Consulting for Corporate Strategy and Portfolio Decisions

Strategy Consulting: Sharpening the Decision Instead of Multiplying the Options

Strategy consulting focuses on determining where a company should allocate its resources—and where it should explicitly not: which markets and customer segments it serves, what offerings will win it business there, which operations should remain in the portfolio, and what in-house capabilities are necessary to support them. This issue becomes critical when a line of business that has appeared stable for years suddenly takes a turn for the worse, when a competitor shifts the rules of the market, when an acquisition or a change in ownership demands a robust strategic outlook—or when three different answers to the same fundamental question are circulating within the company. This requires an honest initial assessment, verifiable assumptions about the market rather than mere declarations of intent, and the willingness to discontinue certain projects so that the remaining ones can gain sufficient momentum.

Frame Your Strategy Question View the Topic Areas

Strategy consultant presenting the strategic options to a leadership team at a glass wall

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Scope and Ambition

What Strategy Consulting Delivers — and What It Does Not

Leadership team in an office tower discussing the future direction of the company

Strategy consulting — depending on the firm also called corporate strategy, strategy development or management consulting — answers three questions in this order: where do we really stand, which paths are open to us, and which of them are we deliberately not taking. The third part is the uncomfortable one and gets skipped most often. A list of opportunities is not yet a strategy. You recognize one by the fact that it rules something out.

It makes the trade-off visible. Every decision on direction costs something that would also have been possible: a second segment, a product line, a region, a block of investment. As long as that price is not spoken out loud, nobody says no — and resources spread across too many initiatives, none of which reaches the threshold at which it takes effect. The first step is therefore rarely a new idea, but a ranking and the question of what goes on the cut list.

It tests the assumption, not the intention. Behind every plan sits a handful of statements about the world: the market keeps growing. Our customers pay for this advantage. That competitor cannot follow us here. Those statements are testable — against prices, market shares, churn rates, tender outcomes. Testing them before the money is committed avoids the expensive version: discovering them when the initiative fails.

It states the exit condition. A decision only becomes manageable once it is settled in advance how everyone will recognize that the assumption has broken: which value, by when, measured against what. Without that sentence an initiative runs as long as someone carries it politically — and is not ended, just quietly extended.

In German-speaking markets the same work is called Strategieberatung, Unternehmensstrategie or Managementberatung; anyone searching for a Strategieberater usually means this service. We staff German- and English-speaking mandates alike.

What it does not deliver. It does not take the decision on direction away from the executive board and it does not replace an owner position — where shareholders pursue different goals, that is a negotiation and not an analysis. Nor does it create a market position that does not exist: if the offering, the cost base and the capabilities do not carry in any of the reachable fields, the result is an uncomfortable answer and not a target picture.

Where this page ends: growth as a program of its own — channels, pricing models, scaling — is described under growth strategy consulting. Search fields, idea assessment and product development belong to innovation management, the technology side of a target picture to digital transformation consulting. If liquidity is under pressure, the work starts in restructuring consulting.

Triggers

When External Support on a Strategy Question Is Worth the Effort

Not every strategic question requires outside help. If the starting point within the company is uncontested, the market is closely monitored, and the leadership team has time to deliberate, the internal approach is the better one—it fosters commitment at the same time. In the following situations, the outcome is different for a structural reason: A leadership team decides on the direction of its company every few years and is part of the history behind every option. Anyone who regularly advises on this type of decision at different companies recognizes the patterns—and doesn’t have to defend their own past.

Earnings Are Slipping and the Cause Is Not in Sales

Margins and capacity utilization are declining, even though business activity and the pipeline appear unchanged.
Within the company, several explanations coexist—each plausible, none substantiated.
Every action is preceded by a diagnosis that distinguishes between market shifts, supply gaps, and cost items.

A Competitor Shifts the Rules of the Game

A provider changes its pricing strategy, distribution channel, or scope of services and draws customers away from the existing customer base.
The natural reaction is to match the price without addressing the root cause.
What’s needed is an assessment of whether this is a one-time occurrence or a permanent structural change.

The Portfolio Ties Up Resources Without Carrying Its Weight

Several businesses, locations, or product lines have grown without ever having been evaluated against one another.
Internal evaluations rarely fail because of the method used, but rather because of the close ties to the departments involved.
An outside perspective makes it possible to articulate the ranking—including the question of what can be divested.

