Today's Management Consulting Pulse
KPMG partners with Anthropic to embed Claude AI across its global workforce
KPMG announced a global alliance with Anthropic to integrate the Claude large‑language model into its Digital Gateway platform. The move gives every employee in 138 countries direct access to the AI tool and positions KPMG as Anthropic’s preferred consulting partner for private‑equity firms, marking the most extensive AI commitment among the Big Four.
Navigating the “Where to Play” Paradox: How Firms Decide Where to Grow Next
In this episode of Rattle and Pedal, hosts Jason Malicki and Jeff McKay explore the "Where to Play" paradox—how professional‑services firms decide which new markets or adjacencies to pursue. They identify drivers such as AI disruption, regulatory shifts, partner changes, and commoditization of core capabilities, and outline four critical dimensions for evaluating expansion: growth opportunity, risk profile, capability fit (including sales, marketing, and innovation), and brand relevance. The conversation highlights common pitfalls, like over‑weighting opportunity and capability while neglecting investment appetite, risk, and brand fit, and offers a framework to assess these factors before committing resources.
Rethinking ERP Transformation: Daniel Chilton on Adaptive Change and the Human Side of Enterprise Programmes
ERP programmes are traditionally fixed‑scope projects, but business realities shift mid‑stream, causing fatigue and stalled momentum. Embridge Consulting’s Daniel Chilton introduces Elastic Change, a delivery model that blends disciplined governance with adaptable, EQ‑focused leadership. The approach treats ERP as a...
Inside China's 90% Model: How They Capture Global Demand
"𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐦𝐞 𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐚'𝐬 90% 𝐌𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐥?" For over six decades, I’ve had the privilege of advising some of the world’s largest companies, working directly with Fortune 100 CEOs and boards across a wide range of industries and...
Process Excellence Overrated; Focus on Understanding and Common Sense
“Consultants & software cos. preach about #ProcessExcellence. But most business processes don’t need to be ‘excellent.’ All that’s required is understanding & effectiveness in process thinking—and *a big dose* of common sense.” https://t.co/ylz4kVYcuu #BPM #processimprovement
Burp! Tech Mahindra, AI and the Metabolic Rate of Change
Tech Mahindra’s European president says AI has moved beyond a mere enabler to become the core of enterprise strategy, demanding a shift in governance, decision‑making and organizational structure. He warns that firms must adopt an "organizational metabolism" mindset, letting go...
She Tried to Build Her Own Lean Coaching AI. Then She Subscribed to Mine.
A senior continuous‑improvement coach at a community hospital subscribed to the Lean Hospitals Coach after failing to build a custom AI tool. The platform combines Lean problem‑solving structure with Socratic coaching, catching errors like solution‑laden problem statements in real time....
156. Is Your Firm ACTUALLY Profitable?
Fractional CFO firms often mistake personal earnings for firm profitability, especially when bookkeeping and tax services bleed cash. A simple 30‑minute gross‑margin autopsy reveals that high‑margin CFO retainers are subsidizing low‑ or negative‑margin bookkeeping work. By isolating revenue and cost...
Prediction, Prevision, and Performance in Strategy Implementation
The article outlines a three‑layered framework—prediction, prevision, and performance—to improve strategic execution. Prediction delivers data‑driven forecasts, prevision translates those insights into scenarios and capability investments, and performance validates outcomes against objectives. By separating these functions, organizations can align structure, talent,...
Regional AI Transformations Unveiled at MWC2026
#AI at #MWC2026: How leaders are transforming, region by region. (McKinsey) #MWC26 #MWC #JVGpost https://t.co/q6azSptnUD https://t.co/gXtGMSqk67
Algorithmic Management Has Gone From Gig Platforms to Every Workflow
#CIOChat Q1: Algorithmic management used to mean gig platforms scheduling IT contractors. Now it’s everywhere: Collaboration tools assigning work, ticketing systems routing tasks, AI copilots triaging requests. Where are algorithms already managing work in your org today? https://t.co/Vt7ZVWHoh5
Former Verizon CEO Joins Consello as Senior Adviser
Consello, a global advisory and investment firm, has appointed former Verizon and Ericsson chief executive Hans Vestberg as a senior operating adviser. Vestberg joins a roster of ex‑C‑suite leaders whose combined experience exceeds 150 years, covering operational transformation, capital allocation,...
