Strategy Consulting in India
We have compiled a list of consulting firms in India over here, however, in this section we would focus on Strategy Consulting Firms in the Indian consulting arena, these are
- McKinsey & Company
- Bain & Company
- Boston Consulting Group
- AT Kearney
- McKinsey & Company
McKinsey & Company is a global management consulting firm that focuses on solving issues of concern to senior management. McKinsey serves as an advisor to the world’s leading businesses, governments, and institutions. It is widely recognized as a leader and one of the most prestigious firms in the management consulting industry. It has been ranked No.1 for 6 consecutive years in the Vault.com list of top consulting firms, and has been the first or second most desired employer for recent MBA graduates since at least 1996.
Organization
McKinsey operates under a practice of “up or out,” in which consultants must either advance in their consulting careers within a pre-defined time-frame, or else be fired.
A controversial aspect of McKinsey’s practice is that it is non-exclusive, and thus a conflict of interest could arise as different teams of consultants might work for direct competitors in an industry. This works to the company’s advantage, as it does not require it to rule out working for potential clients; furthermore, knowing that a competitor has hired McKinsey has historically been a strong impetus for companies to seek McKinsey’s assistance themselves. The policy also means McKinsey can keep its list of clients confidential. However, because of this there is great emphasis placed on client confidentiality within the firm, and consultants are forbidden to discuss details of their work with members of other teams. Consultants are also prohibited from serving direct competitors unless they wait 3 or more years between the date they cease serving one competitor and begin serving the next. In some cases, consultants are forbidden from ever serving a competitor.
History
James O. McKinsey & Company was founded in Chicago in 1926 by James O. (“Mac”) McKinsey, a professor at the University of Chicago who pioneered budgeting as a management tool. Marshall Field’s became a client in 1935, and soon convinced McKinsey to leave the firm and become its CEO; however, he died unexpectedly in 1937.
Marvin Bower, who had joined the firm in 1933, succeeding McKinsey when he left, oversaw the firm’s rise to global prominence and established many of its guiding principles. When McKinsey died, the Chicago and New York branches of the firm split up. In 1939, with the help of the New York partners, Bower resurrected the New York office and renamed it McKinsey & Company. One of the first partners at McKinsey, Andrew T. Kearney, retained the Chicago office and renamed the branch after himself, marking the start of the competing management consulting firm A.T. Kearney.
Practice Areas
McKinsey serves clients across industries and functions, but to put more focus on some, it has created practice areas in six functional areas (the business technology office, corporate finance, marketing and sales, operations, organisation and strategy) and 18 industry practices, ranging from banking, high tech, pharmaceutical and private equity to health care, public sector, retail and telecommunications. While most of the firm’s practice areas have remained consistent through the years, the business technology practice, or BTO, established in 1997, is a relative newcomer. The BTO helps clients align technology to the management of their businesses in the areas of IT governance, architecture and infrastructure.
Recruitment Trends:
McKinsey looks for professionals who have the following skills:
- Distinctive intelligence
- Expertise
- Analytical mind
- Leadership potential
- Creativity
- Team work
Indian Operations
In September 2007, the firm was hired by IDBI Bank, one of India’s leading public-sector banks, to assist in smoothing out legacy issues resulting from the bank’s 2006 merger with United Western Bank. McKinsey’s work will involve restructuring the bank’s branches, reengineering processes and implementing business strategy. In June 2007 McKinsey consultants teamed with the Confederation of Indian Industry to present an in-depth report on rural growth to Dr. Manmohan Singh, India’s prime minister. McKinsey and CII are working together to advise the Indian government on Bharat Nirman, an ambitious initiative launched in 2005 to strengthen the country’s rural infrastructure. One objective of the project (which has been called India’s “New Deal”) is to ensure electrification of all villages by 2009.
McKinsey’s Knowledge Center India Private Ltd. (McKC) in Gurgaon is the largest hub of knowledge management professionals within the firm. Created in 1998, McKC is made up of a practice research group that supports McKinsey’s global industry and functional practices; an analytics group that works on site and remotely with the firm’s consulting teams; and a Knowledge-on-Call group that specializes in meeting business research needs on short notice. The Gurgaon office is also home to the firm’s IT India team, which is a major supporter of McKinsey’s global IT group
McKinsey Website: http://www.mckinsey.com/
- Bain & Company
Bain & Company is a management consulting firm headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.
History
Bain & Company was established in 1973 by seven former partners from the Boston Consulting Group headed by Bill Bain.
