Often these kinds of consultants get hired to provide justification to executives to do something they wanted help / grounds to do. So there's definitely some not-great incentives for the consultants to come to a certain conclusion...
Also, it is not unheard of (hah) for the consulting companies to overpromise the analysis and work that can be done, understaff it, and work on unrealistic deadlines where the consultants can only but cram the worst kind of "analysis" (as you put it) into the time allotted.
As I commented below also, if the person hiring the consultant doesn't know what he/she is doing or is under a lot of other constraints + pressure, and isn't a good judge of work, the conclusions that come out will likely be BS too.
By the way, I wouldn't hire any such consulting company to do work on something they haven't done 20 times before and with reasonable examples of concrete + credible conclusions. Consultants are not well known for groundbreaking innovation on a per-hour basis.
Also, it is not unheard of (hah) for the consulting companies to overpromise the analysis and work that can be done, understaff it, and work on unrealistic deadlines where the consultants can only but cram the worst kind of "analysis" (as you put it) into the time allotted.
As I commented below also, if the person hiring the consultant doesn't know what he/she is doing or is under a lot of other constraints + pressure, and isn't a good judge of work, the conclusions that come out will likely be BS too.
By the way, I wouldn't hire any such consulting company to do work on something they haven't done 20 times before and with reasonable examples of concrete + credible conclusions. Consultants are not well known for groundbreaking innovation on a per-hour basis.