Skills Integration: An Unworkable Model?

Abstract

Integrated working was one of the ‘discoveries’ of the consulting industry in the late 1990s. After decades in which consulting firms — large and small — had divided themselves into functional or industry-related business units, there was a recognition that more value was to be created by enabling people with different skill sets to work more closely together. This value took many forms. Integrated working meant faster working, as tasks which previously had to be done in sequence — the strategy, then the technology — could be done in tandem. It also meant more innovation, as people combined their different perspectives to create new solutions.

[The e-consultancies] attracted a large number of very talented consultants, who were not only excellent in their chosen field of specialisation, but also very well-suited to a collaborative style of working… But these firms also had an impact at a conceptual level. They took a more creative approach to organisational design, and introduced new business models which the industry is still in the process of evaluating and assimilating. Like the development of any new product, there’s been an inevitably high failure rate, but that doesn’t mean that nothing of value has been left as a result.

Ron Farmer, Senior Director and co-leader of McKinsey & Company’s global Business Building practice