Calling the shots.
If you want to hone your managerial skills and climb the corporate ladder, management consultancies are where you should be, says Rahul Chawra Management consultancy is fast becoming indispensable in assisting mainstream management in issues regarding innovation and change. It is a dynamic profession offering a wide range of services to senior corporate management. Kennedy Information estimates that total management consulting revenues worldwide hit a whopping $100 billion in 1999 and was growing rapidly at that time. Experienced in industry and commerce, one can apply one’s skill and knowledge on a wider basis as consultants, drawing from a variety of situations that no one firm can provide. Management consultancy thus acts as a good training ground for those wanting to broaden their managerial skills and a veritable ladder to senior management positions in the industry. Of course, to those who are prepared to accept the challenge and discipline the profession demands. Professor Rajat S Bakshi of Management Development Institute, Gurgaon, defines the management consultant as, “a person who has to address the same problem as a manager, that is, how to tailor situations, external and internal, to arrive at the desired objective for an enterprise. It is not that capable internal managers cannot achieve this but there are certain inherent advantages when you call for outside specialists, which is mainly the unbiased and detached way of looking into the problems.” What consultants really do Management consultants are primarily required to provide wider expertise than is available within a single organisation. Thus a change in production or marketing may require expertise in designing and implementing a new system. Secondly, management consultants are needed to provide objective appraisals where it is often easier for the trained outsider to see the long-term requirements of the company. Thirdly, the management consultant may have to provide additional assistance where there is a temporary increase in the management workload, which may arise with a major change or a new development. Reet Chaudhuri, a business consultant in a renowned consulting firm, says, “We usually have two types of work. Firstly, an assignment wherein we have to work on the site of the client. Secondly, the internal work of an organisation such as preparing proposals.” On joining a management consultancy firm, a novice will normally receive several months of induction and training whilst also being under the guidance of an experienced consultant. During this period, the diagnostic skills of the trainee consultant are developed and the professional standards of the firm impressed on the mind. Possessing good communication skills is a must, for the ability to present thoughts and ideas clearly to clients is of utmost importance. Trainees are also given the opportunity to conduct detailed day-to-day assignments and surveys designed to diagnose clients’ problems and establish agreed terms of reference for future consulting work. Assignments are reviewed regularly at meetings where progress is monitored and recorded. At the end of an assignment the consultant presents findings and recommendations in the form of a report. He/she may also be involved in the process of implementing the report’s recommendations or for having regular progress checks. A consultant often has to work with both senior management and employees of lower levels, depending upon the nature of the assignment. Dr M L Shrikant, Dean S P Jain Institute of Management and Research, says that the consultancy professionals should also be socially savvy to be able to interact with all kinds of people representing different hierarchies. Some typical assignments n Reviewing an organisation’s corporate objectives and strategies.