As a MBA student all we hear in today's world( after credit crunch and pretty low investment banking jobs) is shift towards management consultancy. I could gather very good idea of the information below.
Consultants are hired by companies who need a fresh outside perspective along with the problem solving and analytical skills.
Management consulting firms can be classified on the basis of their functional area such as specializing in giving advice on general business strategy question, or providing advisory services in niche and specialized areas like technology, marketing, finance, operations or HR. An alternative/parallel way of classification can be on the structure followed, i.e. some concentrate on a specific industry area like financial services or retail, while there are some which are huge and have divisions that provide advice on everything from top-level strategy, to choosing which software to install, to interesting things like saving money on paper clips.
Management consulting firms can be classified on the basis of their functional area such as specializing in giving advice on general business strategy question, or providing advisory services in niche and specialized areas like technology, marketing, finance, operations or HR. An alternative/parallel way of classification can be on the structure followed, i.e. some concentrate on a specific industry area like financial services or retail, while there are some which are huge and have divisions that provide advice on everything from top-level strategy, to choosing which software to install, to interesting things like saving money on paper clips.
Consulting firms are typically organized according to industry and type of problem as well. For example, a firm like Bain & Company might focus on strategy problems only but in virtually any industry. On the other hand, there can be firms which focus on a particular industry only but advise on nearly any type of issue. Many of the larger firms however have a matrix organization, with both industry practice groups and functional practice groups.
Saying this, there is one thing which management consulting firms have in common: they all are powered by their people, their IP. The only product which a consulting firm ultimately has on offer is its employees' ability to solve the problem. As a consultant, you are that problem solver.
Types of Consulting Services
Management consulting firms provide services in 6 primary categories: Pure strategy, Operations strategy, marketing strategy, IT strategy, Financial strategy and HR strategy. The figure below shows how these areas fit together.
Strategy Consulting: It helps client's most senior executives understand and face the macro level challenges of running their companies. Eg. Recommending a new strategic direction for a growing telecommunications company or to understand why a particular company always lose money and how they can reposition themselves to milk profit from new markets.
Marketing Consulting: Consultants work with senior marketing or BD leadership to shape overall marketing plan or develop detailed approaches to launch a new product or optimize existing ones. E.g. To evaluate the ROI in various marketing and sales activities
Operations Consulting: Investigating customer service response times, reducing inventory and backlog levels, looking at the supply chain are some of the works that a consultant working in this domain does.
IT strategy Consulting: Helping clients achieve their business goals by leveraging in depth knowledge of computer and telecom hardware, software etc. There are two kinds of consulting, IT strategy and IT implementation consulting.
Financial Strategy Consulting: 3 primary categories, Corporate Finance, Risk Management and Insurance, and Corporate restructuring or turnaround consulting.
HR strategy Consulting: Putting the right people with right skills at the right place at the right compensation is what an HR consultant will do. They also restructure organizations, and help in change management.
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