Service Issues: The Eurasia Group, Essay Example

The specific field of risk consultancy and, more specifically, political risk consultancy, presents its own unique service issues. On the basis of the dynamic nature of risk consultancy, such firms are above all confronted with service issues related to the quality of the information they provide to clients.

When analyzing the Eurasia Group in this light, the primary service issues the company faces are inevitably informed by the speculative nature of the product they offer. Insofar as it aims to provide consultancy at the intersection between politics and economy to private organizations as well as governments, the Eurasia Group must above all demonstrate accuracy in their analyses. Without a proven track record of accurate forecasting of how politics and economics interrelate, thereby underscoring the strength of their offered product, the Eurasia Group would quickly find itself marginalized in a highly competitive field. In short, the service issues of the Eurasia Group, as with the field of political risk consultancy as a whole, is dominated by quality of product, in this case analysis and forecasting.

Analysis and forecasting is of course complicated by the fact that political risk consultancy firms such as the Eurasia Group are offering a service in an area that is by definition heterogeneous and volatile. Forecasting movements in economics and in politics is, of course, ultimately a matter of conjecture in terms of how to interpret data and how to correlate this data with the precise demands of clients. In this regard, one of the key service issues faced by all political risk consultancy firms is that they may be too grounded in a specific area of specialization. (McKellar, 2012, p. 177) For example, the Eurasia Group describes itself as a political risk consultancy firm and therefore the analysis of politics is central to its product: its founder, Ian Bremmer, possesses a doctorate in political science. (The Eurasia Group, 2014) Hence, whereas the Eurasia Group underscores its multi-disciplinary approach to consultancy, its product is nonetheless galvanized by a politically-oriented outlook, such that this specialization may “tend to dominate the firm’s wider interpretation of risk consultancy.” (McKellar, 2012, p. 177) In other words, the quality of the service offered is always potentially threatened by an over-emphasis on particular aspects of analysis – politics in the case of the Eurasia Group — which could potentially undermine or, more specifically, render somewhat myopic the quality of the provided analysis.

In order to address this service issue concern, the Eurasia Group has employed two primary strategies. Firstly, despite its basis in politics, the Eurasia Group employs specialists in numerous areas, such as economics. (The Eurasia Group, 2014) Secondly, the Eurasia Group has sought out partnerships with other companies involved in risk consultancy, thereby combining its own politically-centered analyses with the specializations of other firms. For example, the Eurasia Group has embarked upon a working relationship with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), a company focused specifically on business consulting. (PwC, 2014) Hence, whereas the Eurasia Group “brings in-depth country knowledge and contacts, a long term view of political risk as a predictor of economic risk and a pragmatic approach” (PwC, 2014), the partnership with PwC adds a dimension of “business process understanding in and across functions and industries, enterprise risk management framework design and implementation capabilities, and risk mitigation experience with a focus on overseas investments.” (PwC, 2014) Accordingly, with such a partnership the Eurasia Group has identified and sought to address a potential service issue that may compromise the quality of the product offered, i.e., its own specialization.

With such strategies, the Eurasia Group recognizes two of the most fundamental service issues which face its industry: the speculative and volatile nature of the information it is to analyze and interpret, as well as the danger of specialization negatively influencing the product offered. Whereas both are industry-wide challenges, the latter is inevitably tied to the specialization of the particular political risk consultancy firm. Decisions about how to address this service issue thus take a contextually-dependent approach, whereby strategies are enacted so that the strengths associated with specialization do not ultimately turn into a weakness, thereby improving the quality of the services offered.

References

The Eurasia Group. (2014). “What we do”. The Eurasia Group. Retrieved 15 July 2014 at http://eurasiagroup.net/about-eurasia-group/what-we-do

McKellar, R. (2012). A Short Guide to Political Risk. Surrey, UK: Gower Publishing.

PwC. (2014). “An alliance between PwC and Eurasia Group.” PwC. Retrieved 15 July 2014 at http://www.pwc.com/gx/en/political-risk-consulting-services/alliance-between-pwc-and-eurasia-group.jhtml