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, and 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 affordable and essentials (the common good) to be freely available.
The first cash flow
The 99 cases that were described on the internet forum will be continued, updated and explored in greater depth thanks to
The opportunity
To enable entrepreneurs to launch 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 of them must become a professional consultant or coach and be part of a team, guiding others towards large-scale implementation. Details of the training will be published on