Strategy Summit 2026: Why AI Transformation Needs a Human Touch
In this episode, HBR Editor‑in‑Chief Amy Bernstein talks with Nigel Vaz, CEO of Publicis Sapient, about why AI should be treated as an operating system rather than a mere tool. Vaz argues that AI reshapes decision‑making, speeds up strategy cycles,...
Developing Employees Who Thrive Through Continuous Change
Gartner’s 2026 survey reveals employees endured ten organization‑wide strategy shifts in 2022, up from two in 2016, while willingness to support change fell from 74% to 43%. The article argues that leaders must redesign change programs so workers help shape...
Leaders at All Levels: Kraft Heinz’s 5X Speed Secret
Kraft Heinz slashed its new‑product cycle from 36 months to six by overhauling its development process. The company limited active projects to a "golden number" of seven, consolidated work into a single financial‑outcome‑driven backlog, and granted teams decision rights. These...
Your Employees Aren’t Lazy, They’re Afraid
Employees often appear lazy or resistant, but neuroscience shows they’re actually in threat mode due to change fatigue. The amygdala treats reorganizations, AI rollouts, or new leadership as physical danger, shutting down the pre‑frontal cortex and narrowing focus. Gallup’s 2025...
How Gap Is Trying to Get Its Cool Back
Gap Inc. is leveraging its 1990s heritage to revive brand relevance, spotlighting iconic archive imagery while launching a fresh, music‑video‑style campaign. The new ad features Katseye, a Gen Z girl group, designed for short‑form platforms like TikTok. Within days, teens began...
The Hidden Enemy of Continuous Improvement
The article identifies pusillanimity—"smallness of soul"—as a hidden barrier that prevents organizations from realizing continuous improvement. It explains how this mindset limits ambition, locks away employee creativity, and creates waste beyond the traditional Lean definition. The opposite virtue, magnanimity, encourages...
AI Still Needs Consultants—For Now
OpenAI and Anthropic have signed agreements with major consulting firms to embed generative AI solutions across corporate clients, signaling a short‑term boost for the consulting sector. Analysts caution that while demand for AI‑focused advisory services will surge, the broader consulting...
Forvis Mazars and Klarity Partner for AI
Forvis Mazars LLP has entered a strategic partnership with Klarity, an AI‑powered process‑intelligence platform, to overhaul finance transformation engagements. By embedding Klarity’s AI Observations and AI Interviews, the firm aims to replace time‑intensive interviews and manual data intake with real‑time...
Starting a Consulting Business: How to Get It Right From Day One
The article uses Sara Guttman’s consulting launch to illustrate why new consultants must design their business from day one, not merely react to early client work. It argues that positioning as a strategic partner—rather than a task‑oriented service provider—drives higher...
Business Portfolio to Align with Strategy
Organizations face a volatile environment where two‑thirds of strategy implementations fail. Aligning a project portfolio with corporate strategy maximizes resources, drives performance, and reduces waste. The article outlines a step‑by‑step framework—defining goals, assessing the strategic landscape, establishing a PPM process,...
Theory of Constraints: Why Improving Everything Fails
The article warns that attempting to improve every process simultaneously leads to sub‑optimization, where overall performance barely shifts despite local gains. It introduces the Theory of Constraints (TOC) as a disciplined alternative that focuses improvement on the single bottleneck limiting...
Chaos Reveals Opportunity: Optimize During Organizational Transitions
I've noticed something about the organizations that tend to bring me in for optimization and strategy work. They're almost always in some state of chaos. Restructures still working their way through the system. New leadership with new priorities. Strategic pivots that...
