Transparency, value, talent and scale: changing priorities for management consultants

In ‘A Hybrid Management Consulting Business Model’, Jac van Beek – who began his consulting career more than 40 years ago – argues that AI, digital transformation and growing scrutiny are exposing the limits of the traditional leveraged pyramid. High-touch advisory work, junior-heavy teams and billable-hour economics are under pressure.

He highlights three fault lines: erosion of trust following high-profile scandals; governance structures that slow decision-making and restrict capital investment; and a talent shift toward STEM and AI specialists, rather than generalist MBAs.

His proposed response is a hybrid firm: retaining partnership’s relational strengths while introducing corporate-style flexibility and investment capacity. For independent consultants, it’s notable that large firms are now striving for the agility and technological integration that smaller practices often already embody.

Client opacity

Consultants are often accused of opacity. But what if transparency failures originate within the client organisation?

‘When Transparency Falters: Agency-Theory Lessons from a Human Resources Consultancy Project’ by Cathy Norville-Rochester and C Olivet Hinds examines a two-year HR strategy engagement in which internal principal-agent conflict led to selective information sharing, delayed approvals and repeated redesigns. Despite an agreed co-creation approach, information asymmetry and internal politics quietly undermined delivery.

Drawing on agency theory, the authors show how internal governance tensions can derail even well-designed engagements. Their recommendations are practical: diagnose governance dynamics early, formalise expectations around information sharing and build structured review checkpoints to surface hidden misalignment.