Management consulting is a professional service offered to organisations which aims to help internal management improve operating performance. Consultancies are brought in to tackle individual problems (falling revenue, rising costs, geographical expansion, product launch, M&A) or to evaluate the company through a deep dive analysis.
The management consulting value chain encompasses strategy (idea origination, analysis and presentation of findings), implementation, operations and maintenance/feedback. Strategy consulting is the most human capital intensive and highest margin segment of management consulting, and the terms are used interchangeably.
Consulting in the Canadian Landscape
Traditionally, general strategy consulting firms have operated independently from the rest of the consulting value chain, with prominent firms including McKinsey, Bain, BCG, AT Kearney, Oliver Wyman, Booz & Co, and Monitor having busy practices. Accenture, Deloitte and the rest of the Big 4 accounting firms were previously more on the operational side.
However, the industry has undergone considerable consolidation as clients migrate towards one stop solutions and competition for fees tightens. Deloitte has since purchased Monitor (branded under Strategy & Operations – Monitor Deloitte), PwC has purchased Booz (branded as Strategy&), and KPMG has purchased SECOR as firms look to poach client bases and cross-sell products. (Note: EY’s consulting practice in Canada is called “Performance Improvement” and does not have EY-Parthenon. PwC’s consulting practice in Canada is called “Consulting & Deals” and they are slowly starting to staff people under Strategy&).
- Traditional strategy consultants are expanding further downstream in the value chain with McKinsey and BCG starting “Knowledge”, “Implementation”, and “Digital Ventures” practices.
- IT consulting firms (Accenture, IBM, Capco, CGI) have recently come into prominence, with the proliferation of big data and the internet of things.
- Other reputable firms with operations in Canada that either have a geographic presence in a single location or focus in one industry/practice include Roland Berger (Montreal), Novantas (Toronto), and ZS Associates (Toronto).
- There are some local consulting firms such as SATOV Consultants, Level 5 Strategy, and Fusion Retail Analytics.
Along with the prestige, a career in consulting is alluring to graduates due to well-known tenets of the job including exposure to C-level executives from day one, frequent business class travel, complimentary fine dining, and extensive training and mentorship.
Rationale for Hiring a Management Consultant
There are at least four reasons for hiring a management consultant.
1. Political Leverage
Management consultants can be brought in by management to justify unpopular decisions. Management may want to act on an issue in a certain way but require external buy-in to overcome internal resistance. Hiring a consultancy also insulates management from the fallout of a failed strategy.
2. Pooled Knowledge
By hiring a consultant to solve a problem, management indirectly has access to data from the consultancy from numerous past projects (including those for competitors). Although data and corporate best practices from other projects are strictly confidential, the consultancy has internalized the information and will formulate the best solution based on that experience.
3. Staff Augmentation
Bringing in a consultancy may be cost effective method of outsourcing. An engagement entails bringing in a team of industry experts that work extensive hours. This can be cost effective compared to reallocating internal resources and training staff to operate outside of their core competency.
4. Cross Functional Problem Solving
In many large companies, functional groups are siloed off, with little communication across departments. Not only do consultants get an unbiased view of the problem through interviews across departments, they create an impetus for communication that promotes cross functional problem solving. Similarly, consultants interview and shadow employees throughout the organizational structure, where they gain insight on issues from various layers of management.
Breaking into Management Consulting
Aspiring management consultants do not need a business degree to break in and many firms often prefer STEM majors over business majors. However, unlike the U.S., Canada has a lot of undergrad business programs so a larger share of entry-level consultants do have a business background. Steps to be well positioned for a career in management consulting include:
- Going to a target school
- Ontario:
- Western Ivey
- Queen’s Commerce
- University of Toronto (Rotman Commerce)
- University of Waterloo
- York University (Schulich)
- Quebec:
- McGill University (Desautels)
- HEC Montreal
- École Polytechnique Montréal
- British Columbia:
- University of British Columbia (Sauder School of Business)
- Simon Fraser University
- Alberta:
- University of Calgary
- University of Alberta
- Ontario:
- Achieving a minimum GPA of 3.5 (GPA is used as a screen for candidates) – 3.7 is ideal for interviews and lower grades may require standardized testing (via GMAT/GRE) or other aspects that stand out (i.e. work experience and/or extracurricular activities)
- Taking on internships and co-op at well-known corporates that involve data analysis and problem solving
- Attending consulting conferences and participating in case competitions
- If no consulting job is lined up after undergraduate studies, a master’s or MBA may be required to reinvent a resume. Industry experience with extensive networking may be enough but breaking in with that method is certainly the exception rather than the rule.
Jason Oh is a management consultant at Novantas with expertise in scaling profitability for retail banks (consumer / commercial finance) and diversified financial service firms (credit card / wealth management / direct bank).
Image: Pexels
🔴 Interested in consulting?