 |
||
|
|
||
| |||||||||||
The innovator While The Boston Consulting Group has lagged ever so slightly behind industry leader McKinsey in terms of prestige, the firm has nevertheless been responsible for a number of major management consulting innovations and concepts, such as "time-based competition," "deconstruction," and "capability-driven competitive strategies." One of BCG's best-known contributions is the renowned "BCG Matrix" which explains the relationship between a company's profitability and its market share. (However, that framework is "not really used anymore" at the firm of its origin, according to one BCG consultant. "It's based in a time when there were large industrial conglomerates, and there aren't many of those anymore.") In fact, BCG and its late founder Bruce Henderson are credited with "being the father of strategic consulting, in every sense of the word," according to a BCG alum, Thomas Doorley. Doorley told The Boston Herald: "Historically, the policy decisions were made by a bunch of folks sitting around a table thinking big thoughts. It was [Henderson's] view that it wasn't that easy." Henderson also "had faith in the abilities of young men and women to contribute to solving complex problems," and to marry quantitative data to seat-of-the-pants strategizing. Today, close to 2,000 consultants in 46 offices around the globe work at the company Henderson founded. Late to generalize BCG organizes its work into industry and functional practices such as high tech, corporate development, and media convergence. While BCG serves clients from a wide variety of industries, the firm focuses on clients in the e-commerce, energy, telecommunications, automotive, financial services, pharmaceutical, and consumer goods sectors. Consultants can work at the firm for six years (including time as an associate) before electing a specialty. Moving abroad In recent years, BCG has expanded its presence in the international market. Today the firm has a number of major overseas clients, including the Russian government. BCG has been active in Eastern Europe since 1985, advising on acquisitions and restructuring, including projects in the banking industry. By predicting the cost structures and service levels that would be necessary for success in a deregulated environment, the firm has played a major role in preparing companies for deregulation and privatization in post-Cold War Europe. BCG has an excellent reputation on the Continent; one survey reports that it is one of the top five firms for which European consultants would like to work. The company gets almost half of its revenues from consulting engagements in Europe, and an additional third from the Americas (the rest comes from its Asian offices). In addition to this, in June 2000, the company announced a partenership with Goldman Sachs and General Atlantic Partners, L.L.C to create a joint venture to acquire and build online businesses for traditional companies. The new venture, to be called iFormation Group, will aim to help companies develop online strategies and help create start-ups to collaborate with large companies on e-commerce initiatives. Besides financing, iFormation Group will provide strategy, business development, financial and operational services. The companies are investing an initial $300 million in the venture, which will be based in New York. IFormation will also have offices in London and Hong Kong. Additional offices in Europe, Asia and North America will follow. An Asian powerhouse BCG has an unusually strong Asian presence. In fact, that presence is so strong that the firm considers its Asian offices a separate unit (as are its European offices). BCG has had a place staked out in Asia since 1966, when prescient Bruce Henderson opened an office in Tokyo (making BCG the first Western consulting firm to enter Japan). BCG has retained this "frontier" feeling, according to one consultant who has worked in the region. "You feel like you're on the edge," that consultant reports. "You work hard to set up your office. You know everyone there." According to the firm, its office in Hong Kong (opened in 1990) signaled the beginning of a truly strong presence in the Asian region. Offices opened include Kuala Lumpur (also in 1990), Malaysia (1992), Shanghai (1993), Bangkok (1994), Jakarta (1995), Singapore (1995), and Mumbai, India (1995). BCG East All those overseas offices aren't just for show. While some consultancies derive most of their business from American firms conducting operations overseas, BCG gets roughly half of its business in Asia from local entities such as private companies, governments, and state-run businesses. The firm's clientele includes five of Asia's biggest non-Japanese companies, three of the top five business conglomerates in Korea, and eight of the biggest local commercial banks in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Korea. Plaudits for BCG The Kennedy Research Group, a management consulting industry monitor, surveyed 1,400 MBA students on what they felt were the most prestigious consulting firms, as well as those strong in pay, career opportunities, and quality of life. BCG scored second in the categories of compensation and prestige (to rival McKinsey) and first in the quality of life and career categories.