A New Market or an Acquisition Is on the Table

Market entry, international expansion, or acquisitions tie up capital for years and are difficult to reverse.
The decision hinges on market size, competitive intensity, and access channels—factors that no one in-house has a reliable grasp of.
External market research provides the data needed to test these assumptions—before the deal is signed.

Owners or the Advisory Board Ask for a Defensible Outlook

Succession, a funding round, a change in ownership, or a meeting with a bank sets a date.
What’s required isn’t a target state, but a financial projection with specified assumptions and ranges.
Anyone who has regularly reviewed this document from the other side knows exactly which parts will be scrutinized.

The Strategy Exists on Paper and Never Reaches Daily Business

The target state and presentation exist, but the departments’ budgets and priorities do not align with them.
Between decision and implementation, there is a lack of translation into a few programs with designated responsible parties and deadlines.
External oversight maintains the sequence as long as day-to-day operations do not override it.

Do any of these triggers sound familiar? Twenty minutes are enough to start sorting things out: which question needs to be answered first, which assumption needs to be substantiated—and whether you need an outside perspective to do so.

Sort Out the Starting Position

Topic Areas

The Topic Areas of Strategy Consulting: From Positioning to Portfolio Decisions

The areas of work listed below are interrelated, but are rarely commissioned together. Most often, it starts in one place—a figure that is no longer accurate, or a decision that needs to be made—and then involves one or two related areas. Which ones these are depends on the starting point, not on a process model.

Corporate Strategy and Positioning

The fundamental question: What business are we in, for whom, and why should they choose us? This includes our value proposition to our key customer groups, how we differentiate ourselves from the competition, the capabilities that underpin this advantage—and the decision regarding which customer groups and use cases we deliberately choose not to serve. The result is a positioning strategy that can be violated: It excludes certain projects rather than allowing them all.

Market, Customer and Competitive Analysis

Market size and dynamics, segmentation based on willingness to pay rather than industry code, competitive profiles including cost structures and vulnerabilities, price and margin comparisons, and interviews with customers and lost prospects. The purpose is not a market study, but a test: Which of the assumptions underlying the plan hold up to the data—and which do not.

Business Model and Portfolio

Evaluation of business units and product lines based on profit contribution, capital tied up, and growth and risk profiles; revenue mechanisms of individual models, ranging from one-time payments to recurring revenue. This results in a ranking with three categories: expand, hold, divest, or discontinue. The third category is the actual outcome of this work.

Market Entry and Internationalization

Selection and prioritization of target markets; entry strategy—building the business in-house, partnering, or acquiring—; regulatory, certification, and local distribution requirements; and a cost model for the start-up phase. The starting point is not a list of countries, but rather the question of which part of the competitive advantage can actually be exported and which is tied to the domestic market.

Organization and Governance Model

Defining the scope of the areas along the chosen direction, decision-making authority, management and reporting structure, and key performance indicators that management actually uses to steer the organization. A strategy that runs counter to the organizational structure will consistently lose out to it—which is why the question of who decides what belongs to be discussed in the same context as the target state.

Strategy Execution and Program Management

Translate the resolution into a few programs with designated leads, deadlines, budgets, and termination criteria; establish a management framework that measures progress based on impact rather than activity. This includes the unpopular task of terminating ongoing projects that do not contribute to the new direction—otherwise, the strategy will compete with the organization’s existing portfolio.

We can usually determine which area of work will be your first priority during the initial interview.

Discuss the Topic Areas

Engagement Models

Ways to Bring Strategy Expertise on Board

When it comes to strategic issues, it is not only the depth of expertise that matters, but above all the role: Someone whose job is merely to review should not also be held accountable for the outcome, and someone who leads the implementation needs the authority to issue directives rather than merely make recommendations. The four forms listed below differ precisely in this respect—not in their scope, but in the responsibility that comes with them.

Clarify the Engagement

Cross-Check

Second Opinion on a Strategic Assumption

A specialist with a narrowly defined role: recalculating a market figure, reviewing the competitive landscape, or proofreading an investment proposal. She makes no decisions and bears no responsibility—she simply determines which assumptions hold up and which do not before funds are committed.

Specialist Capacity

External Minds in Your Strategy Team

One to three experts work on a temporary basis alongside your own staff: conducting analyses, interviewing customers, evaluating options, and preparing documents for the advisory board or shareholders. Your company retains overall responsibility, while the additional capacity comes from outside—and then leaves again.

Responsibility for a Set Period

Interim Managing Director or Division Head

An external individual assumes leadership responsibilities with the authority to issue directives—in the event of a vacancy, a change in ownership, or when a strategic realignment must be carried out despite resistance. This person helps make the decision rather than merely recommending it.

Execution Governance

Management of a Strategy Program

A small unit overseeing multiple projects: sequencing, dependencies, resource conflicts, impact measurement, and reporting to management. Its job is to defend priorities against the demands of day-to-day operations.

Industry Context

Industry Context: What Shifts the Strategy Question by Sector

A strategy cannot be developed in a way that is neutral to any particular industry, because in every industry, a different factor sets the pace: in one, it’s the payback period for an asset; in another, the product approval process; in a third, a regulatory deadline that no one can postpone. This factor determines how far in advance planning must be done, how costly a wrong strategic decision will be, and how quickly a correction can actually take effect. It also determines which options are realistically available: Someone working in a business with ten-year asset cycles cannot readjust their positioning on an annual basis.

We therefore staff based on industry experience rather than methodological certifications. Anyone who has read a supplier’s income statement knows which assumptions therein are risky; anyone familiar with sales structures in retail does not underestimate the effort involved in switching distribution channels. The following fields cover the majority of our demand—they are a selection, not an exhaustive list; for related industries, we evaluate staffing on a case-by-case basis.

Typical Questions

Typical Questions — and How to Recognize a Sound Answer

What is actually commissioned can usually be categorized under one of a few basic questions. The examples below are just a selection; what matters most in each case is not so much the final report as the evaluation criterion listed next to it—the statement against which it can later be assessed whether the answer held up.

Realignment After an Earnings Break

Starting point: Margins and growth are declining, and there are several competing explanations within the company. Work is underway to establish a diagnosis, prioritize business areas, and create a list of projects to be eliminated. Key metric: By the end of the process, it will be clear which two to three projects will no longer be pursued—and what contribution margin will be freed up as a result.

Entry Into a New Market

Starting Point: A target market is under consideration, but there are no reliable figures on its size, competition, or access channels. Work is underway on a market assessment, entry options, and start-up costs. Evaluation criterion: The decision is contingent on a specific condition—what target must be reached by when in order for the second phase of expansion to be approved.

Ordering the Portfolio, Assessing an Acquisition

Starting point: Businesses, locations, or investments have grown without ever having been evaluated against one another; at the same time, a purchase offer is on the table. Work is underway on the valuation, identifying candidates for divestiture, and the commercial due diligence of the target. Key criterion: A decision has been made for each area—expand, retain, or divest—and has not been postponed.

Translating Strategy Into Daily Business

Starting Point: The target state has been established, but the departments’ budgets and priorities do not align with it. Work is focused on a small number of programs, each with designated leads, deadlines, and termination criteria, as well as on the management of these programs. Evaluation Criterion: The allocation of funds for the next planning cycle can be explained by the strategy—item by item.

The Order in Which Strategy Questions Get Answered

Order is more important than completeness: Each step provides the foundation without which the next would be nothing more than an opinion. The amount of effort required for each step depends on the size and number of stores, as well as the available data.

Two colleagues reviewing key figures and earnings contributions on screen

Establish the Starting Position and the Numbers

Profit contributions by business segment, customer group, and region — adjusted for allocations that distort the picture.

Capital tied up and capacity utilization where funds are actually tied up.

The result is a set of figures that no one in senior management disputes anymore.

Team reviewing customer and market information together on a laptop

Test Market, Customers and Competition

Market size and dynamics by segment, price trends, customer interviews, and lost bids.

Competitor profiles that highlight cost structures and vulnerabilities rather than logo overviews.

In the end, we'll see which of the assumptions made so far hold up against the data—and which ones don't.

Leadership team assessing strategic options in a bright meeting room

Build and Assess the Options

Three to five serious options instead of a wish list, each with its own resource requirements and risk profile.

Evaluation based on the same criteria: contribution to results, capital requirements, internal feasibility, and reversibility.

Every option must include what it excludes—otherwise, it cannot be evaluated.

Handshake in front of the skyline as an image for a strategic decision taken

Decide — and Put the Trade-Off in Writing

The decision is made internally; external support prepares the groundwork and highlights the consequences.

Not only the direction and goals are set out in writing, but also the projects required to achieve them.

Every key assumption comes with an exit condition: what value, by when, and based on what criteria.

Team working on the execution of a strategy program

Translate Into a Few Programs

The department produces very few programs, with few people in charge, limited budgets, and tight deadlines.

Ongoing projects that do not contribute to the new direction will be terminated; they will not be continued in parallel.

Funding allocations for the next planning cycle will follow this list—which shows just how serious this is.

Review of the impact of strategic programs on a metrics wall

Measure the Effect and Adjust

Measurements are made relative to the baseline established at the outset, broken down by market, price, and volume effects.

The exit conditions are reviewed on a regular basis—even when a project has political backing.

The handover point is determined from the very beginning: after that, your organization will run the programs on its own.

Fee Range

Daily Rates in Strategy Consulting — and What Sets the Range

We bill for strategy work based on a daily rate, not a flat project fee. The rate is determined by five factors: the level of responsibility involved—analysis, advising the executive board, or leadership with decision-making authority—the industry and its level of regulation, the percentage of time spent on-site, the duration of the mandate (since longer mandates result in a lower daily rate), and the availability of candidates with the desired profile.

The ranges for our current portfolio in the Strategy & Management division currently fall between €600 and €2,500 per day. The tiles below show the ranges listed for each role.

Interim CEO

€1,600 – €2,500 per day
Interim Managing Director

€1,500 – €2,400 per day
Interim COO

€1,500 – €2,300 per day
Interim CTO

€1,400 – €2,200 per day
Freelance Executive Coach

€1,000 – €2,000 per day
Freelance Strategy Consultant

€900 – €1,600 per day
Freelance Scale-up Consultant

€800 – €1,400 per day
Freelance Innovation Manager

€800 – €1,400 per day
Freelance Startup Advisor

€600 – €1,200 per day

Every range comes from the respective role page — it is stated there openly, not on request.

How to budget a project. Calculations are based on person-days, not a flat fee. A situation assessment with data analysis and evaluation of options typically takes 20 to 40 person-days for medium-sized enterprises. A market assessment for a single target market typically takes 15 to 30 days. Managing a strategic program is calculated differently: one to two days per week over six to twelve months; interim leadership requires four to five days per week.

What matters is not the daily rate, but the relationship to what is at stake in the decision. Anyone deciding on an investment of €15 million or on the future of a business with €40 million in revenue will recoup the cost of 30 days of consulting simply by making a slightly better decision. When it comes to a single initiative of manageable scope, an external mandate is rarely the right approach—we provide this information before submitting a proposal.

How this differs from a traditional consulting firm: You pay the person doing the work, not the structure above them—no engagement manager, no partner’s fee, no base costs for methodologies or presentation materials. In return, you don’t have an organization at your disposal that can ramp up capacity on short notice—you engage individual experts or a small team and retain in-house leadership over the project. We steer clear of performance-based models: when it comes to strategic decisions, they create an incentive to prioritize short-term results.

Which profile fits depends on the kind of responsibility: a market assessment calls for different experience than leading a company through a change of ownership. The complete overview sits under Strategy & Management Consulting — among them Freelance Strategy Consultant, Interim CEO, Interim Managing Director and Freelance Executive Coach. For adjacent tasks, M&A & Due Diligence, Transformation & Change Management and Restructuring & Operational Efficiency add the missing profiles.

€49.0bn

in revenue was generated by management consulting in Germany in 2025 — at growth of just 0.5 % over the previous year (BDU)

BDU study Facts & Figures on the consulting market, 2026

+5.2%

growth is what the BDU expects for the strategy consulting field in 2026, after 1.1 % in 2025

BDU study Facts & Figures on the consulting market, 2026

+22%

growth is what the BDU forecasts for AI-related consulting in 2026 — the fastest-growing field in the industry

BDU study Facts & Figures on the consulting market, 2026

Strategy consulting helps companies define their direction: which markets to enter and with what offerings, which businesses to retain in their portfolio, and what capabilities are needed to do so. It encompasses an initial assessment, market and competitive analysis, evaluation of options, and the translation of the decision into a few key initiatives. Its core is not the collection of opportunities, but rather a well-reasoned selection—including what to leave out.

Strategy consulting answers the question of direction: where a company will earn its revenue in the future. Management consulting is the broader term and encompasses organization, processes, governance, and implementation. In practice, the two overlap because a strategic decision rarely proves effective without adjustments to the organization and management systems—the dividing line lies in whether the decision concerns the “what” or the “how.”

We bill based on a daily rate. In the Strategy & Management division, the ranges listed on the role pages fall between €600 and €2,500 per day; executive-level roles are at the upper end of the range, while analytical profiles are at the lower end. A situation assessment based on data and an evaluation of options typically takes 20 to 40 person-days. The range for each role is clearly stated on the respective role page.

