Whether through the launch of new products or services, entry into new geographic or customer markets, adoption of revolutionary new technologies, or through better talent sourcing and development, clients are looking to consultants to help them beat their competition. But to do so, clients must surmount an abundance of challenges: heavy regulatory burdens, volatile economic conditions, a long-standing war for skilled talent, and ever more rigorous global competition. Join Kennedy Consulting Research & Advisory (KCRA) Analysts in a presentation and discussion of the challenges in consulting on client growth agendas across four consulting service lines: Financial Consulting, IT Consulting, Strategy & Operations Consulting, and HR Consulting.

As companies struggle with growth in the core of their business, we get asked all the time: What unleashes growth, year after year? Thanks to some extraordinary research and analysis, Deloitte has identified just how critical growth and market differentiation is to industry leadership. So how do you achieve it? Simple… innovation. Innovation is essential and it must be supported with meaningful investment. Jim Moffatt, Chairman & CEO, Deloitte Consulting LLP, says innovation is one of the surest ways for any organization to disrupt the core of their marketplace—to change the game. They can find significantly better ways to deliver products and services (or just better products and services). It’s critical to building future businesses that will sustain the entire organization in future years. Innovation alone doesn’t guarantee growth; but growth is impossible without it.

Every year since 2005, Booz & Company has conducted the Global Innovation 1000 study, which investigates the relationship between what companies spend on R&D and their overall financial performance—and every year, the firm reinforces the conclusion that there is no correlation between the two. Over the years, Booz & Company has expanded the scope of the study to include critical issues such as the importance of customer-driven innovation and the recession’s effect on R&D spending. John Loehr, Global Leader of Booz & Company’s Innovation Practice and co-author of the innovation study—which focuses on the “fuzzy front end” of the innovation process—the tools, mechanisms and networks companies use to generate ideas and effectively convert them into commercialization projects—will present the just released and proprietary findings of what the The Economist calls the “the most comprehensive assessment of the relationship between R&D investment and corporate performance.”

Of the Fortune 500, about 70 companies have been on the list every year for 50 years. The average age of these firms is 115. These firms have been built to last—to transition successfully from one generation to another, to survive and even thrive in economic downturns, and to continuously grow. What’s their secret? And which company(ies) in our consulting services profession will prove to have that kind of staying power? Brad Jackson, co-founder and CEO of Slalom Consulting, suggests that the common denominator of those 70 Fortune 500 firms and the key trait to look for in establishing true leadership in the consulting industry is building a culture of innovation. In this session, Brad shares his secrets of innovation which have not only enabled the 30 percent year-over-year growth of Slalom and garnered the company a consistent “best place to work,” but also prompted Slalom’s clients to move out of their comfort zones and consider unique possibilities they didn’t even know existed. You’ll learn some new techniques for innovating professional services firms and the clients we serve, and you’ll have a first-hand look at some fun, new technology that is changing the nature of consumer decision making—especially when multiple buyers (like spouses) are involved.

While healthcare is in the midst of tremendous change globally with unprecedented reform in mature markets and evolving rules in fast-growth regions, financial services companies remain under the gun in 2013, under pressure from regulators, market forces and increasingly demanding consumers. Such disruptions have made old operating models obsolete and unprofitable for both industries. Meanwhile, now more than ever firm management and operational efficiencies are more important than ever before. Choose one of three dynamic topics—Financial Services, Healthcare or Firm Management—and join KCRA analysts (as well as like-minded colleagues) as they lead interactive discussions in these topic areas.

Some people think innovation is needed in all parts of the organization. The truth is organizations need to be rigorous and disciplined in regularly assessing where innovations can have the greatest impact, whether helping to get more customers, making employees more loyal, eliminating cost, or something else. In this session, you will hear Ric Merrifield, a Partner with Seattle-based Strategy firm Level 11, “business scientist,” and author of Rethink—A Business Manifesto For Cutting Costs and Boosting Innovation, will offer up examples of the companies who have been the most successful innovators and will highlight the methods that many organizations use today. He’ll show attendees how to rise above the clutter of your “hows” to expose what does and doesn’t need attention in an organization. Don’t miss the chance to learn to identify the activities most critical to success, as well as those that are borderline, redundant, or even counterproductive.

What if you could enjoy a huge increase in your consulting firm’s success without finding more clients, competing for more projects or winning more engagements? You can, if you increase the size of your projects. Most consultants have almost everything they need to double their average project size—without doubling the workload; however, they are just missing a couple of critical ingredients. Ingredients you will learn in this presentation. Join David A. Fields, Founder and Managing Director of the Ascendant Consortium, as he highlights several key fundamental ways to increase revenues, including: How to reframe a client’s RFP into a much larger opportunity with no competitors; the 37 sources of value you can tap to increase the ROI of your projects; The one obstacle that holds back most consulting firms from increasing their fees 50 percent to 100 percent; two conversations you must have with your client before you submit the proposal; and, the “Irony of Expertise” and why it is causing you to leave lots of easy revenue on the table.