The market
Global revenue generated by international management consulting firms was estimated by IBISWorld in 2011 at $313 billion, excluding information technology and IT consulting services. There are approximately one million consulting firms worldwide with a total of 2.6 million employees, demonstrating that the market is dominated by independent consultants. Although consulting revenue increased for decades, the market has declined since 2009. Revenue in this sector decreased by 2.6% in 2009 and by 3.5% in 2010. It is a field with a high demand for human resources, with capital expenditures lower than labor costs, at a ratio of 1 to 15. The 55 largest consulting firms in the UK represent $11 billion in revenue and employ 80,000 consultants. The consulting sector is vast and diverse, with specializations such as cloud services, customer relationship management, smart grids, sustainability, global delivery, innovation management, and mergers and acquisitions, to name a few. The largest firms are well-known brands like McKinsey with 15,600 employees, The Boston Consulting Group with 6,000 employees, Bain & Company with 4,000 employees, Deloitte with 15,000 professionals, and Booz & Company with 3,200 employees. Accenture surpasses them all with 186,000 employees and revenues exceeding $25 billion. Roland Berger (Germany) is one of the few European consulting firms. Berger began operations in Munich, has expanded to 36 countries, and is 100% owned by its 240 partners.
Innovation
Accenture's adline, "One Billion in Savings for Unilever – Delivered," symbolizes the crisis facing the world and the standard solution offered: cut costs at all costs. After more than three decades of cost-cutting and labor-saving strategies, built on the notion of core business and its core competency philosophy, consulting firms represent one of the main forces keeping businesses in general, and large multinationals in particular, in this growth-driven straitjacket where cash flow is king and MBAs reign supreme. The consulting industry embodies the business model that measures success by financial results and market share, deploying strategies to achieve economies of scale through outsourcing, supply chain management, distribution centers, mergers and acquisitions, to enable companies to compete in a global economy. This business model was arguably the best after World War II, allowing companies to rebuild devastated communities. Today, this model is incapable of ensuring competitiveness and certainly fails to empower management and employees to meet key challenges such as strengthening our capacity to meet basic needs with what we have and combating chronic youth unemployment by creating value. I have never taken a job, and thanks to the time and commitment of dozens of mentors, an economic model has emerged in my mind that enables local growth in purchasing power and quality of life by deploying the multiplier effects created by the innovation clusters described in The Blue Economy. As an economist by training, with an MBA from INSEAD and an entrepreneurial background, I know that traditional business school education and management experience do not prepare us for the challenges we face. I know that the typical consulting services offered today are not, and cannot be, guiding companies toward social and sustainable business models. If they don't, who will? We need a new economic model that generates a multiplier effect in the local economy by reducing capital outflows and creating multiple benefits, including financial ones, so that the increase in cash flows is offset by the production of local goods capable of competing in the global market, not because they are the cheapest, but because these goods generate multiple revenue streams that make them insensitive to global fluctuations. Since blue economy production relies primarily on available local resources, this "blue growth" does not deplete limited raw materials and energy. On the contrary, it has the capacity to restore and strengthen both the economy and the ecosystem while creating jobs and developing social capital. This "blue growth" allows goods to be cheap and essentials (the common good) to be free.
The first cash flow
The 99 cases described on the online forum will be continued, updated, and expanded upon through my personal Twitter account, @MyBlueEconomy. These online articles, along with the 100 cases described in my Report to the Club of Rome, provide a platform for inspiration based on detailed accounts of individual actions. These case studies describe the components of the emerging new economy. Now is the time to bring these isolated descriptions of nearly 200 cases to a close. The time has come to secure a broader implementation platform to accelerate this new economy. This is case number 100. The key question is how you, the reader, have participated in this process. After careful consideration and several regional trials, I have developed a methodology called "Scan, Screen, and Implement." Drawing on my three decades of researching new business models, I've learned to guide teams through hands-on experiences that involve understanding local conditions, listening to challenges, analyzing assets and costs, and valuing people eager to go beyond the obvious. This structured process leads to a detailed portfolio of opportunities—all blue opportunities, implying that everything is cutting-edge and sustainable. Each potential business is based on what has been achieved elsewhere. The supporting science is available, and if there's any doubt, site visits will demonstrate the technical and financial aspects, as well as provide a pragmatic overview of how to adapt proven business models to local conditions. The analytical exercise reveals a rich array of opportunities, extending beyond individual businesses. It presents mutually reinforcing groups of outcomes that require no subsidies and have never been considered viable in the traditional growth model. These include biodiversity regeneration, restoration of hydrological cycles, topsoil replenishment, provision of social housing, introduction of organic farming, value creation, employment, and social capital, all while enhancing competitiveness. Each regional case study, which can cover a province, a port, a mining facility, an island, or a large multinational corporation, provides insight into the mosaic of opportunities to generate multiple benefits from both the profit and loss statement and balance sheet operations. These benefits include converting existing costs into revenue, reinvesting provisions, dramatically increasing asset values, and much more. When exposed to this emerging portfolio of opportunities, it's easy to feel overwhelmed. Therefore, we identify all the opportunities, clarify their impact—especially the synergies between proposals—and then conduct a screening exercise. During this second phase of discovery and engagement with reality, we seek the minimum winning coalitions, broad partnerships, and shared understanding that unite the strengths of all stakeholders around three to five priority initiatives. This shortlist will become the precursor, propelling the region or organization to a new level of competitiveness. Now that the initial analysis has revealed numerous potential interconnections, launching a few initiatives doesn't preclude other opportunities but rather paves the way and facilitates the subsequent implementation of a comprehensive portfolio of projects, while ensuring a shift in perception and evaluation that allows new projects to emerge organically thereafter. Once we reach a consensus on the initial portfolio, we focus on implementation. The accelerated process of delivering short-term deliverables, along with clarity on long-term benefits, creates the conditions for this new business model. This may require a change in the rules of the game, a shift in the critical success factors, complementing the old with the new. However, the primary objective is to help existing staff and leaders move forward and deliver results. If we need entrepreneurs to take us further than we had imagined, we must also inspire established institutions to go beyond what is taken for granted. The entire "Scan, Screen & Implement" process should not take more than six months. We are well aware that we are dealing with a generation of economists and managers, financiers and consultants who have been trained to think traditionally, to push the supply chain to find savings at any (social) cost, to push companies to do more, and, at best, to minimize the negative impact of this shift. In the context of the current crisis, where more of the same—or less of the same—does not pave the way forward, we are creating opportunities to build a new, enabling environment. That is why I want to inspire a new generation of consultants exposed to methodologies that reveal multiple benefits for all parties involved.
The opportunity
To enable entrepreneurs to kickstart their next consultation, we are creating a series of short-term training programs around the world, typically lasting two weeks. The first three days will be an intensive immersion led by me, followed by a program with a carefully selected team that immediately gets participants focused on concrete initiatives. Together with the organizers of each program, we will choose the theme most relevant to that region. The aim is to cover a wide range of topics, including food and agriculture, construction and health, energy and electronics, metals and mining, as well as cross-cutting themes such as industrial conversion, energy and water self-sufficiency, technology, and competitiveness. These programs will begin in December 2012 and continue through September 2013, with the goal of training approximately 1,000 people worldwide. Each participant will become a professional consultant or coach and be part of a team, guiding others toward large-scale implementation. Details of the training will be published on [website address] and [website address], and specific invitations will be sent via Twitter and LinkedIn. These training initiatives are organized in partnership with recognized educational institutions that have already worked with us. The focus is not on training itself, but on creating local consulting firms that will provide the "Scan, Screen & Implement" service portfolio based on blue economy case studies and offer a range of related services competitively. The creation of a network of regional consulting firms capable of delivering "Scan, Screen & Implement" in a local language has already begun. Established local partnerships will ensure that analyses are translated into action by trained teams capable of driving this process forward independently. Simultaneously, the blue economy platform will serve as a central hub for the exchange of experiences and ideas. The ZERI network benefits from strong, established relationships built on over a decade of experience. We anticipate that most team members will have established their operations by the end of 2013, creating a consortium of consulting firms across four continents. Preparations are well underway to set up consulting offices in Europe (Belgium, Italy, and Hungary), Latin America (Colombia, Brazil, and Mexico), Africa (South Africa and Ghana), and Australasia (India, China, Japan, and Australia). This final case in the formal 100 series concludes with a call to individuals who have followed the blue economy, existing institutions, including established research firms, and academic organizations to join forces and forge partnerships. This will ensure that the wealth of information contained in the open-source publications of "The Blue Economy" provides the guidance, support, and leadership needed to accelerate these innovative models and achieve the change we all wish to see.
