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.”
BY ERIC KRELL
Dissecting how Donald Trump’s
presidency, policies and politics will
impact the consulting profession