Automation Consulting Services As they had been doing twice a year for the past six years, the three founding partners of Automation Consulting Services (ACS) convened at Cliff Reed's summer home in Cape Cod in August 2018 to spend a weekend assessing the status of their consulting firm and planning its future. Not surprisingly, they each had come away from their recent tour of ACS' four offices with a long list of questions, concerns, and ideas for change. Over the years, the semi-annual practice of visiting each office and holding formal meetings with its partners and principals had been an effective way for the three founding partners to identify major problems and new opportunities. This year, however, the three founders sensed that the magnitude of the issues that needed their direct attention had grown out of control. They worried that two days of brainstorming would not be an adequate response to the current challenges and those projected for the next decade. Company Background Clifford Reed, Jack Leland, and Angela Goldberg had founded ACS in 2011 as a technical consulting firm specializing in factory automation for industrial manufacturing firms. ACS advised clients on the development of automation strategy and long-term facilities planning and also provided guidance in the design and implementation of specific automation projects. From its home base in Boston, ACS had expanded into three additional locations. Offices had been opened in Seattle and Philadelphia in 2012 and 2014, respectively, and ACS had acquired a local partnership in San Jose, California in 2016. By 2015, ACS had a professional staff of $3 consultants and revenues of 504 million The ACS partnership had tentative plans to open an office in Asia in the near future. When Reed, Leland, and Goldberg had first formed their partnership in 2011, demand for automation expertise was growing steadily and their market research indicated that the trend would continue. From the outset, the founders had agreed that revenue growth would be a top priority. They had considered rapid growth an imperative for three main reasons. First, most of their clients and likely prospects were relatively large corporations, often with multiple manufacturing sites; these firms preferred hiring technical consulting firms that could provide the depth and breadth of expertise and