David A Fields
NOVEMBER 25, 2015
Each Friday I pause to consider everything I have to be grateful for. Family, friends, a thriving business, homemade banana-chocolate cream pie. Some wise folks do this exercise every day. Others limit their gratitude to a day here or there such as Thanksgiving (in the U.S.) or when they exchange gifts. Terrific. Warm and fluffy as rabbit fur. But how does gratitude help consultants’ businesses?
Steve Shu Consulting
NOVEMBER 10, 2015
The concept of nudging and more specifically the behavioral science phrase of “no neutral design” has strong historical ties to social and public sector issues. The motivation for the phrase goes something like this. We have to provide people with information and choices, such as part of governing a country and during driver’s license application processes, social security claiming processes, and hundreds (possibly even thousands) of other processes.
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Management Consulted
NOVEMBER 22, 2015
If you’re new to consulting, it won’t take you long to discover that MBB firms are insanely competitive. There are only so many positions they can fill every cycle. There is no shame in trying and coming up a little bit short. But what do you do next if you underprepared, or just had bad luck, and received the dreaded rejection from (horror of horrors) the complete MBB tier?
Tom Spencer
NOVEMBER 29, 2015
(Source: Flickr ). If you want to practice case questions, I highly recommend Marc Cosentino’s book Case in Point. You can also access sample case questions from various consulting clubs here , and from the following consulting firm websites: McKinsey & Company ; Bain & Company ; Oliver Wyman ; Deloitte ; A.T. Kearney ; Accenture ; and. L.E.K.
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The Source
NOVEMBER 23, 2015
By Fiona Czerniawska. Clients want to have their cake and eat it. They regularly tell us that they’d like to use specialised firms, but in practice they tend to stick with larger ones (and the bigger organisation, the more likely this is). That’s because larger consulting firms can pull together the type of flexible, multidisciplinary teams needed for transformation projects; they’ve also got the global coverage big clients ask for – though don’t necessarily need in practice.
Management Consulting Connection brings together the best content for management consulting professionals from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
David A Fields
NOVEMBER 24, 2015
A consultant emailed me the following question: I want to get help developing a marketing plan for the assessment tool I developed, so I am posting an ad on Elance (now Upwork). But they’re asking me for a my budget. I’m leery of giving a number since I don’t want to discourage someone who is really good with a low number, but I don’t want people to inflate their fees based on my budget.
Steve Shu Consulting
NOVEMBER 6, 2015
As we approach the year-end, I wanted to share some thoughts from my book, The Consulting Apprenticeship: 40 Jump-Ideas for You and Your Business. It is a technique that I’ve seen a number of operating companies and management consulting firms use effectively. I’ve usually called it the Spring Cleaning technique, to connote a sense of renewal that often comes with the pastime of cleaning and refreshing a home early- to mid-year.
Management Consulted
NOVEMBER 15, 2015
After our annual East Coast Fall Tour, we jetted off to the UK to host events with consulting clubs from King’s College London, University College London, London School of Economics and Political Science, Durham University and Manchester School of Business. Plus – we held our annual London bootcamp at the swanky Grosvenor House J.W Marriott. (8 lucky attendees had a full day’s worth of personalized attention and all of their consulting questions answered).
Tom Spencer
NOVEMBER 22, 2015
This is a guest post from Sarah Smith. Overview. The competitive nature of business today is stronger than it has ever been, and so it is important for companies to use all of the tools at their disposal. There are many new innovations that allow companies to finance purchases creatively in order to meet their goals over the long term. Here are four (4) examples of financial innovations that can make your business easier to run. 1.
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Chad Barr
NOVEMBER 25, 2015
This week’s reflection point: Thanksgiving has arrived at the perfect time amid all the chaos and fear that has gripped the world. I got to spend the day in Orlando with my granddaughter at the newly opened American Girl doll store seeing the wonder of it all through the eyes of a 6-year-old. Born in the late 60’s, I grew up in a country of little materials and things but abundant in ideas, dreams and hope for the 8-year-old state of Israel.
Kates Kesler
NOVEMBER 29, 2015
There are only so many ways to design enterprise structure. The gravitational pull to greater complexity, and all the challenges that come with it, is powered by the need for new sources of growth in diverse geographic markets across multi-product divisions with increasingly demanding customers and consumers with lots of technology at their fingertips.
David A Fields
NOVEMBER 18, 2015
We know we can assist our clients in two different circumstances: when they have an aspiration (e.g., “they desire an endless supply of chocolate”) or when they suffer with a problem (e.g., “they have run out of chocolate!”) Which scenario should we focus on, and how should we present it in our marketing and proposals? Pretend you’re about to invest $9,000 into equipment for your consulting firm.
Women in Consulting
NOVEMBER 16, 2015
By: Linda Popky. It happened to me again recently: I was in a situation where I needed to contact the customer service department of a major company. You know the feeling – a product that’s not right, service that didn’t happen, promises that weren’t kept. You probably also know what happens next. That sense of dread and desperation: I’m about to waste a lot of my valuable time trying to resolve this.
