Management Consulting Midterm Exam

Cost-Reduction

1. These projects can vary greatly in length, and will involve a high degree of client interaction—in particular, headcount-reduction projects will typically involve many meetings and interviews with different employees to help determine the right way to reduce costs and reshape the organizational chart.

The consultant's wants from the client can include? (Pick all that apply)

Access to the right people and information The client to provide people from their organization to accomplish your job Support during the project and at difficult times Enough time to do the job right

The best way to keep consulting simple and not vague is to focus on two dimensions and ask yourself two questions whenever you are with the client. (Select the 2 questions)

Am I completing the business of the consulting phase I am in? Am I being authentic with this person now?

________________, pioneered many of the analytical tools and approaches that would define the new field of strategic management and the publication of these concepts has set the groundwork for many Consulting firms to follow. (pick all that apply)

Bain & Co, Booz Allen Hamilton, Harvard Business School, McKinsey

What are the 3 kinds of skills needed to do a good job in consulting? (pick 3)

Consulting Skills Technical Skills Intrapersonal Skills

Major (Strategy-Focused)

Consulting geared towards high-level, corporate decisions. This category can include broad industry analysis, competitor assessment, merger integration, new product strategy, etc. In other words, this category fits most large-scale, high-level Consulting engagements. Most MBA Graduates are hired by these types of firms.

Information Technology (IT)

Consulting that focuses on information technology in several different areas (Assessment, Design, Implementation, Infrastructure, and other areas).

Human Resources (HR)

Consulting that focuses on maximizing value created from Human Resources, or employees, in an organization. Can include topics such as Compensation schemes, Health & Benefits planning, Recruitment processes, etc.

Niche

Consulting that tends to focus on a specific technology, research, or analysis method, or is particular to a specific industry or region. For example, a Management Consulting firm that only serves the Bioengineering industry would be a type of Niche consulting; another example would be a firm that has developed a proprietary profitability analysis technique and sells it to various firms in the Financial Services Industry. Often, Niche Consulting firms were founded by ex-partners at Major/Strategy-Focused firms that had developed a strong Consulting practice in a particular area during their tenure there. Specialized firms have increased pressure on larger, more generalist Consulting firms to increase their sophistication in industry and geography-specific knowledge in order to compete for business.

Booz Allen Hamilton was founded as a Management Consultancy by _______, a graduate of the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, in 1914, and was the first to serve both _____________.

Edwin G. Booz, industry and government clients

The underlying assumptions for the consulting approach in "Flawless Consulting" are: (Pick all that apply)

Effective Implementation Requires Internal Commitment Problem Solving Requires Valid Data Effective Decision Making Requires Free and Open Choice

One of the key case scenarios that deal with; "Mergers", "Acquisitions", and "New Product Development" is?

Entering a new market

Phases of Consulting in Order

Entry and contracting Discovery and dialogue Analysis and the decision to act Engagement and implementation Extension, recycle, or termination

If we consult flawlessly and are authentic when we consult, our recommendations will always be implemented.

False

Once the initial hypothesis is formed it should never change during the project.

False

There are questions that are more cognitive and non-personal which the virtual world can handle such as: (Pick all that apply)

How much time will it take? Who should be on the team? Who are the players involved?

The first pure Management Consulting company was _________.

McKinsey & Company

A legal contract contains two basic elements that apply to consulting relationships, pick both:

Mutual consent Valid consideration

Customer Retention/Churn

On projects of this type, Consultants will likely conduct analysis to understand the state of the client's customer base - length of the average customer lifespan, annual churn rate, profitability per client, root causes of churn.

Organizational Design

On this type of project, Consultants will likely work intensively and directly with the client to ultimately design the new Organization Charts with the right new roles (and often, determine the right individuals to fill those roles).

Pick the best choice for the power relationship with your client.

Power with your client

One of the key case scenarios that deal with; "Competitive Analysis", "Cost-Based-Pricing", and Price Based Costing" is?

Pricing

One of the key case scenarios that deal with; "Bottom Line", "Costs", and "Revenues" is?

Profit and Loss

Business Diagnostic

Project involves quickly developing a broad snapshot to assess a company or business unit and is a great way for a new manager, such as a CEO or SVP, to get an understanding of the business and understand what needs attention.

Post-Merger Integration

Projects tend to have many process elements to them, since the client needs to merge the combined entities quickly and efficiently to maximize shareholder value and reduce risk (e.g., minimize the possibility of business disruption).

5 Steps for Case Analysis

Summarize the quesiton Verify the objective Ask clarifying questions Label the case and lay out your structure State your hypothesis

There are 9 things in the book for analyzing your contract. Four of these 9 you directly control and should be initially structured before the meeting to have a good discussion with the client, pick the best answer.

The boundaries of your analysis, Objectives of the project, Time schedule, and The product you will deliver

Growth Strategy

These projects are usually 3-6 months in duration and involve significant analysis-e.g., competitor profiles, industry SWOT analysis, expert interviews, customer surveys—depending on what specific growth issue you are trying to solve.

Every time you give advice to someone who is faced with a choice you are consulting.

True

The client is defined as the person or persons whom the consultant wants to influence.

True

The consultant's desirable wants are those things you would like to have from the client but you can live without them.

True

The virtual world such as E-Mail, Text, etc... cannot replace a face to face meeting because often times what is said in them can be misinterpreted without seeing body language and hearing the voice.

True

There are 4 elements beyond content and related to the relationship of a consulting role and they are; (Pick all that apply)

Your Needs, Responsibility, Feelings, Trust

According to chapter 2 there are two levels in the consulting role that need attention during the project and they are:

content relationship

McKinsey is also credited with being the first firm to make it a practice to hire ______________to staff its projects.

newly graduated MBAs from top schools

A consultant is a person in a position in a position to have some influence over an individual, a group, or an organization but as ___________ to make changes or implement programs.

no direct power

In the late 1990s, the Consulting industry blossomed, driven by a broad array of factors such as: (pick all that apply)

privatization, strong global economy, increases in computing power

Consulting industry growth stalled for a couple of years in the early 2000s due to: (pick all that apply).

the dot-com bubble burst, painful recession

Early consulting firms were started by _______?

university professors