Disruptive Forces Afoot : Prospective Conundrums for Management Consulting - An Explorative Study of Disruptions within the Swedish Industry

Abstract: We examine the influence of disruptive forces and innovations on the role of management consultants; specifically how the practitioners themselves interpret changes in fundamental conditions for their profession, later analyzed through the lens of the disruptive innovation theory. With the help of in-depth interviews limited to the Swedish consulting industry, the Big Three traditional strategy consulting firms and the Big Four accounting firms are included in the study, with the aim to study the possible differences in the effect on and reaction from these firms. Previous research proposes that several different forces are currently disrupting the consulting industry and our findings suggest that several parts of the consultant’s role arecurrently being or beginning to be disrupted and the results partly show where consultants think they and their industry are headed. The Big Three appear to be responding faster to the change, but all the studied firms are likely to take new technology into account as they develop their future value proposition. This study most importantly adds to the list of possible disruptions for the consulting industry and extends the knowledge about the implications discussed in previous studies. Moreover, this thesis adds to existing theory, while also forming empirical evidence about how different firms are reacting to trends and changes. From a practical standpoint, these new insights ought to be of use to future research and to professionals looking to gain insights into the current state of their industry and where it might be headed.