Last month, Monitor, a consulting firm based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, sought bankruptcy protection. Failing a higher bid at auction, Monitor will be bought by Deloitte, an enormous professional-services firm, for $116 million or less. Monitor had seen bright days, but since the 2008 recession, few companies have shelled out for pure strategy consulting. Meanwhile, the top-tier firms have long since started pushing into operations as well as strategy, and continue to be hired as companies seek help getting lean. That, plus their sheer size, has helped those firms ride out the storm.
Monitor has not been so lucky; pure advisory consulting has taken years to recover, as economic uncertainty keeps companies sitting on their plans (and cash) for taking over the world. Many of Monitor's consultants will likely not remain at Deloitte, which is best known for accounting. But those whom the firm can convince to stay will strengthen its claim that it can compete with the top-tier firms in consulting.
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