Under Bain’s direction, the firm implemented a number of unconventional practices, by traditional consulting standards, in its early years. Notably, Bain would only work with one client per industry to avoid potential conflicts of interest. Partners did not carry business cards and clients were referred to only in code names, further demonstrating its reputation for enforcing client confidentiality. And the company preferred to win work by boardroom referrals rather than marketing itself, sometimes landing clients by offering several weeks of work at no cost until proving the results of its services. Bain consultants preferred to work on increasing a company’s market value rather than simply handing clients a list of recommendations. To win business, Bain showed clients the increase in stock price of Bain clients relative to the Dow Jones industrial average
After a successful start, the company found itself facing a growing list of challenges in the late 1980s. In the midst of sluggish business conditions and overstaffing, Bain also faced the dilemma of having to turn away business due to its one-client-per-industry restriction. Competition increased as other firms copied Bain’s implementation-focused strategy.
However daunting these external challenges were, it was internal infighting that threatened to tear the firm apart. Bain was incorporated in 1985 and over the course of two years, the Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) was established, after which senior executives borrowed against their equity for cash, leaving the firm with a heavy load of debt. As business slowed, the debt load began to squeeze the firm.
Facing financial duress, former Bain Capital partner and former candidate for the Republican nomination for the 2008 US presidential election, Mitt Romney was asked to rejoin the firm as interim CEO. Bringing along two lieutenants from Bain Capital, Romney began traveling to all the Bain offices to rally employees.
In 1997, the consulting firm Value Partners brought a suit against Bain regarding the defection of its Brazilian partners and office. The case went to trial in federal court in Boston. After a five-week trial, the jury found Bain liable for unfair competition and interference, and awarded Value Partners $10 million in compensatory damages (the full award requested). The trial court, after awarding another $2.5 million of interest, denied all of Bain’s post-trial motions.
The 2000s began with Bain guiding its clients through the “New Economy” of e-commerce. The collapse of the dotcom, coupled with a general slowdown in the economy as had been faced in the early 1990s. The slowdown was painful on all of the major consulting players; however, Bain’s previous experiences with contraction left the firm zealous in avoiding layoffs. The firm weathered the economic downturn and emerged from it in a position of strength by investing in its leadership ranks with internal promotions and key external hires. Subsequently, the economic recovery has been followed by another period of sustained growth. In 2007, the firm expanded its number of worldwide offices to 37, with the opening of offices in Kyiv, Moscow, Helsinki, and Frankfurt in Europe, and worldwide consulting staff increased to approximately 2,700.
The new millennium also brought changes to Bain’s traditional “generalist” approach to solving clients’ business issues. The firm developed areas of specialization with its deep industry “Practice Areas” in order to better serve the varying needs of its increasingly diverse multinational and local client base. Through targeted industry hires, Bain added industry experts to each of these new Practice Areas, significantly raising its profile in fields such as Financial Services, Healthcare, IT and Media and Entertainment industries
Working Style
Compared to its peers, Bain puts a greater emphasis on small- and midsized companies, with the rest of its business coming from Fortune 500, private equity and nonprofit clients. Big names associated with the firm have included Diamond Empire DeBeers, Starbucks, Kroger, Ford and Continental Airlines. One typical engagement had the firm advising on the integration of software companies Symantec and Veritas. Bain occasionally takes equity in lieu of fees and, in fact, reins in about 10 percent of its revenue from equity or “success” stakes. For example, the firm took an ownership stake in fruit processor Del Monte while working to revamp the company’s strategy
Bain Capital & Bain & Company
The first consultancy of its kind to establish a private equity practice, Bain is well known among the money set, offering services like due diligence, IPO preparation, portfolio profit improvement and revenue enhancement, geared toward leveraged buyout and venture capital firms. However, Bain the consultancy shouldn’t be confused with its venture capital wing, Bain Capital, founded in 1984 by four former Bain consultants–including former Massachusetts Governor and presidential candidate Mitt Romney. Today, Bain Capital manages over $50 billion in assets. The two companies are completely separate entities and have no insight into the other’s client base. But, our sources say, it’s not difficult for insiders to jump between the two companies.
Indian Operations
In July 2006, Bain established firmer footing in the country when it opened an office in New Delhi. The New Delhi office now is comprised of over 90 percent Indian nationals and is under the leadership of Managing Director Ashish Singh. This wouldn’t be earth-shattering news for most consulting firms these days, but it was the cause of much buzz for Bain, which had yet to set up shop on the subcontinent, aside from a small in-house capability servicing center, Bain Capability Center, in Gurgaon. Bain has served clients in the region for over 10 years, historically from its Singapore office.
