2006 Summit Panel Topic Two: How are the roles of clients and advisors shifting in an increasingly flat business world?
*NOTE: “Flat” as in the Thomas Friedman definition in his bestselling book The World is Flat.
Panelists:
- Scott Fogle, President & Co-founder, Advocate Networks LLC
- Andre Schnabl, Managing Partner – Atlanta, Grant Thornton LLP
- Barbara Stafford, VP Georgia Industries, Georgia Chamber of Commerce
- Richard Taylor, Partner, HLB Gross Collins, PC
- Brooks Robinson, Chief Marketing Officer, Cbeyond
- Jim Levine, Partner, McKenna Long & Aldridge, LLP
The argument goes like this:
The economic playing field is being leveled or “flattened” which means that US companies and professional services firms are being dramatically impacted by increased globalization, outsourcing, technology and a drive to make organizations actions more transparent and to make their executives more directly accountable. Assuming this is true…with this "flattening" of the globe, which requires us to run faster in order to stay in place, we pose the following questions:
Questions:
- Globalization and Outsourcing: What is the real impact that clients and advisors are feeling right now due to globalization and outsourcing? What new or different skills are needed to cope or to thrive? What advantages do these changes bring to Professional Services firms and their client relationships? How long will it be, or perhaps it is already happening, that a firm will outsource (i.e. leverage) critical professional functions to a cheaper alternative? Would it benefit the firm or more importantly the client? What are the Client Advisor relationship issues that arise due to increased US immigration? Further, has Client demand increased for firms with global capability and sensibilities?
- Technology and Telecommunications: What is the real impact that clients and professional services firms are feeling right now due to tech and telecom innovations that impact client advisor relationships (think of CRM systems, wireless, PDAs, Blackberries, Web, E-mail, etc.)? What new or different skills are needed to cope or to thrive in an age when technology intrudes or enables Client Advisor relationships? What advantages do these changes bring to Professional Services firms and their client relationships? Is faster distillation of information and way more of it due to technology ever a bad thing? Is the rate of response that is increasingly expected of professionals by clients impacting the quality of thought and advice provided…that is, are professionals at risk of sacrificing quality for speed? To what degree do tech/telecom innovations enable clients to be more informed and professional in their interactions with professional services providers? Is tech and telecom enabling collaboration or separation and commoditization in the Client Advisor relationship?
- Transparency and Accountability: Transparency is a key factor in building Trust. So to build a trustable relationship with clients and customers, organizations need to be transparent in every interaction. In a “flat world” there are no mountains hindering the vision in either direction. So, has Sarbanes-Oxley been a good thing or a bad thing when it comes to client advisor relationships? What about increased focused on ROI delivered for companies’ professional services spending?