The State of Online Publishing in the Consulting Industry

In February and March 2013, AMCF and The Bloom Group surveyed 50 marketers, managing directors and other professionals from consulting firms on their web publishing strategies. A number of the participants are AMCF members.

We are pleased to share the research report with our findings:

http://bloomgroup.com/content/monologues-dialogues-consulting-firms-begin-shifting-their-online-publishing-model

An Exclusive Excerpt from Global Tilt by Ram Charan

In this excerpt from his latest book, Global Tilt: Leading Your Business Through the Great Economic Power Shift, Ram Charan writes about “how the new population of innovators” -- many of them without even a college education -- are innovating and sharing in unprecedented ways. Click here to view the excerpt in a PDF.

“Innovation Unleashed” -- From GLOBAL TILT by Ram Charan

Another characteristic of the new world economy will be invention of a type and scale never before seen. Major innovation in the latter part of the twentieth century was, for the most part, institutionalized: highly concentrated in large companies such as Intel, Motorola, Siemens, and Bell Labs and in universities such as MIT, Stanford, and Harvard, and created by a relatively small number of people, most of them experts in one discipline or another. More recently, American tech entrepreneurs have been changing the world. Prominent among them: Steve Jobs, Marc Andreessen (inventor of the browser and now Silicon Valley’s most influential venture capitalist), Jeff Bezos (Amazon), and Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook).

Now a whole new population of innovators is in sight. Vast swarms of people, especially knowledge workers – though also including some who may not even have gone to college – are innovating around the world. Their ability to do so singly and collectively comes largely from the increasing real-time openness and democratization of knowledge and availability of startup funds in a digitized world. The latest help comes from cellular communication. The world’s two and a half billion mobile phone users – smartphones in the mix – are able to share information they could never before access. Much of this innovation is at the local level for the local market, and some will find its way from one country to another. Online contests and crowdfunding help small-scale entrepreneurs get the money they need to develop their ideas.

The new population of innovators will also include many who work in large corporations, according to Scott D. Anthony, managing director of Innosight Asia-Pacific and author of The Little Black Book of Innovation.¹⁵ “The revolution spurred by venture capitalists decades ago has created the conditions in which scale enables big companies to stop shackling innovation and start unleashing it,” he writes in Harvard Business Review.¹⁶ Taking a page from start-up strategy, he says, they “are embracing open innovation and less hierarchical management and are integrating entrepreneurial behaviors with their existing capabilities. . . . It’s early days still, but the evidence is compelling that we are entering a new era of innovation, in which entrepreneurial individuals, or ‘catalysts,’ within big companies are using those companies’ resources, scale, and growing agility to develop solutions to global challenges in ways that few others can.”

¹⁵Scott D. Anthony, The Little Black Book of Innovation (Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business Review Press, 2012).

¹⁶Anthony, “The New Corporate Garage,” Harvard Business Review, September 2012.

Reprinted from the book GLOBAL TILT: Leading Your Business Through the Great Economic Power Shift by Ram Charan with Geri Willigan and Charles Burck. Copyright © 2013 by Ram Charan. Published by Crown Business, a division of Random House, Inc.

TCS-AMCF study results discussed in The Hindu newspaper

According to a recent study conducted by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and the Association of Management Consulting Firms (AMCF), 84 percent of students from top Indian business schools are interested in pursuing a career in consulting. Click on the link below to see a recent article published by The Hindu Times that reviews the results of the study and contains quotes by John Furth, the President and CEO of AMCF and J. "Raj" Rajagopal, EVP and Head of TCS’ Global Consulting Practice, on the state of the US and Indian consulting professions. Click here to view the article on The Hindu's website.

Stephen Kaye of Hay Group appointed CEO

AMCF congratulates Stephen Kaye of member firm Hay Group on being appointed CEO, effective March 25, 2013. “I am honored by the confidence the Board has placed in me and look forward to working with Chris, the Board and Hay Group’s Global Executive Team. Hay Group’s global footprint and the expertise of our consultants around the world means that we can help our clients address their most important issues by helping people and organizations realize their potential,” said Kaye. Click here to read the press release on Hay Group's website

Government Experts, Consultants Discuss Washington’s Human Capital Needs

Roger Bick, Chief Financial Officer for the Air Force Civil Engineer, Scott Quehl, Former Chief Human Capital Officer, Department of Commerce, and Charles Prow, General Manager, IBM Global Business Services, joined Steve Goodrich, founder and CEO of the Center for Organizational Excellence in exploring “Transforming the Federal Government’s Human Capital Model” at AMCF’s January 30th event in Washington DC.

Just like many businesses today, the federal government faces the challenge of having to do more with fewer resources. An additional challenge for the government is that it can’t compete with the private sector on compensation, making its need to attract, nurture, and retain talent even more critical.

