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Strategy consulting

March

David Sacks ran Scyne Advisory’s business in Melbourne.

PwC spin-off Scyne loses one of its most senior executives

David Sacks said he had decided to leave the professional services industry entirely and “apply my energy to provide more leading and doing”.

There’s a sure-fire way to keep investors happy: grow earnings.

Bankers want just one thing from companies – and it’s not value

Investors keep bidding up growth companies, so it is up to boards to work out how to capitalise. Do they want an easy life on the ASX?

February

Canberra’s addiction to consultants is unending.

PwC spin-offs feast on taxpayer consultant addiction

Granting Scyne more than $12 million in taxpayer contracts this year alone doesn’t sound like the government is cutting consultant spending.

January

Markets are loving Trump 2.0 – for now. Australian business should sense opportunity.

Bumpy Trump era can be boom years for Australia, investors

Australian boardrooms can’t know what his second presidency holds, but they need to be ready to seize opportunities. Change is coming.

December 2024

AFR COMPOSITE -
New Oliver Wyman partner Louise PortelliNew Oliver Wyman partner Tim JacksonNew Oliver Wyman senior advisor Jim Murphy

 Photo: Supplied.

Strategy firm hires former Scyne, PwC partner

Oliver Wyman continues to build up its government consulting practice with the hire of Tim Jackson, expanding the team to 25.

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November 2024

Big four

What the inquiry into the structure of the big four firms recommended

A summary of the key recommendations from the joint parliamentary inquiry into the structure of the big four consulting firms and what they mean for the sector.

Bain consultants assisted NAB executives with a strategy refresh.

NAB tapped Bain & Company for its strategy refresh

Consulting firm Bain was called in to help National Australia Bank with its new strategy focusing on customers, it can be revealed.

October 2024

Franco Santucci is leading the new Arthur D. LIttle operation in Australia.

World’s oldest consulting firm reopens in Australia

Arthur D. Little, the world’s original consulting firm, once again has a dedicated Australian operation that will initially aim to win work in the energy sector.

Outgoing EY Port Jackson Partners managing directer Byron Pirola and new leader Chris Paxton.

EY’s local strategy division appoints deals veteran as leader

Clients are willing to pay a premium for strategy advisers who are also experienced industry experts, says the new managing partner of EY’s local strategy arm.

September 2024

Kevin Sweeney is a former McKinsey consultant who now gets work through the Expert360 platform. Wednesday 3rd April 2024 AFR photo

Consulting firms hurt as companies treat change as ‘business as usual’

Companies are building up internal teams of consultants and technology experts, fuelling the rise of consulting marketplaces and cutting demand for big advisory firms.

Downer boss Peter Tompkins is on a mission to change the company’s organisational psychology.

Back to basics works for bombed out blue chips

Here’s a lesson for all the new CEOs; investors prefer it when you fix what you’ve got, rather than chase what you think you need.

August 2024

Bob Willen says Kearney remains one of the few “pure play” management consulting firms.

Strategy firm wins work by focusing on traditional advice

Kearney says it has found its “sweep spot” by assessing the “essential rightness” of prospective projects and clients.

Chief executive Jamie Dimon says AI can help JPMorgan Chase develop new products, drive customer engagement, improve productivity and enhance risk management.

AI curiosity is defying consulting slump: McKinsey

McKinsey is seeing an increase in the number of clients seeking artificial intelligence-linked projects, as faster adoption of the technology helps the consulting titan and its peers boost revenue following a period of tumult.

July 2024

New Ramsay Health Care boss Natalie Davis joins from Woolworths, where she runs its Australian supermarkets.

Why Australia’s No.1 hospitals business poached a supermarkets boss

Ramsay Health Care chairman David Thodey is trading in deep industry knowledge and expertise for a consultant’s mindset. Will it work?

McKinsey’s global managing partner Bob Sternfels.

Is McKinsey a partnership? Court case, leadership battles stir debate

A former senior partner is suing McKinsey after he was fired for having “communicated about document deletion” relating to the firm’s advice to opioid manufacturers.

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The big four firms have been hardest hit by the drop in client demand.

Consultants face decade-low growth slump

Annual growth in the sector is forecast to fall to its lowest level – apart from the short-lived pandemic slump – since 2015.

BCG’s local boss Grant McCabe on why he has taken up pilates

Boston Consulting Group’s Australian chief, Grant McCabe, says rookie executives should “remove that baggage” about whether they are going to succeed.

June 2024

Ilan Leshetz and Asha Walsh, of Oaktree Talent Group, say lifestyle considerations are a factor in consultants wanting to exit their firms.

Tough jobs market for consultants wanting to jump ship to industry

Advisers seeking exit opportunities or new roles after job cuts are facing fierce competition for ‘transformation’ and ‘strategy’ roles in companies.

Aristocrat chief executive Trevor Croker is thinking about doing something unlike the poker machines group: sell an asset.

Why pokies giant Aristocrat is doing a U-turn on computer games

Aristocrat Leisure went big into developing non-gambling computer games less than a decade ago. Now it is considering an exit, in full.

Times are tough in the consulting sector.

The many-sided crisis in management consulting

Artificial intelligence can increasingly do the lower end of consulting work, meaning the profession may very well be in secular decline.

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/topic/strategy-consulting-1mr3