To contextualize this, in my experience this doesn't happen as a result of some malicious conspiracy but rather as a natural outcome of working with various projects and exchanging with colleagues in various projects.
For the consultancy it boils down to not reinventing the wheel, learning from others and sharing knowledge about what works and what doesn't. Typically, what is shared are anonymized generic design or cases and not actual code or design files though.
Of course what is knowledge sharing and efficiency for consultants might simply boil down to IP theft for the affected companies. My question is rather how much of it is natural human social interaction and collaboration if you put dozens of people from dozens of projects into one room talking about a similar problem.
It's not necessarily consultants in these companies that are malicious. I find working with many to be honest, and deeply caring about their work. It's that some of the management in these companies are incentivized to engage in duplicitous behavior to gain clients one way or another.
Working for a tech consultancy before, they do have clear lines to distinguish for legal reasons and make you take courses. For e.g., you can't give or receive gifts of any monetary value, etc. But management find other ways, to gain client's trust and affection. One way is to overwork the consultants, and other is to share information that is privy sometimes.
For the consultancy it boils down to not reinventing the wheel, learning from others and sharing knowledge about what works and what doesn't. Typically, what is shared are anonymized generic design or cases and not actual code or design files though.
Of course what is knowledge sharing and efficiency for consultants might simply boil down to IP theft for the affected companies. My question is rather how much of it is natural human social interaction and collaboration if you put dozens of people from dozens of projects into one room talking about a similar problem.