Consulting Magazine - February 2017

Given the magnitude of potential policy and legislative changes looming on the horizon, the next 11 months are going to be an ab- solute boon to most companies and their consulting partners. Unless, of course, those changes never materialize because they are trumped by legislative gridlock, geopolitical strife and a fear-inducing cocktail of uncertainty and volatility. In this scenario, 2017 could be a historic bust.

A third possible future seems more likely to occur: The same technological, economic, geopolitical and environmental drivers of risk and opportunity that influenced businesses in 2016 are likely to continue to drive companies to seek help from their consulting partners in 2017. Depending on the extent to which President Trump’s policy intentions (at least what was known of them at press time) materialize, these existing drivers of change will be joined by a new set of disruptions, including deregulation, infrastructure spending, and U.S. trade and immigration changes.

These potential policy shifts would have major impacts on numerous industries, including healthcare, financial services, oil and gas, energy, manufacturing, retail, technology and public sector. Some specific policy changes (e.g., the repeal of the Affordable Care Act) could have an outsized impact on certain segments (e.g., small businesses and certain health insurers).

Other policy changes, such as corporate tax reform and new trade tariffs, likely would stimulate demand for specific consulting service offerings, such as tax advisory and supply chain management.

“Change is always good for consultants,”
says Cumberland Consulting Group CEO Brian
Cahill. “What can be challenging for consul-
tants and our clients is uncertainty.”
With the election and pre-inauguration
uncertainty behind us, major policy question
marks should give way to greater clarity. “It all
boils down to the next 100 to 200 days being
a time to pay close attention to developments
inside the Beltway,” asserts Jim DeLoach, a
Protiviti Managing Director.

SAME OLD, SAME OLD

As policy and new laws are hashed out in Washington, businesses will continue to contend with the same risk and opportunities they sought help addressing prior to Jan. 20.

“The global trends of the past few years—the move to digital, machine learning, analytics, cybersecurity and other trends we’re all familiar with—are going to continue,” asserts Grant Thornton National Managing Principal of Advisory Services Srikant Sastry. “The genie is out of the bottle so to speak, and we’re all trying to figure out how to best respond to these trends. I don’t see those areas being affected by the political changes that have occurred.”