HBR: Consulting on the Cusp of Disruption

Consulting on the Cusp of Disruption is an excellent article written by Clayton M. Christensen, Dina Wang, and Derek van Bever in the October 2013 issue of Harvard Business Review. Clayton M. Christensen is the Kim B. Clark Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. Dina Wang, formerly an engagement manager at McKinsey & Company, was a fellow at the Forum for Growth and Innovation at Harvard Business School and has just returned to the firm. Derek van Bever,a senior lecturer at Harvard Business School, is the director of the Forum for Growth and Innovation and was a member of the founding executive team of the advisory firm CEB.

The basic premise is there are three consulting business models, and the more traditional solution-shop model is at risk of being disrupted by other models. According to the article, the main differences among them are as follows:

Solution Shop

• Structured to diagnose and solve problems whose scope is undefined
• Delivers value primarily through consultants’ judgment rather than through repeatable processes
• Customers pay high prices in the form of fee-for-serviceExamples: McKinsey, Bain, BCG, IDEO
  

Examples: McKinsey, Bain, BCG, IDEO

Value-Added Process Business

• Structured to address problems of defined scope with standard processes
• Processes are usually repeatable and controllable
• Customers pay for output only

Examples: Motista, Salesforce.com, McKinsey Solutions
Accenture, Deloitte (both moving toward solution shop)

Facilitated Network

• Structured to enable the exchange of products and services
• Customers pay fees to the network, which in turn pays the service provider

Examples: OpenIDEO, CEB, Gerson Lehrman Group, Eden McCallum, BTG

Read the entire article and let us know what you think!

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