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Management Consulted
NOVEMBER 11, 2015
Today we highlight tremendous business analyst and post-consulting leadership jobs at Square. Square is a San Francisco-based start-up that has been turning a lot of heads by “making commerce easy for everyone.” Their product suite includes Square Cash, which lets users send cash almost instantly, Square Reader, which allows anyone to accept credit cards anywhere, anytime for a low transaction rate; Square Register, which serves as a full point-of-sale system for businesses; Square W
Tom Spencer
NOVEMBER 15, 2015
(Source: Flickr ). Humans and chimpanzeees (our closest genetic relatives) are both social animals that have the ability to form groups and communicate between themselves. Why is it then that humans have populated the globe (7 billion and counting) while chimp numbers continue to fall (currently standing at around 250 thousand or less)? A key difference between us and our close genetic cousins is our ability to use, control and reflect upon language.
Chad Barr
NOVEMBER 11, 2015
This week’s reflection point: There are many myths surrounding the Internet, which are floating around since its inception. I decided to debunk some of them once and for all: Al Gore invented the Internet. I am kidding of course, as I just wanted to grab your attention with some humor. If you build it they will come. Just building it doesn’t attract them.
Kates Kesler
NOVEMBER 11, 2015
Bridging Organization Design and Performance is a handbook for leaders looking to enhance the success of their organizations and themselves. Companies that compete globally require organizational operating models as robust as their strategies. Many companies have created elegant designs and consider their worldwide, matrix organizations sources of competitive advantage.
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David A Fields
NOVEMBER 17, 2015
A consultant asked me for some clarification: David, you say our mantra should be “narrow in my market and broad in my capabilities.” If I’m narrow in my marketing, how do I get permission from an existing client to take on other, broader projects? What would your response be to this client? How do you market narrowly yet win a broad range of projects?
Women in Consulting
NOVEMBER 9, 2015
By: Renee Daggett. Dave Ramsey wrote the book EntreLeadership: 20 Years of Practical Business Wisdom from the Trenches. In one of his chapters, he talks about the steps a leader should take when making decisions. “Leadership is not for the weak and timid; it requires tremendous backbone…EntreLeadership is simply not for wimps.”. For me, this chapter was a list of do’s and dont’s for making good decisions both personally and in business.
Management Consulted
NOVEMBER 2, 2015
KPMG CONSULTING. With a global workforce of 160,000 people and global revenues of $24.82B for the 2014 financial year, it’s pretty obvious KPMG isn’t messing around when it comes to, well, anything. However, not all of its resources are pointed towards consulting, as it offers three lines of services, Audit, Tax and Advisory, with the Advisory arm of its operations (where consulting lives) generating $9.09 Billion last year.
Tom Spencer
NOVEMBER 8, 2015
This is a guest post from Sarah Smith. Savvy investors know that there is a lot of potential in converting abandoned or derelict spaces into lease-ready properties. Below are five (5) tips on converting a vacant spot into a high-revenue lease property. 1. Pop-Ups. This refers to taking a small vacant space and converting it into a restaurant or shop.
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Case studies are proof of successful client relations and a verifiable product or service. They persuade buyers by highlighting your customers' experiences with your company and its solution. In sales, case studies are crucial pieces of content that can be tailored to prospects' pain points and used throughout the buyer's journey. In marketing, case studies are versatile assets for generating business, providing reusable elements for ad and social media content, website material, and marketing c
Chad Barr
NOVEMBER 4, 2015
This week’s reflection point: Imagine what it would be like having one extra hour added to your day, each and every day of the year. This past weekend, we all got an extra hour of time to relax, create, waste or work. And there’s always so much hype leading up to the time change; constant media reminders to change the clock on the appliances, fall back, not to miss an early appointment and replace the smoke alarm batteries.
The Source
NOVEMBER 17, 2015
As China’s economy gradually settles into its “new normal” of more moderate growth, some of the big, foreign-based multinational corporations in the market—the very ones that global consulting firms followed here—have become a bit skittish about making further investments. With MNCs no longer looking like fonts of perpetual high growth, consultants are increasingly turning to the growing and maturing domestic market to fill the gaps in their spreadsheets.
David A Fields
NOVEMBER 4, 2015
If there’s no highway exit for another 6 miles and you’re not passing anyone, there’s a handy lane on the right just for you. You know that. I know that. Every other adult knows that. Yet we see drivers dawdling along in the left (or middle) lane for miles on end as other cars are forced to pass them on the right. In consulting there are equally obvious rules of the road that are, nevertheless, inexplicably ignored by many of our colleagues.
Women in Consulting
NOVEMBER 2, 2015
By: Jen Berkley Jackson. At the end of last year, I conducted research to understand how market research is being used in organizations. We heard back from participants that there are three primary obstacles to doing market research: budget, time and lack of internal resources. This is a familiar story for us as consultants also. These are ALWAYS the obstacles to making huge strides in business whether it has to do with our marketing efforts, our administrative processes, or even in launching
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