| | By Mick James
It’s nearly 120 years
since Arthur D Little
founded what was
arguably the world’s
first management
consultancy and, despite
some problems early this
century, the firm that
bears his name still
exists. As a research
chemist with expertise
in synthetic fibres,
Little was also famous
for proving that you
could – literally – make
a silk purse out of a
sow’s ear, and that’s
quite a metaphor for
what’s happened recently
in the consultancy
industry. The upheavals
the industry has gone
through have ultimately
provoked a new wave of
vitality and energy that
is spreading through the
industry.
Nowhere is this more
true than the formerly
staid strategy and
operations sector,
currently flavour of the
month with clients.
Often seen as having
been “niched” by the
audit firms, and no
threat to the rest of
the industry, now these
firms are on something
of a roll – and they are
clearly dangerous when | |
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| | hungry.
Like A.T. Kearney,
ADL has ground to make
up. After it went into
Chapter 11 in 2001, the
firm was sold off to a
number of buyers. The
French conglomerate
Altran acquired the
worldwide rights to the
Arthur D Little brand as
well as the operations
in Europe, Asia and
Latin America, but this
left significant holes
in the network, notably
in the US and the UK.
According to global
CEO Richard Clarke, the
Arthur D Little brand
has proved a powerful
weapon in rebuilding
that presence.
“A common comment we
get is ‘where have you
guys been?” he says.
“The brand itself still
has enormous and strong
equity – it’s both an
opportunity and a
challenge for us.”
With offices in
Boston, Houston, Chicago
and New York, the firm
has already gone a long
way to achieving its
target. Now London and
Asia are major areas for
investment and growth.
“Strategy and
operations consultancy
is reckoned to be | |
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| | growing at between five
and 10% per annum, and
we’ve achieved year on
year growth of over
10%,” says Clarke. “From
the perspective of
issues of scale we aim
to get to critical mass
by scaling to two to
three times that size in
the next five years.”
ADL’s owner, the
Altran group, owns
nearly 200 other
companies operating in
consultancy and related
areas, but there are no
plans to try and stitch
them together into a
monster consultancy.
Altran companies do work
together, however, and,
where it makes sense,
some firms – such as the
Johnson Group in the US
– may be transferred to
the ADL brand. However
the group is prepared to
invest in the growth of
ADL, which Clarke sees
as part of the
considerable impetus now
in the market for
independent strategy and
operational consultancy.
UK managing director
Rick Eager agrees:
“Clients are a lot more
selective in the way
they buy consultancy
now; they are looking
for experts, people with | |
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| | genuine knowledge,” he
says. “Rather than take
a whole team that goes
through to outsourcing
and implementation,
they’re looking for the
best experts they can
find at the strategy
end. And they’re more
willing to pick and
mix.”
This movement is also
reflected within the
industry.
“Because of the trend
towards outsourcing and
offshoring, some large
firms are offering
strategy advice for
free,” he says. “In some
cases we are finding
that many senior
partners at these firms
are very keen to move to
a firm like ADL which is
in the business of
providing independent
strategy advice.”
To capitalise on the
trend away from the
“one-stop shop”, ADL is
recruiting at all
levels, looking for new
blood both from industry
and the universities.
It is looking for
recruits who can help it
capitalise on its key
differentiators of
innovation and managing
complexity.
Engineering and | |
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| | science graduates have
proved a rich
recruitment seam for the
firm. “Quite a number
of our consultants
graduated in something
technical,” says Eager.
“A lot are chemical
engineers because they
already think in process
terms: it’s the way
their minds have been
taught.”
While the ADL brand
is still well known at
client level, it is less
so among graduates and
so the firm has had to
re-establish itself as a
destination of choice
for this young,
ambitious group.
“It’s important not
to use the brand the
wrong way,” says Eager.
“Our tradition
represents a culture and
a way of working, but we
also need to create new
and innovative products
and services for
clients, and
differentiate ourselves
in the market place. You
don’t do that just by
looking to the past.”
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