Download - Amsterdam Keynote June 2007
Balancing productivity, client service, staff retention, growth and profitability
Amsterdam, June 2007
April 12, 2023 1© ParkWood Advisors LLC, 2005
All Rights Reserved
30+ years in technology 20+ years in consulting Published author (four books) and
columnist (CIO Insight) World’s top 25 most influential
consultants (2003) Computerworld 100 Leaders in IT
(2005) Retired head of Innovation and
Strategy at Ernst & Young LLP (September 2001)
Retired CTO of Capgemini (July 2005)
© ParkWood Advisors LLC, 2005 All Rights Reserved 2
[email protected]+1 847 235 1791www.parkwoodadvisorsonline.com
April 12, 2023
ParkWood Advisors LLC, 2007. All rights reserved.Reproduction or translation of any part of this work, beyond that permitted by Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act without the permission of the copyright owner is unlawful. Requests for permission or further information should be addressed to John Parkinson, at the address given above.
This presentation is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard of the subject matter covered. It is made available with the understanding that the intent is not to render legal, investment, accounting or other professional advisory services.
If investment advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought.
© ParkWood Advisors LLC, 2005 All Rights Reserved 3April 12, 2023
What (some) clients are telling us…. Observations from a graduating MBA
class…. Questions we need to answer Some ideas to consider Conversation
April 12, 2023 4© ParkWood Advisors LLC, 2005 All
Rights Reserved
“Some people, if they don’t already know, you can’t tell them”
April 12, 2023© ParkWood Advisors LLC, 2005
All Rights Reserved 5
Work our way, in our organizational culture: Adapt to us, don’t make us adapt to you
We hired you for your knowledge of best practices and heuristics – so where are they?
We hired you for your experience – stop sending us people to be trained
I want you to bring me new ideas – but I want ideas that will work
Treat your people better: There’s something wrong when we treat them better than you do
April 12, 2023© ParkWood Advisors LLC, 2005
All Rights Reserved 6
“Applying six sigma to the weather is a waste
of time…”
April 12, 2023© ParkWood Advisors LLC, 2005
All Rights Reserved 7
Few MBAs actually achieve the broad view of what’s needed by an “experienced” advisor
Sure, they’re smart, but what do they actually know?
The most interesting action is believed to be in emerging markets
“Consulting looks interesting until you realize that you’ll never really implement anything”
“I don’t want to wait a decade to have an impact”
April 12, 2023© ParkWood Advisors LLC, 2005
All Rights Reserved 8
“In theory, theory and practice are the
same. In practice, they’re different”
April 12, 2023© ParkWood Advisors LLC, 2005
All Rights Reserved 9
Is this just noise in the system or are we seeing a fundamental shift in both demand and supply in the global management consulting marketplace?
April 12, 2023© ParkWood Advisors LLC, 2005
All Rights Reserved 10
“I don’t know what it is but you need a new one”
What will recruits and experienced entrants expect from our firms in the next five years?
How will expectations change? What about "Global Sourcing"? How do we ensure quality of resources
when they are thousands of miles away and from very different cultural backgrounds?
April 12, 2023© ParkWood Advisors LLC, 2005
All Rights Reserved 11
What's new in what our clients are asking for in services and capabilities?
Are the buyers changing and if so how? How do clients want to engage and contract
with their external advisors? What will all the "client relationship"
process look like in the future? How do we associate “price” and “value”?
April 12, 2023© ParkWood Advisors LLC, 2005
All Rights Reserved 12
If work will not necessarily be performed where the client is located (or even where we are located), how does this impact:◦ The structure of the firm? ◦ The culture of the firm?◦ Supervision of the work? ◦ Quality assurance? ◦ Risk management?
April 12, 2023© ParkWood Advisors LLC, 2005
All Rights Reserved 13
Are we correctly aligned with our clients expectations for capability and service?
Can we serve both "best of breed" and "one stop shop" demands?
What's the right approach to business partnering and collaboration?
April 12, 2023© ParkWood Advisors LLC, 2005
All Rights Reserved 14
What skills should we be attracting or developing?
What should we be doing to improve/defend/share our intellectual capital?
April 12, 2023© ParkWood Advisors LLC, 2005
All Rights Reserved 15
How should we think about structuring the firm to deliver against all these changes? ◦ Ownership?◦ People? ◦ Pricing? ◦ Sales model? ◦ Delivery model? ◦ Relationship model?
April 12, 2023© ParkWood Advisors LLC, 2005
All Rights Reserved 16
"You've got to be very careful if you don't know where you're going, because you might not get
there."
April 12, 2023© ParkWood Advisors LLC, 2005
All Rights Reserved 17
Educating clients: ◦ How we make money◦ What “mutual success” looks like
The network model for sourcing New career options: what can we do to stay
in touch? New competitors: what can we learn from
others?
April 12, 2023© ParkWood Advisors LLC, 2005
All Rights Reserved 18
One size does not fit all?
We are uncovering better ways of delivering practical advice by active participation in improving our clients performance and helping others develop and execute ideas.
Through this work we have come to value:◦ Individuals and interactions over processes and tools◦ Working processes over comprehensive documentation◦ Customer collaboration over contract negotiation◦ Responding to change over following a plan
That is, while there is value in the items on the right, we value the items on the left more
© ParkWood Advisors LLC, 2005All Rights Reserved 19April 12, 2023
April 12, 2023© ParkWood Advisors LLC, 2005
All Rights Reserved 20
Advisory services
Process outsourcing
Project-based
consulting
A diverging spectrum of A diverging spectrum of practice?practice?
“Expert” front officeResearch back officeWork in the client’s cultureEffectiveness paradigmRetainer relationshipReward for businessresults
“Delivery” front officeExpert back officeWork with the client’s cultureAdaptive, template-driven work processBalance effective and efficientCost + relationshipReward for projectresults
“Service” front officeSix-sigma back officeConnect to the client’s cultureManage interfacesEfficiency paradigmPrice relationshipReward for customersatisfaction
© ParkWood Advisors LLC, 2005 All Rights Reserved 21April 12, 2023
An opportunityto debate and disagree…..