innogy Consulting GmbH: Competing Away From Home

Description

In 2016, the managing director of innogy Consulting GmbH (iCon), an international strategic consulting firm based in Germany, had many reasons to be delighted. The company had risen to second place in an annual ranking of internal consultancies after successfully expanding into four new countries. He now pondered new challenges and directions for iCon, after having led RWE Consulting—the predecessor to iCon—since 2007. As an internal consulting department within the RWE Group (RWE) in Germany, the consulting unit mainly conducted information technology implementation and project management within RWE. Although the managing director had led the consultancy unit into new geographic markets and toward new external clients, iCon faced many challenges, including tough competition in the external management-consultancy market. How could iCon take steps to compete away from home?

Learning Objective

This case is appropriate for undergraduate and graduate courses in strategy, strategic management, management consultancy, and professional-services management. The case discussion and analysis will help students do the following: ·Learn about the evolution of internal (i.e., in-house) consultancy units during a period of institutional change and how these units can develop in large industrial firms to the point that eventually they may be repositioned to seek new external clients in new markets. ·Appreciate the challenges and possible organizational solutions related to repositioning internal consultancy units as professional service providers for new external clients. ·Learn about the role of a visionary leader in the consulting industry and how that leader was instrumental in driving change and rejuvenation for the consultancy itself, not just for its clients.

Keywords

Change Consultancy Energy Sector