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Market conditions Trump, tariffs, and the death of base assumptions Thursday 7^th June, 2018 By B.J. Richards. For all President Trump’s shortcomings (and I, for one, have been known to go hoarse expounding them), his administration has thus far proven a pretty darn good deal for America’s consultants. So far, the economy has continued to look sharp; a rather, uh, relaxed approach to regulation has allowed compliance-wary businesses to shift their focus to other priorities; and a tax overhaul that one might modestly describe as “business-friendly” has freed up a whole lot of corporate cash that’s being eagerly poured into growth, technology, and operational improvement initiatives. So far, it seems consultants have had little reason to complain. Indeed, after getting off to a slow start (much of that owing to clients wanting to find their feet in Trumplandia... Read more Categories: Market conditions	Market conditions Trump v. the ACA: inevitability takes a beating Thursday 30^th November, 2017 By B.J. Richards One of the perks of being a Source analyst is that we get to pick the brains of some of the world’s top consulting talent as a routine part of the job. And sometimes, if we’re really lucky, we get to question them on a topic that’s not only important to Source’s research but of great personal interest as well. And so it was with great anticipation that I approached my first post-election meeting with a US consulting leader in late November last year. Like many of my fellow Americans, the elevation of one Donald J. Trump to the highest office in the land had me in a state of shock: The inevitable had been thwarted, and the impossible had come to pass. It was disorienting, and I was eager to talk to someone who I believed could tell me ~what it all meant~ Read more Categories: Market conditions
Market conditions UK consulting in 2017: Now more than ever, “keep calm and carry on” Wednesday 8^th March, 2017 By B.J. Richards. “Keep calm and carry on”: The plucky little exhortation with the horrifying backstory became positively ubiquitous over the last few years, gracing countless coffee mugs and greeting cards while keeping many a London souvenir shop afloat. Irrepressibly British, the WWII-era sentiment clearly struck a chord with a recession-weary citizenry upon its rediscovery at the end of the noughties. Read more Categories: Market conditions	Market conditions Client behaviour China: Not your grandpa’s kind of grown-up Monday 21^st November, 2016 By B.J. Richards. “My grandpa is still waiting for me to grow up!” announced my good friend Josh to peals of laughter as we sat in a swanky London cocktail bar. It had been a while since we’d seen him, and we were thrilled that a speaking engagement had brought him to town. You see, Josh’s job as a professor and principal investigator at a top-ten global research institution keeps him pretty busy, so we don’t get to see him as much as we’d like. Read more Categories: Market conditions, Client behaviour
Market conditions Innovation How not to be an American Psycho: avoiding the creepy side of digitization Thursday 30^th June, 2016 By B.J. Richards. Several months ago, I was talking with a gentleman in the fitness industry who excitedly told me about an app he’s working on. Its purpose is to encourage friendships among his gym’s members, presumably in the interest of building brand loyalty. Among the app’s many features, it will send you notifications throughout the day when someone from your favorite fitness class is nearby, “so you could maybe get together and grab a coffee or something.” Read more Categories: Market conditions, Innovation	Technology consulting Client behaviour IT consulting A career track for Trekkies Thursday 12^th May, 2016 By B.J. Richards. The management consultant and the computer nerd. Hardly the same species, it’s almost as though they are of two different worlds. One is slick, well-manicured, and effortlessly works the room in a suit that cost more than my rent. The other spends long, solitary nights hopped up on Mountain Dew, furiously tapping away at a keyboard, clad in a Cheeto-stained hoodie. Could they ever learn to get along, to join forces for the common good? Perhaps if the fate of the world hung in the balance. How about the fate of the Benelux consulting market? Like consulting firms in most markets, those in the Benelux region are facing a dire shortage of consultants with the digital skills they need to grow. Unable to hire, acquire, or train techy consultants as... Read more Categories: Technology consulting, Client behaviour, IT consulting