Consultants who work with the government need to be mindful of those challenges, and think about the following issues:

• What kind of leadership do government agencies and organizations need to address the possibility of organizations contracting?
• How successful is the government's current approach to succession planning?
• Are federal hiring needs aligned to higher education programs?
• What are the impacts of the new workforce issues and employment deals?

Also discussed was the role that management consultants could play in bringing best practices to the government through the Government Transformation Initiative (GTI). Read more about the GTI here.

AMCF Releases Results of Survey of Indian B-School Students

The Association of Management Consulting Firms has released survey results about the perception of the consulting profession among Indian business school students. Performed in conjunction with TCS’ Global Consulting Practice, the online survey uncovers both similarities and differences in perception among business school students in the U.S. and India.

Carried out November-December 2012, the survey was completed by 979 students at India’s top 10 business schools. They were asked about their interest in consulting as a career, what influenced their opinions about consulting, and their perceptions about specific issues, including work-life balance, and career options post-consulting. For complete results of the survey, log in to the Members’ Only part of the site.

For complete results of the survey, log in to the Members’ Only part of the site.

Women’s Leadership Network Hosts Authors

Sharon Hadary and Laura Henderson, authors of How Women Lead: The 8 Essential Strategies Successful Women Know, were the keynote speakers at AMCF’s Women’s Leadership Network dinner, held December 12 at Tower Watson’s New York City offices. The event was moderated by Ernst & Young’s Mary Elizabeth Porray.

Drawing from research, their own experiences, and insights from their new book, Hadary and Henderson led a lively discussion on what it takes for women to be successful and facilitated breakout groups to help attendees craft their own plans for professional success, based on the strategies in their book.

For more on How Women Lead, go to the Members’ Only part of the site.

AMCF Helps Launch GTI Coalition

AMCF is proud to be a leader in The GTI Coalition, an all-inclusive group of experts and leaders in management and financial performance. The goal of The GTI (Government Transformation Initiative) Coalition is to pass legislation to establish a Government Transformation Commission/Task Force. In turn, the Commission/Task Force will work to make government more economical, effective, results- driven, future-focused, respected, and sustainable. Read more about the GTI coalition here.

At the top of the Coalition are David M. Walker, former United States Comptroller General and head of the United States Government Accountability Office; Barry Melancon, President and CEO, American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, and Steve Goodrich, CEO, the Center for Organizational Excellence, and Vice-Chair, AMCF.

AMCF Horizon Series

Michael J. Saylor, CEO of MicroStrategy and author of The Mobile Wave, gave the keynote talk at AMCF’s Horizon Series Event on Dec. 5, The Future of Mobility and Big Banks: Understand it or Perish. (Read more in our Members’ Only section.)

The event, hosted by Jump Associates, focused on the opportunities and challenges posed to financial services companies by the ubiquity of mobile computing. Michael J. Saylor was joined in a panel discussion by John Rosenfeld, Head of Deposits at TD Bank, and Rich Naddy, Managing Director of Information Services and Global Business Enterprise Payments at Citi. (For more, go to our Members Only section.)

John Furth quoted in several Financial Times articles

AMCF CEO John Furth was quoted in several articles from the Financial Times' Special Report on Management Consulting on subjects ranging from the search for talent to global expansion. Click on the links below to read the articles. If you are not an FT subscriber, you can register for free access to a limited number of articles per month.

Emerging markets: Think local for global expansion

Talent: No stone left unturned in hunt for good recruits

Firms must stay tuned to shifting demands

Public sector: Retrenchment as government work dwindles

2012 Small Firms Leadership Retreat "From Defense to Offense: Reframing the Game" -- November 7-9, 2012

About 30 leaders of small consulting firms came together Nov. 7th and 8th in Palm Beach, Florida to discuss and find solution to challenges they are facing as the consulting industry enters a period of high-growth - the never ending war for talent, the on-going lack of resources, an increasingly complex sales and marketing process and a multitude of pricing models, etc.

We covered a broad array of topics using presentations, interactive discussions and brainstorming sessions:

• Participants learned about new business models that could generate increased value for them and their clients.
• They came away with a better understanding of how they could improve the business development acumen of themselves and their teams.
• They discovered better ways to source the best talent and build a winning team that generates client satisfaction and new business.

Click here to log in to the Members Only website and view each presentation

The Life Sciences Industry in 2020: Ensuring a Sustainable Business Model

Attendance at AMCF’s Life Sciences Leadership Forum, held Oct. 26th at the NY offices of Ernst & Young, was up 50% over last year’s event.

John Castellani, President and CEO, PhRMA, pointed out in his keynote how much the Life Sciences industry depends on consultants not only to help it address such challenges as promoting innovation, improving outcomes, and reducing costs, but also for talent.

