Overview
In order to provide an alternative to global management consulting companies operating on the African continent, a group of senior professionals has embarked on a journey to create a homegrown, pan-African strategic advisory business.
The Challenge
In order to assist the leadership team with this very ambitious task, we needed to understand the future market drivers in the professional services space as well as the emerging client needs that this new venture could rely on.
Our Approach
After an extensive engagement process with subject matter experts, we were able to map out four future market scenarios for the professional services space both globally and on the African continent. We then engaged with the organisation’s leadership team and key client stakeholders to understand where we could see local applications of these trends. We also designed a high impact workshop to embed the learning into the client’s organisation.
Key Insight
For a long time, the big three management consultancies McKinsey, Bain and Boston Consulting group dominated the market by providing strategic advice from their ‘one-stop shops’. Clients are increasingly aware that no one company has all the answers or the right mix of talent to suit their specific needs. It’s for this reason that clients are starting to “cherry-pick” talent from across different companies and creating their own project teams. Some first-mover companies are also actively choosing to partner and co-create new service offerings with competitors and non-competitors alike.
The Outcome
We are still working with the leadership of this organisation to prioritise the rollout of strategic initiatives based on their desired future market positioning.