SAP App Cuts Cognitive Friction, Boosts NHL Decisions
The biggest plays in #hockey don’t always happen on the ice. In the National Hockey League (@NHL), front offices make thousands of decisions involving contracts, trades, and salary cap strategy—often under intense time pressure. On the latest episode of the SAP Better...
Embridge Consulting Appoints Alex Ashley-Roberts and Lucy Fox to Strengthen Leadership Team
Embridge Consulting announced the appointment of Alex Ashley‑Roberts and Lucy Fox to its board, bolstering senior leadership as the firm targets the next growth phase in technology‑enabled business transformation. Ashley‑Roberts, former interim head of marketing, will guide sales and marketing...
From Tickets To Outcomes: Your Service Desk As A Product Team
Service desks are shifting from ticket‑centric operations to product‑team models that prioritize business outcomes over volume metrics. Traditional KPIs like ticket count and handling time are being replaced by measures of employee productivity, user sentiment, and time‑to‑value. By adopting product‑owner...
Scale Exposes Weak Assumptions; Test Bets Early
Most strategies fail before execution. They fail when the bet is made. While in Paraguay preparing to speak on strategy, I reflected on a conversation with Brett Hickey of Star Mountain Capital about why scale exposes weak assumptions and how...
Fix Funnels Now or Rebrand First? Choose Wisely
I was in a discovery call this week with a large charity that's got two fundraising products in decline. Both showing appetite from users, but conversion rates are dropping. One product launched strong a few years back but has been falling...
Executive Coaching Without Clear Purpose Is Just Conversation
Executive coaching only delivers impact when anchored to a clearly defined business purpose. CHROs must identify the specific leadership gap, transition or cultural challenge before any session begins. Research shows 61% of new executives feel unprepared, contributing to a 50‑60%...
Treasury to Become Agile with Coaching From Red Badger
HM Treasury has awarded a £17,000 contract to Red Badger to create an Agile Practice Service for its Corporate Centre Group. The three‑month engagement, running from 12 January to 31 March 2026, will deliver a standardized Agile model, toolkit and light‑touch standards. Red...
How To Create More Human Workplaces By Tackling Hidden Patterns
Clay Parker Jones’s new book *Hidden Patterns* offers a systems‑level playbook for building more human workplaces. It catalogs 75 recurring organizational problems and pairs each with core solutions framed as reusable patterns rather than prescriptive procedures. Drawing on behavioral science...
Tech‑Agnostic Consulting Analyzes Entire Program in Real‑Time
We offer unique, tech-agnostic consulting across industries and platforms, capturing real-time data. Unlike specialized firms, we analyze the entire program, including operational aspects. #Consulting #AI #BusinessStrategy https://t.co/LWi1a9dS98
Agentic AI Success Stalls Without New Architecture
Why Agentic AI Demands a New Architecture “Bain's latest AI readiness survey finds that 80% of generative AI use cases met or exceeded expectations, yet only 23% of companies can tie initiatives to measurable revenue gains or cost reductions. The gap...
Lumina Health Partners Joins ECG Management Consultants
Lumina Health Partners has joined ECG Management Consultants, integrating its co‑founders into ECG’s Payer Strategy and Contracting Division. The move deepens ECG’s expertise in value‑based care, combining Lumina’s ten‑year track record advising hospitals with ECG’s national scale and tech‑enabled solutions....
Turning Strategy Slides Into Real Decision Power
Companies often have strategy slides. But when real decisions happen, people still ask: “What does strategy mean here?” On March 17 at 10 AM ET I’m joining Adam Zales of Amplify to discuss how strategy leaders translate strategy into action. #Strategy #Innovation #Leadership #CorporateStrategy...
Execs Praise AI, Employees Unprepared for Implementation Gap
Executives: AI is great, and will serve nicely as co-workers to humans. Workers: Okay, but please tell us how this will work. Accenture research finds a yawning gap between executives’ plans for AI, and employee readiness. via @forbes https://t.co/ryb4hnwrws
6 Steps to Finding an Executive Coach Who Fits Your Culture (and Fixes Your Blind Spots)
The article outlines a six‑step framework for selecting an executive coach that truly fits a company’s culture and leadership needs. It emphasizes starting with clearly defined coaching goals that tie directly to business outcomes, then narrowing the pool to coaches...
