How is the consulting market structured today?
The consulting market is characterized by a large number of different providers: a few global players face a large number of smaller challengers and niche players that offer consulting services specialized in individual consulting fields or industries. Due to the increased competition, all consulting providers must open up new growth areas by offering new consulting services or new delivery and service models. In many cases it can be observed that consulting companies, regardless of which segment, compete for the same projects and clients. As a result, the different types of consulting and consulting segments are growing closer together and it is becoming more difficult to differentiate them.
What’s the best way to navigate through the consulting „jungle“?
Cardea AG has been specialized in identifying, evaluating and selecting external consultants for its clients for more than a decade. Cardea offers its clients transparency about consulting firms in relevant markets and topics, transparency about proven performance and experience as well as transparency about experts & teams and knowledge & methods.
For the positioning and differentiation of consulting companies, 4 criteria have proven themselves:.
1. Management consulting by industry
A consultant's industry expertise is one of the most important selection criteria for clients. Experience in a client's industry enables the management consultant to quickly capture and gain a good understanding of the client company, its business, its environment and its challenges. In addition, clients often ask for comparable benchmarks and best practices from other companies. Consulting firms can only provide this knowledge through broad and deep knowledge and experience of the relevant industry and markets.
2. Business Consulting by topics (functions).
Technical or functional know-how demanded by clients is another important prerequisite that a consulting company must bring with. Evidence of successful solutions to similar problems is a key aspect in ensuring that clients have confidence in a consultant's ability to provide support. Only the professional experience gained in this way enables the consulting company to develop and implement efficient and suitable solutions for clients.
3. Management consulting by region
Consulting projects may require local market knowledge or international experience. If projects take place in specific regions or markets, consulting companies must know the local markets and environment, and if necessary also must have corresponding office locations and experts on site. In addition, international requirements often play a role, for example when developing and rolling out global solutions, taking into account regional specifications. In these cases, the consultant's international experience and ability to think and act in international dimensions is crucial.
4. Management consulting by roles
Different consulting projects require different types of consulting roles. There are many definitions of consultant roles, from coach and sparring partner to advisor and problem solver to change manager and implementer. Most consulting firms offer different roles to clients. The answer to the question how a consultant ideally should be deployed and what role the consultant should take over depends on various factors, but mainly on the assignment type and tasks the consultant should fulfil, the available internal resources and qualifications of the client’s staff and the desired form of collaboration with the consultant.
Consultingsearcher
With consultingsearcher's search engine, you can quickly and conveniently find consulting firms with competencies in your industry, combined with the desired professional and regional know-how. You can additionally differentiate desired roles to find the consulting firms that exactly meet your needs.