Asked by India’s Economic Times about the firm’s strategy in late 2005, David Shpilberg, partner and worldwide IT practice head, insisted, “We are not entering India as an afterthought, our objective is not just to have an office here, our objective is to integrate India into the global look of how we serve our clients.” A few months later, Managing Director Steve Ellis himself piped in to tell the paper that his firm wasn’t concerned about its relatively late arrival, adding, “We believe that there is an opportunity for us to grow the business here and we are successfully working with alternative ways of servicing certain parts of our business process and that’s been very encouraging for us.”
Indian capability
Among other growth in India, Bain is building its group at the Bain Capability Center outside of New Delhi. BCC is completely separate from the firm’s New Delhi office and serves as a remote center to support the firm’s global consulting business. The BCC provides research and analytic support to Bain’s global case teams. The center also plays a role in the codification of knowledge for Bain’s capability and industry practices.
The firm has also been working in India’s private equity market. The “India Private Equity Outlook” study, released in September 2006, forecasted that the private equity market in India would grow from $2.2 billion to nearly $7 billion in 2010. According to Bain’s research, a burgeoning consumer class and increasingly varied skills among workers are the factors driving the surge in the country’s available capital
Rising in the Ranks
Bain isn’t shy about pushing its consultants up the corporate ladder, often announcing a sweeping series of promotions to its partnership ranks. In August 2006, for example, 50 consultants worldwide were tapped with the partnership wand-a record number for the firm in any given year since its founding. In 2007, Bain promoted 36 consultants to partner. Among those consultants were employees from Bain’s Tokyo, Australia and Singapore offices.
Bain looks for candidates who demonstrate intellectual, social, professional and business leadership skills. The company also says it seeks applicants who “exhibit a high degree of enthusiasm and motivation for learning and solving difficult business issues.” The firm draws candidates primarily from the Indian Institute of Management.
Recruiting: local and global
Most offices in Asia conduct first- and second-round interviews for MBA summer internship (summer associates). Potential Bain consultants should apply for positions through a form on the firm’s careers web site. Applicants can apply for up to three of Bain’s worldwide offices, in order of preference. Individuals who are interested in nonconsulting positions should get in touch with specific offices directly. The company’s career site also offers tips on how to prepare for interviews.
- Boston Consulting Group
History
The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) is a global management consulting firm, founded by Bruce Henderson in 1963. It has 66 offices in 38 countries, and its current CEO is Hans-Paul Bürkner.The Company was formed when Henderson, a Harvard Business School alumnus, left Arthur D. Little to become head of a new management consulting division of the Boston Safe Deposit and Trust Company.
In 1973 Bill Bain and others left BCG to form Bain & Company, and two years later Henderson arranged an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP), so that the employees could take the company independent from The Boston Safe Deposit and Trust Company. The buyout of all shares was completed in 1979.
The firm prides itself on its employee focused culture, and over the last 4 years has been the only top-tier consulting firm to appear in Fortune magazine’s ‘Best companies to work for’ report. In the 2009 list, BCG is listed as the 3rd best company to work at, and is the only top-tier consulting firm to appear in the top 100.
Indian Operations
There are two BCG India offices-in New Delhi and Mumbai-and the firm has come a long way since the 1990s, when its presence in India consisted of one consultant working from his hotel room. Over 90 percent of the firm’s consultants in New Delhi are graduates of Indian business schools, and they work with clients in the pharmaceutical, IT, telecommunications, financial services and industrial goods sectors. Since its debut in 2002, the New Delhi facility has worked with India’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of India, and has helped build economic development plans for government agencies. In August 2007, BCG was hired by the three major Indian insurers-New India Assurance, Oriental Insurance and United India Insurance-to help them determine a joint business strategy. That same year, BCG assisted the Bank of India with its business process reengineering strategy, and Tata Capital, subsidiary of the giant Tata Group, tapped the firm to develop a roadmap for its entry into retail banking and other diversified financial services. BCG Mumbai was established in 1996, after more than a decade of client assignments in India.
The BCG Strategy Institute, a research team and think tank, was founded in 1998 to supply the firm’s clients with ideas and analyses based on academic insight and other non business sources. Candidates are not hired directly into the institute, but BCG consultants can apply there after establishing a career at the firm. Institute projects focus on some heady stuff-like metaphorical thinking, poetic thinking, thinking in social modalities and dialectic thinking
Getting Recruited
Most graduates with a bachelor’s degree enter BCG as associates. Candidates with an international MBA enter as consultants. Those with a non-MBA graduate degree might enter the firm as senior associates, though it depends on the individual’s background and prior work experience. BCG also hires those with extensive professional experience from top-tier firms in all industries. The firm encourages student applicants to actively apply through their school channel. Campus recruiting season runs from September to February, but recruiting is always ongoing. Non campus applicants should check out the online application site at www.bcgindia.com/chapters/join/howapply.html. Or hopefuls can simply send their resume at indiarecruiting@bcg.com along with a cover letter.