AI's Real Power Lies in Boosting Organizational Efficiency
The "how does AI improve individual productivity" discussion is much less interesting than "how does AI improve organizational efficiency?" We have a lot of answers to the former, but it will always get eaten by the latter if we don't...
Map Work Before Tools: Stop Duplicating Processes
Buying more AI tools won’t fix broken workflows. Cisco found 75% of project management tasks are identical across departments. Most companies redesign in silos and duplicate the effort. Map the work first. Redesign second. Deploy tools third. https://t.co/n8xR4tuo7g
The “Last Mile” Problem Slowing AI Transformation
Enterprises are awash with AI pilots, yet most struggle to turn them into enterprise‑wide operating models. The Frontier Firm Initiative (FFI) at Harvard identified seven structural frictions that stall this "last‑mile" transition, ranging from governance gaps to fragmented platform stacks....
AI Eliminates Friction, Not Hard Work: Redesign Workflows
AI doesn’t replace hard work. It replaces: • friction • repetition • bad process design Tool lists don’t create leverage. Workflow redesign does. https://t.co/vA5qiq9PJH
Prioritize Subtraction Over Addition in Education Reform
"No matter the decade you went to school, the time frame is about the same as it is today, but the demands keep increasing. That is an unsustainable model. Focus on subtracting before you even consider adding." 3 Things to Consider When...
Williams Group Heeds Call From Sudan
The Williams Group has signed a one‑year contract to provide strategic counsel, tactical planning, and government‑relations services for war‑torn Sudan, earning a $60,000 monthly retainer. The engagement follows a February peace session that secured preliminary approval for a $1.5 billion package...
How 1 Leadership Advisory Firm Measures a Potential CEO’s Agility
In a climate where 70 percent of CEOs cite high disruption, boards are shifting focus from résumé credentials to executive agility. Russell Reynolds Associates (RRA) uses its 26‑year‑old Leadership Portrait to quantify traits such as curiosity, resilience, and social intelligence, adding...
How to Lead a Team Decimated by Layoffs
Recent AI‑driven layoffs at Block, Citigroup and Morgan Stanley illustrate how market‑focused headcount cuts can boost share prices but leave surviving teams struggling. The article explains that rapid reductions erase informal networks, blur decision authority and damage the psychological contract,...
Embrace AI’s Shifting Productivity Frontier, Don’t Wait
Michael Porter's productivity frontier concept is playing out in real-time. We have 1-2 years where the frontier is getting pushed out by AI before it settles. We get to decide: wait for best practices to emerge, or engage in rebuilding?...
Global Coaches Converge in Miami to Expand Strategies
Last week, 20 business coaches and strategists flew in from New Zealand, Australia, Vancouver, and Europe to meet in Miami. The goal: learn new ways to open strategic possibilities for our clients. If you do strategy work, join us next time. https://t.co/Lfav5nA7hV #BusinessCoaching #Strategy...
Know When AI Delegation Helps Vs. Harms
Sometimes Delegating to AI Causes Damage. Sometimes It's Extremely Useful and Saves Time. But When Should You Use It, and When Shouldn't You? #ArtificialDecisions #MCC https://t.co/hgIwLXkh0v
Same Data, Different Roles Reveal Unique Pain Points
"What pain points emerged this month?" Same question. Six answers depending on your role: investor, researcher, strategist, innovation lead. Same intelligence. Completely different lenses. The depth changes everything.
Private Data Becomes AI's New Gold Rush
The AI Commodity Trap: Why Your Private Data is the New Gold Rush https://t.co/YPhUm65OcN via @DLAIgnite #SocialSelling #DigitalSelling #Sales #SalesLeader #leadership #Marketing #ArtificialInteligence #ArtificialIntelligence #Innovation #Technology #Tech #TechNews https://t.co/KKtghDgXXJ