Tom Spencer

View File PEST Analysis Template The PEST Analysis Template can be used to examine the macro environment and uncover hidden opportunities and threats that could impact a business unit, product or project. Insights gained from the analysis can be used to develop a strategic plan of action. For more information, read the article on PEST Analysis. Submitter Tom Spencer Submitted 03/17/2014 Category Templates, Guidebooks, Reports

Medhi, I've done some further research, and there are definitely some courses out there. If your aim is to get a job with an MBB firm, then they don't really require specific certifications. However, if your goals is to learn skills that you can directly apply in your current job, then taking a course could be worthwhile. Here are some links I've managed to find for the USA and UK: Imperial Summer School Course in Business Strategy & Consulting (UK) Techniques for Change Consulting Skills Course (UK) Harvard Online Class in Management Consulting (USA) Institute of Management Consultants (USA)

Hey Mehdi, What's your current situation? Are you an undergrad, working, masters, etc? I had a chat with Tone about this. The view coming out of our discussion is: [1] Not that we can think of but the PM would be invaluable. The annoying thing is that you have to renew them. Otherwise, a masters of management could be a good option. [2] Read this post re Is there a specific major that MC firms are after? Does that help?

Chris Cooper, founder and head of Challenge Consulting, has been elected President of the Management Consultancies Association, the trade association for UK-based consulting firms. Cooper takes over from Aimie Chapple of Accenture. For more details, read the full article.

Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis: President Barack Obama from President Barack Obama

Great list, Sal! In my impartial opinion, the first resource Sal mentioned is very good. :-)

PwC Canada has announced the purchase of Biond Consulting, a firm involved with planning and implementing Business Intelligence and Enterprise Performance Management Solutions using Oracle and Microsoft technology. Ramy Sedra, founder and president of Biond, will join PwC as a partner in the firm's Consulting practice. For more details, read the full article.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Accenture and SAP AG have announced a new business group focused on accelerating the time it takes to develop and deliver new industry-specific solutions based on cloud and digital technologies. The Accenture and SAP Business Solutions Group will combine Accenture's intellectual property and industry expertise with SAP's Cloud Platform to to help customers more quickly gain the benefits of digital technologies including cloud computing. For more details, read the full article.

Tone, I agree with you. UAIs, ATARs, and SATs are measures of how well you performed on the test at that point in time. This doesn't take into account the fact that (1) there are different types of intelligence, and (2) standardised test scores taken during high school directly disadvantage people who (for whatever reason) developed more slowly or had other interests other than study at that point in their lives. I believe that this is another example of the educational industrial complex trying to treat people like widgets. Shame on you McKinsey and friends.

A recent Business Insider article reports that firms like McKinsey and Bain are asking college graduates for their SAT scores in job applications. And, regardless of your age and experience level, you may need to be be prepared to share your SAT scores the next time you apply for a job. Why do employers care about a standardised test taken in high school? Well, according to Jonathan Wai, researcher in Duke University's Talent Identification Program, SATs are a measure of general intelligence, and research has shown that general ability predicts success across a range of occupations. For more details, read the full article.

Consultant-News.com reports that ea Consulting Group has expanded its central London office, and moved to larger premises. ea Consulting Group is a provider of change management resourcing and consulting solutions. The expansion follows increased demand from the card payments, banking and insurance sectors. For more details, read the full article.

All, I have extended the free download to until the end of March 2014. Use Coupon Code "NEWMEMBER" to download this guide for FREE. Tom

Sally, I have extended the free download to until the end of March. Use Coupon Code "NEWMEMBER" to download this guide for FREE. Tom

Navigant announced on Friday the opening of a new office in Singapore, which will provide advisory, dispute and investigative services to the region. Garry Crossley, Managing Director of Navigant's HK Construction Practice has been appointed to head up the Singapore office. The firm's Hong Kong office opened in 2005. For more details, read the full article.

Actively maintaining alumni relations has long been practiced by universities, and leading firms like McKinsey & Co. McKinsey gives its alumni special treatment, for example, by sharing with them information about attractive job vacancies and giving them free presentations on industry trends. According to a recent Economist article, other professional services firms are now "trying to stay in touch with departed workers, hoping to turn them into brand ambassadors, recruiters and salespeople." The Economist provides examples of the efforts to which professional service firms are now going: Deloitte helps departing employees update their CV Linklaters provides former staff with discounts to cultural events Citigroup has held more than 150 alumni gatherings since its alumni relations program started in 2011 The surge in alumni relations programs appears to be driven by the relatively low cost of maintaining connections via social media. However, we believe that the prevailing notion that the value of alumni relations should be assessed in terms of "return on investment" is a mistake. Case in point, The Economist notes that Paul Meehan, executive at Bain, describes former staff as “an untapped, hidden asset that isn’t fully exploited”. Meehan is missing the point entirely. "Profit" and "return on investment" are short term concepts. They are meaningful over the course of a year, or a small number of years, as a measure of performance. But forecast even half a decade into the future, and if you are assuming a discount rate of anything more than zero (which is typical), then valuable long term projects can begin to look costly. An investment in alumni relations is an investment in the long term. Organisations that are interested in long term survival, should consider embracing long term concepts. Religions and Universities, which traditionally have not embraced capitalist tools like the "discount rate", have never had any trouble seeing their members and alumni as assets. Religions don't apply a discount rate to the value of their followers over time, and Universities generally understand that their alumni increase in value over the course of their careers.

