Picking up on the Management Blog’s scoopette about McKinsey advising Wall Street investment banks to spend less on consultants, the Economist today looks at how the broader, $309bn-a-year management consulting industry will be affected by the carnage in the markets.

While noting that revenues seemed to hold up well in the first half of the year, it said the industry faces the prospect of cancelled contracts and possible consolidation. Moreover, consultants need a new product to sell, it reckoned:

All consultants agree that emerging markets such as China, India and the Middle East offer the best opportunities for the future. But they accept that most of their business will come from the developed world for a while yet. So the industry badly needs a “Big New Idea” that it can sell to clients there. Previous consulting booms were built on ideas such as “total quality management” and re-engineering. But at the moment consultants have no successor to such money-spinners.

Does anyone know any management consultants specialising in advice to the management consulting industry? There could be an opportunity there.

September 26, 2008 1:50pm in Hard times, Strategy/ops | Comment