Description
This is the #4 course in the specialization on management consulting.
Management consultants are quick learners. When you first join a generalist consulting firm, you are expected to learn core consulting skills and will likely be staffed on projects across industry and functions. You might be on a chemicals pricing project, then a retail cost-reduction project. It’s critical that you learn “how to get smart quickly” and ask smart questions. At the same time, you should develop an armory of tools to create data through client interviews, surveys, benchmarking, and observations.
What you will learn
Work Smart and Quickly with Internet Research
What’s the first thing you do when learning something new? Internet, of course. So, if you have a new client, in a new industry that you don’t know a lot about, where should you start? Learn the first 10 steps you should take to learn the company’s business, financials, and industry trends. Work smart.
Understand Industry Supply Chain Dynamics
All companies and organizations sit within an industry landscape; they have suppliers, customers, rivals, and even new entrants (new competitors). What’s the power dynamics among those players and who has the leverage? Professor Michael Porter famously said that “strategy is how you cope with competition.” How can your client create barriers to entry and dig an “economic moat” around their business profits?
Create Data Through Surveys and Observations
Consultants require useful data to make persuasive recommendations. Some of that data is available in ERP (enterprise resource planning) systems and IT databases. However, some other data doesn’t exist; you need to create it through client interviews, surveys, observations, benchmarking, or other methods. It’s a beautiful thing when consultants are able to drive correlation between the disparate pieces of “data” and tell a coherent story.
Use Benchmarks as a Starting Point
Benchmarking is the simple idea of comparing performance against others. When you go to the doctor and they measure your vital signs (e.g., blood pressure, heart rate) against your peer group (e.g., women in their 50s), this is benchmarking. It’s also a commonly used consulting tool because a) clients often want to know how they are performing relative to their peers, and 2) it’s a convenient way for consultants to identify gaps in performance. While the concept is simple, it’s incredibly difficult to do well. It’s vulnerable to bias and manipulation. As a consultant, it can get you in trouble, and you should use it wisely.