EY is searching for the top entrepreneurial talent in Australia to take part in the 2014 Australian EY Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards. Bryan Zekulich, Head of the Program, said celebrating entrepreneurial success stories helped to inspire the next generation of Australian entrepreneurs. Past Australian winners have included the founders of SEEK, iiNet, Carsales.com.au, ResMed and Atlassian. For more information about the Entrepreneur Of The Year, or to nominate, visit www.eoy.ey.com.au.

A recent EY survey estimates that Australian companies lose more than $720 in future earnings for every negative customer experience. The findings are based on interviews that EY conducted over the last 12 months with 950 consumers across Australia. For more details, read the full article.

IBM has achieved the top spot in the White Space Thought Leadership Rankings for the second half of 2013. The top 5 performers were IBM (1st), Deloitte (2nd), BCG (3rd), Roland Berger (4th), and Capgemini (5th). Deloitte’s rise to 2nd place relates to its efforts in building Deloitte University Press, and shows the benefits of focusing on thought leadership in a dedicated way. In measuring the performance of consulting firms, the White Space Report has taken into account the "consistency in the quality" of material published. Other factors considered in the rankings include differentiation and the extent to which their material prompted readers to take action.

Entrepreneurship is a growing trend in the B-School community, and MBA students are turning to start-ups to get an edge over the competition in the search for consulting jobs. Demand from MBA students for jobs in consulting grew by 11% on average in 2013. The demand is not surprising, and Business Because reports that "the average MBA salary in consulting, bonuses included, is a whopping $104,200." To help students compete in a crowded and competitive market, business schools have started giving MBA students a chance to work on consulting projects with start-ups. Cass Business School, for example, places MBA students in the London City Incubator, where they have the opportunity to take part in projects with early-stage start-ups. For more details, read the full article.

Deloitte has launch ConvergeHEALTH, a new business unit focusing on healthcare transformation. We understand that Healthcare is Deloitte's biggest industry by revenue, and the new business unit comes with a new investment by Deloitte of up to $200 million in healthcare analytics. Deloitte appears to believe that healthcare will become increasingly data-driven, and there are 3 reasons why this could happen: (1) increased regulation around quality, (2) changing reimbursement structures, and (3) a continued focus on cost reduction. For more details, read the full article.

Capgemini, the management consulting and technology firm, is increasing its capacity to deliver business out of India. On Wednesday, it expanded its facility in Talwade (near Pune) bringing its total investment in the facility up to around Rs 3 billion. Over the last 5 years, Capgemini has increased staff numbers in India by over 40,000. There are a two implications of Capgemini's move. Firstly, the firm has said it plans to target growth in the Asia-Pacific and Latin America. Since the expansion of man-power is in India, it will be interesting to see what share of the value will be provided in the local markets and how much can be provided in India. It is common practice for firms like McKinsey, BCG and Bain to outsource the production of powerpoint slides to India, while sending well dressed and well spoken management consultants to meet with clients on the ground in local markets. With the recent rise of websites like Expert 360, and with the increasing quality and capabilities of Indian workers, it is an open question whether well dressed (and expensive) consultants will continue to be needed in coming years. Secondly, the large investment in capacity helps Capgemini build a barrier to entry in the market for management and IT services. It will presumably give Capgemini a cost advantage and so the ability to undercut new entrants on price. It also raises the amount of capital required by new entrants to compete in this space. For more details, read the full article.

India's government claims that the number of people living below the poverty line has fallen by more than half since the mid-1990s. The Indian government sets its official poverty line at around 40 cents a day in rural areas and 50 cents a day in cities. The McKinsey Global Institute argues that instead of using the "poverty line" as a gauge of extreme poverty, India should focus on what it would take to satisfy a person’s basic needs. McKinsey calls its new measure an “empowerment line”, the level where McKinsey argues India’s citizens will have the resources to get out of poverty. Tellingly, McKinsey set its empowerment line roughly 50% above the government poverty line. The report is a wake up call for India's government since it places more than half of India's citizens below the empowerment line. For more details, read the full article.

Bain reports that a significant percentage of big businesses (revenues >$1 billion) are not be getting the most from their big data systems. The report found that the majority of firms are not using best practice data management principles and that this is impeding their ability to extract relevant data when needed. Firms that were early adopters of big data analytics were shown to be twice as likely to be in the top quartile of financial performance within their sector. One of the take away lessons is that big businesses should be working in a dedicated way to collect and make use of big data. Firms that fail to do so are likely to fall further and further behind. For more details, read the full article.

I would be interested to understand the environmental issues. There is an obvious conflict between the interests of fracking companies (which profit now), and local communities (which may suffer harm a number of years down the line).

If a customer switches away from a company, then this represents lost revenue for that company. It also generally represents revenue gained by one of its competitors. So, switching is a kind of double negative. A common technique used to prevent switching is the long term contract, a tactic typically used by cell phone companies and gyms. For reasons that are not yet clear to me, companies appear to place more effort on "attracting new customers" than they do on "retaining old ones". I am not sure whether this creates the switching culture, or whether it is used because customer's have a tendency to switch. If anyone is aware of research on this point, I would be interested.