Whilst I appreciate that without strategy there is no implementation, I believe that my past career in business management and development lends itself better to work on helping companies get into shape in a practical sense rather than the theoretical and planning aspects.Are there specialists in this arena who are focussed on helping organisations to understand what actions are required, and take on the task of implementation to achieve their strategy?

How does "understand what actions are required" different from "strategy"?

The Change Implementation practice at Towers Perrin specialises in this kind of work.

Very much exists but tends to hide under different names. There are a number of niche MC companies doing "Performance Improvement" and similar which typically cover this, and of course the big boys "do everything".

The point I was trying to make is that you can't implement without a strategy. Almost all the top firms implement (from McK on down)...except that many clients choose to implement on their own due to cost-prohibitive fees. Even niche companies doing "performance improvement" need to understand what's wrong with the client, where the client headed, and what needs to be done to bridge this gap -- before any implementation can happen. "Pure play" implementation firms are considered 3rd-tier in this industry; e.g., companies that implement ISO9000, lean mfg., MRP systems, etc.

I think you have to be careful about the categorisation: a firm can simultaneously be 3rd tier for "strategy" consulting, 2nd tier for "management" consulting and 1st tier for "quality control" consulting (for example).The same applies the other way around as well - McKinsey is considered 2nd or 3rd tier for a lot of operational consulting assignments, but is 1st tier for strategy consulting.It all depends on the nature of the problem that the client has and what they actually need at a given time. If their strategy is fine but they are having difficulty with operational issues then they shouldn't be spending money on strategic support.A client would be crazy (okay, I know, some are) to engage a strategy consultant every time they had a problem - a lot of the time changing the high-level strategy won't be the best way of making the change. Often the disruption will be more harmful than anything and the client will be in danger of throwing out the baby with the bathwater.Similarly, someone with an open fracture to their leg would be mad to go to a physiotherapist instead of A&E. They will neither feel better for the treatment nor get any better, and they run the risk of exacerbating the injury or bleeding to death on the massage table.

How does a company know "their strategy is fine" if they are failing in the marketplace? I'm not saying McK or strat firms in general are the Second Coming of Christ. (This is clearly an oversimplification)...but I've seen too many companies think that by implementing "Lean Mfg.", "Six Sigma", or "ISO9000" that they can suddenly better compete in the marketplace and turn their fortunes around. Lean, Six Sigma, and ISO are but elements of a successful mfg. strategy. "Implementation only" firms that sell only Lean or ISO are 3rd-tier from this perspective. I don't mean 3rd-tier in the sense of capability...as I'm sure if you're a Lean consultant, you know 10x more about Lean Mfg. that I would ever need to know.I use the word "strategy" loosely. A strategy engagement doesn't mean batten down the hatches, we'll do a full scale lobotomy and disrupt day to day business. It is often targeted -- mfg. footprint strategy (should we continue building the widgets in Texas or move to Mexico, Slovakia, or China?), supply chain strategy (insource vs. outsource, sourcing, logistics, warehousing, etc.), pricing and segmentation strategy (are we targeting the people who we really want to target), channel strategy, etc. -- as very few companies have the stomach nor the pocketbook to do the full scale invasion that Ann-On implies above.My only point is that however you choose to define it, strategy AND implementation go hand in hand. If you are a healthy successful company that exceed your industry peer group in revenues, profitability, and market share -- then I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and presume your strategy is sound. Otherwise......

In my note above, the last sentence in the last paragraph should read:If you are a healthy successful company that exceed your industry peer group in revenue GROWTH, profitability GROWTH, and market share GROWTH...