Consulting Magazine - February 2017

PwC U.S. Advisory Leader Mohamed Kande
expresses a similar perspective. “No matter
who is in the new administration, technology
will continue to be a disruptor in every sector,”
he asserts. “Whether it’s considering changes to
the nation’s energy mix, new automotive capa-
bilities and innovations, or healthcare delivery
methods and the use of wearables for tracking
health—each of these industries have seen rad-
ical change in the last decade, and we expect
that to continue apace.”
Most of the dozen consulting leaders who
weighed in on the how the Trump Presidency
might affect the 2017 business climate in a
recent Consulting “Executive Outlook” funda-
mentally agree with Sastry and Kande. Deloitte
Chairman and CEO Janet Foutty stressed that
the “core work business leaders do every day—
optimizing talent, driving innovation, deter-
mining where to invest, focusing on customers,
driving growth—remains a priority regardless
of who is president.”

100 DAYS TO CLARITY?

The new President is dramatically different from any recent President. In terms of recent comparisons, the Obama-to-Trump policy shift appears to harken back to the Carter-to-Regan policy shift that overhauled the country’s tax system and geopolitical stance.

While emphasizing the continuing influence
of non-political drivers of change, Sastry also
expects businesses and industries to experience
disruptions due to policy changes made by the
new administration and Congress. “In the con-
sulting market disruption always means there is
an opportunity,” he says. “We need to home in
on the right areas of disruption and areas where
we can make a difference and add value for our
clients.”
Those areas will become apparent in due
course. “In the aftermath of any presidential
election with a change in party leadership, it is
often difficult to distinguish campaign prom-
ises from what is actually achievable within
the Beltway,” DeLoach explains. “Time is a
great clarifier as to the point at which what was
promised intersects with what is politically
feasible.” For the next few months, DeLoach
and other consulting leaders say, it would be
prudent to key in on how the new administra-
tion and congress take actions related to the po-
tential replacement of Obamacare, immigration
policy, tax reform (including simplifying the
Internal Revenue Code and reducing corporate
taxes),and trade policy.

When consulting leaders are asked to project the impact of the new administration and congress on the 2017 business climate, they tend to say that it depends on how the following questions are addressed: