Developing a Taxonomy and Archetypes for Smart Consulting Services

Business consulting plays a key role in digital transformation by supporting clients with digitalization while facing its own challenges, such as workforce shortages, technology-based competitors, and pressure on margins. Many business consulting firms struggle to transform their business models and service portfolios to the digital age. Smart consulting services (SCS) offer a promising approach, meeting growing client demands for digital solutions and maintaining competitiveness. However, the consulting industry lacks sufficient knowledge about the pros and cons of SCS, their design, and development. Critical insights on smart service characteristics, design alternatives, and focused development processes are missing. Using a Design-Science-Research approach, this research reviews literature and analyzes existing smart service taxonomies, proposing a new taxonomy and archetypes tailored to the consulting industry. It aims to structure the challenges in developing SCS and provide business consultancies with know-how and good practices for their own digital transformation.