Almost everything that was of importance to the success of a consulting firm is becoming less important. It is clearly visible on the horizon that the old elite has to make room for a new one.

Years ago the size of the consulting firm was an important criterion for awarding a contract, after the motto ‘the bigger the firm, the better the chances’, the newest figures of the associations of German management consultants (BDU e.V.) show that small and medium sized companies showed the most growth in 2005; namely 10 percent. In comparison to that, the average growth is at 7.5 percent. The 50 biggest consulting firms were only able to show a growth of 6 percent. The BDU further reports that clients increasingly prefer consulting firms with specific expertise over those so-called full service providers. Another change that is being discussed is the comeback of branch expertise and seniority.

The development in the consulting branch is accompanied by massive changes in the economy at a national as well as international level: The elite of employed managers is making room for the recurring elite of the management of companies or entrepreneurs in the sense of original entrepreneurship, thus charismatic leaders who lead and take steps instead of just managing. Pure management is losing influence which does not necessarily have anything to do with the skills of the people but rather that the perception of the managers is more short term. Quarterly reports or one's own retention period might play a role too. Entrepreneurs often think long-term and in terms of the big picture and align their actions accordingly. In family-owned enterprises thinking and operations are often still based on generations, what made them successful as a business with strict division of ‘capital’ and ‘leadership’.

It is absolutely possible that manager and entrepreneur see a consultant from very different perspectives and thus would make a different choice. In this respect there may indeed be a connection between the changes in the consultancy business and management structures in the business world. It is noticeable that recently there have been considerable changes in the ownership structures and personnel policy of consultancy firms which accommodate the changes on the side of the client. The word ‘management’ in the company names of consultancy firms is disappearing more and more often.

I think it is great that knowledge and expertise are consolidated. Knowledge and expertise mirror the generations and continuity which help us to master the future. In many respects the following principle applies: He who can look back on something has a firmer grip when it comes to taking the future into his own hands.

Science and research, the process of globalization, the development of new regions where business and politics take place, the rapidness with which the power is spreading but just as quickly disappears, the dynamic and drama involved when we experience something new and unexpected, forces us to new ways of thinking and acting. Management consultants can make important contributions and thus establish a new elite.

Speaking on our own behalf, I can say that SchmidPreissler has consciously what is now developing into a new elite of management consultants. Through personal consulting, through concentrating on what is quintessential, through a long-term perception, reluctance towards anything superficial, a sense of reality, being in a platonic sense and bound by truthfulness. We may have expressed it a little more modestly in our self-characterization as avant-garde among strategy consultants, but we have always acted accordingly.

Management consulting must be entrepreneurial consulting which knows how to deliver contributions for the future development in a holistic and strategic sense.