Five factors: the level of responsibility—analysis, advising management, or leadership with the authority to issue instructions—the industry and its level of regulation, the proportion of on-site work, the duration of the assignment (since longer assignments result in lower daily rates), and the availability of candidates with the desired profile. Rare combinations of in-depth industry knowledge and leadership experience are the strongest single factor.

It’s worthwhile when the starting point within the organization is disputed, when a decision is difficult to reverse and ties up capital for years, when a deadline is set by an external party—or when proximity to the affected areas prevents an honest assessment. It is not worthwhile if the direction is uncontested and only the implementation is stalling; in that case, management or implementation capacity is the more cost-effective solution.

You hire the person who will do the work, rather than relying on a bureaucratic structure: no engagement manager, no partner fees, no fixed costs for methodology. In return, there’s no bureaucracy to ramp up capacity on short notice, and technical leadership remains within your organization. For specific issues and temporary responsibilities, this is the faster and more cost-effective approach; for very broad, parallel programs spanning many countries, it’s the wrong choice.

Following a structured briefing on the starting point, the specific needs, and the desired level of responsibility, we typically present suitable profiles within 24–36 hours—including a brief profile, availability, and fee range. The speed of this process depends on how precisely the role is described: The person who specifies the decision that needs to be made will receive a more suitable selection.

Three characteristics. First: It specifies what is no longer being pursued and makes this shift in resource allocation visible. Second: The underlying assumptions are explicitly stated and tested against market data, rather than merely formulated as intentions. Third: Each assumption is accompanied by an exit condition—specifying the target value that must be reached by a certain date for the plan to continue. If any of these elements is missing, it is a plan, but not a decision.

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Initial Conversation

Let Us Frame Your Strategy Question.

Get Your Starting Point in Order in Twenty Minutes

A Specific Initial Question Instead of an Overview of Methods

You can see the daily rate range per roll before you submit a request

Twenty minutes during which we’ll sort through your starting point and identify which question needs to be answered first—and what expertise is needed to address it.

Book an Initial Conversation

Strategy Consulting: Sharpening the Decision Instead of Multiplying the Options

Leading companies trust our network

What Strategy Consulting Delivers — and What It Does Not

When External Support on a Strategy Question Is Worth the Effort

Earnings Are Slipping and the Cause Is Not in Sales

A Competitor Shifts the Rules of the Game

The Portfolio Ties Up Resources Without Carrying Its Weight

A New Market or an Acquisition Is on the Table

Owners or the Advisory Board Ask for a Defensible Outlook

The Strategy Exists on Paper and Never Reaches Daily Business

The Topic Areas of Strategy Consulting: From Positioning to Portfolio Decisions

Corporate Strategy and Positioning

Market, Customer and Competitive Analysis

Business Model and Portfolio

Market Entry and Internationalization

Organization and Governance Model

Strategy Execution and Program Management

Ways to Bring Strategy Expertise on Board

Second Opinion on a Strategic Assumption

External Minds in Your Strategy Team

Interim Managing Director or Division Head

Management of a Strategy Program

Industry Context: What Shifts the Strategy Question by Sector

Industry, Machinery and Plant Engineering

Technology and Software

Retail and Consumer Goods

Financial Services and Insurance

Healthcare and Life Sciences

Energy and Utilities

Industry, Machinery and Plant Engineering

Technology and Software

Retail and Consumer Goods

Financial Services and Insurance

Healthcare and Life Sciences

Energy and Utilities

Typical Questions — and How to Recognize a Sound Answer

Realignment After an Earnings Break

Entry Into a New Market

Ordering the Portfolio, Assessing an Acquisition

Translating Strategy Into Daily Business

The Experience Behind a Strategy Question

The Order in Which Strategy Questions Get Answered

Establish the Starting Position and the Numbers

Test Market, Customers and Competition

Build and Assess the Options

Decide — and Put the Trade-Off in Writing

Translate Into a Few Programs

Measure the Effect and Adjust

Daily Rates in Strategy Consulting — and What Sets the Range

Strategy Consulting Is Growing Again in 2026 — After a Year of Standstill in the Industry

€49.0bn

+5.2%

+22%

Frequently Asked Questions About Strategy Consulting

Excellent. We are not the only ones who think so.

Let Us Frame Your Strategy Question.