (2002)Management Consulting is a rapidly growing profession, in which large and small firms compete unevenly on the Swedish market. While the larger firms have a competitive advantage in their global knowledge net, the smaller ...