Value Chain Integration: Building Constellations

Abstract

Value chain integration is one of the ways in which consulting firms have been able to reconcile what they perceived to be conflicting demands from clients. It’s one of those magic terms that suggest that someone somewhere is adding value. If you’re lucky, it’s your organisation, but it doesn’t really matter too much as long as someone in the chain is doing it. For the small, specialised firm, collaborating with different partners means that you have access to projects which would have been beyond your individual capabilities. For larger, more broadly-based firms, it’s a way of getting access to the highly-specialised skills your client wants without having to acquire or develop them yourself.

The challenge going forward is the same for consultants as it is for their clients — how to combine the best of the ‘old’ and the ‘new’.

David Yates, General Manager, American Management Systems, Europe