28 Strategy Consultants – One Line Descriptions

This article is part of my search to identify the competitiveness of, and competitive differentiation between, strategy consultants in the UK. It should be read in conjunction with previous articles but in particular 22 Strategy Consultants  - 2 Big Questions. 

You Compete For the Future With Words

In previous articles  measured and ranked relative competitiveness based on reported numbers. But competing for the future is about words.

Value propositions to customers, strategic intent to investors, vision to staff and negotiation with partners – it’s all about what people say. But this is often looked down upon as some sort of spin or marketing bullshit.  Nothing could be further from the truth.

A company that speaks with one voice, using largely the same vocabulary, is focused – its operating functions all heading in the same direction. Every day every company sends out a mass of messages. Most of these are verbal – planning and implementation, employee reviews, meetings with prospects or partners, negotiations, projects, busioness cases, introductions, presentations… 

How many contra-dictions do you think there may be in your organisation? 

What Do Strategy Consultants Do?

I’ve used text analytics to understand what these consultants are saying about themselves. Generally they say a lot. And generally the more they say the less it means. It takes competitive analysis, planning and discipline to reduce.   

Over the next few weeks I’ll be revealing the key themes of their sites and showing you what they do, how they do it and who they do it for. But before we look in detail at this analysis let’s start off by asking them what they do.  

In as few words as possible please!   (Italics in body copy denote my paraphrasing as opposed to definitively stated text). 

ATKearney

No other top-tier management consulting firm has our resources, breadth and passion to help big companies solve problems and transform operations. 

Bain and Company

We’re the elite of the elite and work with big clients who want change and delivered results that build value.

Boston Consulting Group

We’re thinkers and ideas people that help the biggest organisations sustain competitive advantage.

Bearing Point

We do everything but basically we’re BI systems integrators for very big companies whom we seek to empower.

Booz Allen Hamilton

We’re a global strategy and technology consulting firm that works with clients to deliver results that endure.

Cap Gemini

We contribute to business transformation and economic performance based on in-depth knowledge of client industries and processes. 

Collinson Grant

We’re successful because we’re straight talkers who employ diverse people to do different types of consulting work for both small and large companies.

Corporate Executive Board

We create an environment where members can learn from each others successes and failures.

Dunn Humby

We have a unique approach called Relevance Marketing which protects and enhances your brand.

Everystone (WPP)

We work at board level practicing marketing-led business change, combining marketing creativity with management consulting rigour.

Inzenka

We create new propositions and businesses for FTSE 100 companies who want growth.

KAE

We provide a comprehensive new proposition development service that combines marketing creativity with consultancy rigour and analysis.

LEK Partnership

We are a big company with the expertise and analytics capability to give executives the answers they need to make critical business decisions.

Marakon

We are world leaders in value creation and work for some of the world’s best known companies.

Mars and Company

We are a battle planning strategy consulting firm of Boston Consulting Group standard with the exception that we won’t work for your competitors.

McKinsey

You know who we are so we don’t boast, but we partner with leaders, rely on facts and deliver superior results and service.

Mercer (Marsh McClennan)

We’re a premier strategy and operations firm; part of a much bigger group, with proprietary techniques focused on value growth.

Monitor Group

We are successful merchant bankers who have moved into management consulting successfully because we attract and retain talented people.

OC&C

We partner with big and small companies for all sorts of strategic work based on our belief that profitable growth is the best route to shareholder value.

PA Consulting (strategy practice)

We deliver excellence in strategy and marketing solutions, world class execution and innovative approaches to solving business issues.  

Parthenon

We are a strategic boutique and investment firm, pioneers of risk-based fees, working with senior executives in leading companies to create long term value.

Prophet

We help senior marketeers make their budgets work harder by combining analytics with creative techniques to grow their brands.

PRTM

We make a lasting difference for our clients by delivering operational strategies, with high ethical standards, that challenge convention.

Quest World Wide

We work globally from our country Manor House addressing key business issues to deliver change.

Roland Berger

We are a big European firm that has grown globally by attracting the best analytical and creative minds.

SDG Europe

We deliver creative strategies, based on decades of innovation, that help clients build internal competencies and face competitive challenges.

Spectrum (Value Partners)

We provide outstanding service to well known clients in digital broadcasting
and telecoms who need help with commercial strategy.

ZS Associates

We are a global company that delivers customised consulting solutions to clients who need successful transformation of their sales and marketing. 

Did you notice anything?

There are some patterns in there. I’ll show you what they are in posts to come.

Competitive Transparency

There is something that needs pointing out about Marakon in particular.

They make a very bold claim about world leadership in value creation. This is not just a claim for expertise – it’s a claim for the crown. And, in the UK, at least, this is at serious odds with the company’s poor competitive position. Their liabilities outweigh their assets. Their financial health has declined four years out of the last 5 (Source: Company Watch).

Social media means stakeholders can circumvent the company to talk directly. In a competitively transparent world communication contradictions are ruthlessly exposed. Companies are losing control of their external communications. This is partly why competiveness is now about the whole of the business.

Because the whole of business is about competitveness.

Keep posted!

© 2007 Luke 4:23 The analyses and comment in this blog are designed to stimulate discussion about the effectiveness and competitiveness of strategy consulting in the
UK. My competitive perceptions and methodologies are up for additional peer review. However, the content is not to be distributed, reproduced, edited or quoted for commercial purposes without prior written consent. Blog links, however, are welcomed.