The talent theme was echoed by panelist John Connolly, Ed.D., President and CEO, Castle Connolly Medical Ltd., who said the talent pipeline is just as critical a concern as the drug pipeline.

For a full writeup of the event, log in to the Members’ Only section.

Cumberland Consulting CEO James Lewis in the news

James Lewis, the CEO of AMCF member firm Cumberland Consulting, was recently profiled in the Nashville Business Journal.

Since launching Cumberland Consulting Group in 2004 with 6 employees, James has grown the company to 172 employees and gained some big-time recognition in a growing health care field: electronic medical records. Cumberland was recently the highest rated technology consulting company in that field, helping health care providers nationwide achieve what's called "meaningful use" of medical records, a milestone that means billions of dollars in government incentives for providers.

Click here to see the full article from the Nashville Business Journal

AMCF Member Firm Navigant acquires Easton Associates

International consulting firm Easton Associates was recently acquired by AMCF Member Firm Navigant Consulting, Inc. Specializing in product and business strategy for companies in the life sciences industry, Easton will add the experience and expertise of more than 40 professionals to Navigant’s life sciences team, creating a total of over 90 Navigant professionals focused on services for this intensely competitive and highly regulated industry.

“Innovation is a cornerstone of Easton’s philosophy,” said Kris Lowe, Managing Director, Easton Associates. “Navigant shares that commitment with Easton which made the firm a perfect fit for our Easton professionals.”

Click here to see the full press release on Navigant’s website

AMCF Healthcare Event Highlighted in Healthcare Finance News

John Keith, Herb Fritch, Michelle Hoppes, and Jonathan Waltko discuss how healthcare providers can better manage risk and potential new models for reimbursement at AMCF's Healthcare Leadership Forum in Nashville. Read coverage of AMCF's Healthcare Leadership Forum in the October issue of Healthcare Finance News.

Taking Social Media to the Next Level

AMCF’s Marketing Management Affinity Group meeting in Chicago on Sept. 28 was a great success, with some 35 attendees. AMCF CEO John Furth and Bob Buday, president of The Bloom Group LLC, presented findings from AMCF’s Social Media/Voice of the Customer Survey.

Fred Allen, Leadership Editor at Forbes/Forbes.com; Sarah Green, Senior Associate Editor, HBR; and Bill Javetski, EIC, McKinseyQuarterly.com, talked about best practices in social media, based on their highly successful websites.

Breakout sessions focused on How to Make Your Content Compelling; Overcoming Organizational Barriers to an Exceptional Interactive Experience; and How Do You Best Measure Your Firm’s Online Presence?

AMCF Healthcare Event: “In Today’s Uncertain Healthcare System Do What Matters, No Matter What”

An illustrious group of experts from healthcare providers, payers, consulting companies, the U.S. Congress, and the Vanderbilt Owen Graduate School of Management met Friday, September 7, 2012 in Nashville, TN to review the developments of recent years in Obama's campaign to reform healthcare and look ahead to the upcoming elections and beyond.

Keynote speakers Congressman Jim Cooper and Prof. Larry van Horn presented their views of the ability of the federal government to handle not just the politics of reform but also lower a spending deficit that is spiraling out of control.

Click here to watch Rep. Jim Cooper's presentation

Click here to watch Prof. Larry van Horn's presentation

AMCF University Program highlighted by The Drucker Institute

Rick Wartzman highlights AMCF's upcoming CCC webinars for University students in his latest article in Forbes. Rick Wartzman, the Executive Director of The Drucker Institute, a think tank based at Claremont Graduate University, has been writing a column since 2007 first for Businessweek and now for Forbes entitled "The Drucker Difference," honoring the teachings and contributions made by Peter F. Drucker to management consulting.

Click here to see the full article in Forbes

Click here for more information on the free webinar on Oct. 4th and to register

Click here for more information on the free webinar on Oct. 24th and to register

How Consulting Firms are Making Their Marketing More Sociable: A 2012 Research Report

By Robert Buday (President, Bloom Group), John Furth (CEO, the Association of Management Consulting Firms) and ResearchNow

Social media – the LinkedIn discussion thread, the Facebook fan page, the Twitter tweet and other online ways of interacting with the world – has transformed how individuals connect with one another and how businesses and organizations build their brands.

Click here to to see the full article on The Bloom Group's ...

Social Media Strategy Firm Ant's Eye View to Join PwC

NEW YORK, August 14, 2012 – PwC US today announced its intent to acquire substantially all the assets of Ant’s Eye View, a social media strategy development and consulting firm with offices in Seattle, WA, San Jose, CA and Austin, TX.  Combining Ant’s Eye View's social media strategy and digital marketing skills with PwC's Advisory business builds upon the firm’s growing Management Consulting customer impact and customer engagement capabilities.  The deal is expected to close in September.

Click here to see the press release by PwC