10 battle it out for Best Use of Thought Leadership Award

Ten pieces of thought leadership has been shortlisted for a new category at this year's MCA Awards. The award for Best Use of Thought Leadership, sponsored by Tungtree Communications, demonstrates the impact of an initiative or approach to thought leadership by a consulting firm. We take a quick look at the entries shortlisted:


Arup – Rethinking green infrastructure and the future of our cities

With our cities facing rapid urbanisation and climate change, Arup felt the value of green infrastructure (parks and open spaces; urban trees, streets, squares; woodland and waterways) needed greater recognition.

Cities Alive presents green infrastructure in an economic, focused, practical way. Both accessible and freely available, it encourages industry to design nature into our urban systems at all scales via new development or retrofitting; to give it a more influential role in shaping the cities we live in.

Having achieved significant media coverage and educational outcomes, it has bolstered Arup’s reputation and provided a strong vision to support global strategic aims.


EY – The UK Onshore Operators Group

The UK is at the start of onshore shale gas exploration. EY’s report, Getting ready for UK shale gas is the first research to quantify the opportunity for UK businesses and the infrastructure needed to establish a viable onshore shale gas industry. It identifies that £33b of spend could be required to bring up to 4,000 wells into production by 2032. At peak this equates to some 64,500 jobs.

The report was launched by the then Minister of State for Business and Energy, Michael Fallon, in April 2014 and has since played an important role in shaping industry and government thinking.


GE Healthcare Finnamore – Health and Social Care Thought Leadership Programme

“At GE Healthcare Finnamore, we believe in being sought out as the authority in our specialist field – health and social care.  As a team of over seventy sector experts we're unique – we eat, sleep and breathe health and social care – and we have taken a similarly unique approach to becoming nationally and internationally recognised thought leaders in our field. Overseen by our dedicated Head of Thought Leadership, we have a distinctive thought leadership programme, which makes us stand out from others in the field, and represents a powerful alliance of minds, imagination and expertise”.


Grant Thornton – Local Government Thought Leadership Programme 

Our financial resilience campaign is focussed on the quality of local government financial planning, financial management and governance arrangements in England, and what this means for the future financial sustainability of local authorities. Drawing on a detailed programme based on evidence from over 140 local authorities, we have been able to demonstrate year-on-year trends over a four-year period, and provide benchmarking comparisons of performance. The impact has been significant. The on-going campaign, and the other thought leadership that it has inspired, such as 2020 Vision which sets out future scenarios for the sector, has made a significant contribution to building Grant Thornton's brand in one of our key sectors.


KPMG – Fast Forward

The Fast Forward programme unleashes the potential of KPMG’s intellectual firepower in the management consulting industry and redefines its brand as more bold and creative thought leader.

KPMG tasked junior employees to tap into unheard voices overlooked in the firm. Armed with nothing more than a blank sheet of paper and a tiny budget, Fast Forward eschewed research in favour of original debate to create hypotheses about 2035. Client feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, with one client noting: “You have shown me a side of KPMG I thought I would never see. You have opened my horizons.”


KPMG – Shelter

KPMG and Shelter’s ground-breaking report into the UK housing market is bringing exciting new commercial openings for KPMG. ‘Building the homes we need: A programme for the 2015 government’ presents insightful recommendations for increasing housing supply and overcoming the chronic shortage of homes that is blighting lives and undermining economic growth.

Positioned as a coherent, costed programme that could be adopted by whichever government is elected at the May 2015 general election, the paper has influenced the policies of many of the major parties and helped put housing at the front of the political agenda.


Moorhouse – Barometer on Change

Recent years have seen unprecedented change, with organisations navigating the economic crisis, a fragile recovery, new technology, and the increasing demands of customers. Investment in transformational change and growth is increasing. The Moorhouse Barometer on Change thought leadership programme explores exactly this subject, seeking first-hand and frank views of senior executives who are accountable for investing in and leading change programmes.

Repeated annually, the Barometer on Change has built and will continue to build a rich and accurate picture of transformational change in FTSE100, FTSE350 and major Governmental departments for years to come.


PPL – Integrated Care Programme

“Our focus on integrated care is driven by a desire to support communities meet the challenges facing our public services head-on,  and in doing so, to achieve better outcomes for the people they serve.” 

Working with national organisations including NHS England and the Local Government Association, with public sector leaders at all levels, with academics, clinicians, frontline staff, service users, and with fellow consulting professionals, PPL’s work in this area has involved both co-developing new models of care; and working to ensure that these models are successfully implemented and scaled, across the health and care system in England.


PwC – Megatrends

Megatrends are the big shifts in society, economies and business over the coming years and decades. We embarked on an initiative to encourage more curiosity on what they are, and what they mean for business both now and in the future. Our vision was to empower everyone to think more openly and creatively, whatever their role as a way to fuel profitable growth and to mitigate disruptive risks. We've done this through a series of films, blogs, events and debates which aim to inspire new discussions and conversations across a diversity of organisations and individuals.


PwC – Redefining Local Government

Prolonged austerity is driving an important shift in local government, with councils reaching a tipping point beyond which it will no longer be possible to do things in the same way as before. That’s why, in January 2014, PwC published Redefining Local Government, drawing on our experience and insight to set out the steps councils need to take as they grapple with the challenges ahead. Over the past year, Redefining Local Government has become one of our most-read pieces of thought leadership. The campaign report has helped underpin sustained growth in PwC’s local government work, and as a result is having a significant impact in transforming local services across the country.