Smaller, flexible consultancies fit into client teams, adapt to real needs and put senior specialists on the work. Research points the same way.
The way organisations buy advice is changing. In a widely cited Harvard Business Review article, Clayton Christensen, Dina Wang and Derek van Bever described consulting as an industry on the cusp of disruption. Clients were breaking projects into parts, sending each part to the most suitable provider and taking more of the work in-house. Smaller firms that assemble compact teams of experienced independent consultants were winning work, including from large clients.
Why smaller often works better
Senior people do the work. Large professional firms are built on leverage, the ratio of junior to senior staff, as David Maister explained in Managing the Professional Service Firm. High leverage is efficient for the firm, but it means that much of the day-to-day work is done by junior people. In a boutique, the specialists who design an engagement are the ones who deliver it.
Teams fit into yours. Christensen and his co-authors observed that clients turn to modular providers when they feel they are paying for capabilities they do not need, and when they want faster, more responsive service and more control. A small team can join your management meetings, work alongside your people and change course when your needs change, without a heavy delivery machine behind it.
Specialists are chosen for the problem. Research by Harvard Business School and Boston Consulting Group, based on a survey of nearly 700 senior US business leaders, shows companies increasingly blending their own staff with highly skilled on-demand talent. Users report gains in speed to market, productivity and ability to innovate. A curated network makes this practical: the right expert for each question, not whoever happens to be available.
Lower overhead, more value. The same HBR analysis notes that smaller firms avoid much of the cost of idle staff, expensive offices and in-house recruiting and training. That saving can go into more senior time on the client’s problem.
What to ask any consulting partner
Who exactly will do the work, and how much of their time will you get? Can they show relevant experience for each specialist they propose? Will the team work inside your organisation, with your people and tools? Is the scope clearly defined, with milestones you can check? And what will stay with your organisation when the engagement ends?
Why NOCTRAM is organised this way
This is why NOCTRAM is organised as a small consultancy with a large network of experts. We combine their expertise into tailored, flexible solutions for each company’s needs, and the senior specialists who design a solution stay involved in delivering it. Our clients value this model. For years we have worked with European institutions, such as the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) in Budapest and its Knowledge and Innovation Communities, and with SMEs and industrial associations across Europe and beyond.