Are you qualified?
BCG is ultra-selective when it comes to academic performance, and primarily considers only those applicants in the top 5 to 10 percent of their class. The firm states that aside from a stellar transcript, it’s looking for applicants with a sharp mind and intellectual curiosity. Though the majority of hires come straight out of an MBA program, the firm states that diversity and advanced degree candidates are also high on its recruiting agenda
- A.T. Kearney
A.T. Kearney is a global management consulting firm, focusing on strategic and operational CEO-agenda concerns. The stated mission of A.T. Kearney is to help the world’s leading corporations gain and sustain competitive advantage, and achieve profound, tangible results. Its slogan is: Ideas that last. Kearney was ranked in top 10 “best place to work for” in consulting magazines 2008 rankings.
The firm operated within the United States until 1964 when it opened its first international office in Düsseldorf. A.T. Kearney now has 51 offices in 34 countries.
History
A T Kearney lost its 56-yearlong autonomy in 1995 when it became a subsidiary loop on EDS’ giant belt. The prominent Texas-rooted IT company came into A T Kearney ‘s life at a crucial point, and vice versa; both businesses needed the fusion, whether for securing a brawny empire (EDS) or gaining access to the world’s foremost movers and shakers ( A T Kearney ). But despite how the saying goes, these opposites did not attract for long. After long years of troubled partnership, both firms decided to part ways, and finally in January 2006, A T Kearney became a 100 percent privately owned management consultancy firm
Practice Areas
A.T. Kearney’s industry specialties include Automotive, Communications, Consumer & Retail, Financial Institutions, Government, High Tech & Electronics, Pharma & Health Care, and Energy & Utilities. Major competency teams include Supply Chain Management, Growth Strategies, Mergers, Innovation & Complexity, IT Strategies, and Transformation.
To meet the increasing demand from environmentally conscious and socially responsible clients, A.T. Kearney has introduced a sustainability service, which consists of an expert group focused on developing corporate sustainability strategies and optimizing green product portfolios, to assist clients in developing sustainable value chains and networks.
With a strong practice in procurements, A.T. Kearney Procurement Solutions accelerates and streamlines the sourcing and supply management process through spend reduction and category procurement solutions, leading-edge eBreviate sourcing technology, product lifecycle sourcing capabilities and market-driven templates and insight
Indian Operations
A T Kearney, India, is the Indian subsidiary of Chicago based management consultants, A T Kearney Inc. The company operates in 34 countries worldwide and has an employee base of 2500 people and over 70 clients in the Fortune 500 category. Out of the total workforce, a majority, 1700 of them work as consultants. With offices in Europe, North America, South America, Asia and Africa, At Kearney is on a lookout to increase its global footprint. Keeping this in mind, in 2006, the firm forayed into the lucrative Middle East market by setting up a centre in Dubai, UAE.
The company commenced its operations in India by setting up an office in Delhi. Second operations centre came up in Mumbai in 2004 and since then is acting as India headquarters.
In India, the company works with clients to overcome problems in areas like growth, operations excellence, merger integration, supply chain management and technology strategy. Its clients come from diverse industrial sectors such as automotive, engineering and discrete manufacturing, energy, retail, real estate, private equity, IT and financial services; these clients range from MNCs, private and public sector companies, government and industry organizations.
Getting Recruited
As far as India operations are concerned, the recruitment happens at graduate and post-graduate level. Graduate level vacancies are usually filled in by conducting campus recruitment drives. Excellent academic record is the only criterion to get selected. A graduate candidate is placed as a Business Analyst, giving him exposure to the company’s work environment. After a short stint (1-5 years) with A T Kearney, the candidate can opt for MBA or an equivalent degree, after which theyc can join the company back at a Senior Analyst level. Selection process at graduate level consists of a series of interviews, case study analysis, aptitude tests. Communication skills, leadership, and potential client-relations skills play a crucial role in the selection process.
Management students have an upper hand over other candidates and can join at the Senior Analyst level. The company visits B-school campuses in January every year. MBAs join the companies at. Campus recruitment process consists of three to four rounds, with each round comprising of one or two interviews. The first round tests a candidate’s communication, analytical, problem solving and team playing skills. This is done via case study methodology. The subsequent rounds are for the purpose of establishing the candidates’ compatibility with the company, his interests and to determine where the candidate fits in. To get in touch with the HR department of A T Kearney, visit www.atkearney.com/main.taf?p=1,4,3,1,9,1, or mail your resumes at india_recruitment@atkearney.com
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