BCG's hiring process entails two to three rounds of interviews. For MBAs, the first round is comprised of two interviews, each of which is 45 minutes long; this round consists entirely of case interviews. In some offices second-round interviewees go through two more case interviews, this time with BCG managers. In addition, at this second round interview, each candidate is subjected to three one-on-one interviews with vice presidents at the firm, during which the candidate is tested primarily for interpersonal qualities and fit with the firm culture. Undergraduate candidates have two or three rounds of interviews - the first takes place on campus and the final round at the office of your choice. Each interview consists of about ten minutes of conversation (meant to suss out personal qualities desirable to consultants), half an hour of case, and five minutes in which a candidate may ask questions. "The cases tend to be very conceptual," says one insider. "They do look to see that you can understand basic concepts about an industry. They do test quantitative skills. There aren't any guesstimates per se, but you do have them within cases - I was asked a few times to estimate the market size for a particular product." Several insiders say the firm "rarely, if ever, asks brainteasers, because that's just not applicable to what we do." Some candidates report getting a case in every one of their interviews, though experiences vary by office and individual. "In my second round," reports one consultant, "I met with a partner (called "officers" at BCG) and a manager and had lunch with two associates. One of my interviews was a case interview and the other was completely personal, a chat session. We talked a lot about my summer experience. They want to see if you are a people person, and maturity is a big thing for them." One person who interviewed with both McKinsey and BCG compares the two. McKinsey's interviews were straightforward, "along the lines of 'How many customers would you need to have this restaurant turn a profit?' There is a definite answer they want." BCG's questions, according to this insider, were more creative and open-ended, "so theirs would be more like, 'Tell me all the reasons this restaurant might be losing customers.'" Classmates who have compared notes after first-round interviews often note that they all get the same case interviews at BCG, which are usually based on an actual business problem at the firm. However, all cases are based on the interviewer's individual experience, so two candadates might get the same case, but only if they had the same interviewer. Whatever the case, this doesn't mean the cases are well-publicized. "There are no handouts," notes one interviewee, "so you need to ask questions."
A Bostonian lovefest Boston Consulting Group employees think highly of each other and their firm. The "lean organization" places little emphasis on seniority; entry-level employees, therefore, receive "golden opportunities" to contribute their ideas and implement them. The "grueling" hours and "extensive" travel are "taxing," but the firm's prestige and pay scale offer "just rewards." With the pleasure of intellectual activity comes more work. "We tend not to have specific types of analyses done already, so in some sense, we have to reinvent the wheel each time," says one consultant. "This is definitely more creative, and gives better solutions to the client, but it also means much more work for us." The deep thinkers Some recent hires comment that they were at first surprised by the "heavily theoretical" nature of their consulting assignments, but they also comment that they are finding the challenges "even more rewarding" than they expected. Hours "aren't horrible, but not a piece of cake." They are "on average, about 55 hours a week," but "it's hard to define work hours. Generally weekends are free, but not always." BCG sponsors "around one [social] activity every four or five weeks," with "summertime and fall really big activity times." Perform for pay The pay at BCG is "very competitive. You won't go hungry, even in New York. The pay in itself is good, but the bonus - which can be substantial, more than 20 percent on top of base pay and higher after two years - makes things even better. A good and bad thing about BCG's pay is that it's based on performance, so how much you get depends on your own self," says one consultant. An associate in the New York office remarks that the "401(k) is good, and the performance bonuses are really substantial." (Actually, the firm has a profit-sharing retirement fund rather than a 401(k); the fund, unlike a 401(k), does not require the employee to make any contributions.) Everyone loves BCG, or at least really likes it Employees unanimously confirm BCG's reputation as a pleasant place to work. "BCG is the best firm in the business for quality of life issues," insiders say. For example, the strictest dress code to be found at any BCG office is business formal with casual Fridays. Almost all of the firm's offices in North America are business casual all week, and the firm plans to move to daily business casual in every office by 2000. "The partners are very fun and very relaxed, and they don't treat you badly. There's a real emphasis on lifestyle versus just doing the work," says one consultant. However, the creativity and emphasis on individuality may mean that management tends to value "smart work way above hard work, which means that those who have a flashier style of working do better than diligent workers." Also remember that job satisfaction is "relative to [consulting], which doesn't have too many [satisfied] people on the whole." Independent days The frequency of independent work is one reason BCG "wants people who can work alone and make their own decisions," explains one source. That contact continues: "That is scary for some people. There is always a time in which you are floundering around a bit at first. But the [case leader] will give you help, and frameworks, if you need them." While some adore this flexiblity - one consultant raves that "if you want to work at home for a while, that is rarely a problem" - it means that BCG is "not the best place for someone who likes structure. That's nothing to be ashamed of. Many people function very well with some structure. But BCG favors those who can think in the white space [a trendy new consulting term to replace 'out of the box'] and who can be self-starters."
The Boston Consulting Group Attn: Web Recruiting Coordinator Human Resources 200 South Wacker Drive1 27th Floor Chicago IL 60606 (312) 993-3300 (312) 876-0771
Strategic Planning for:Consumer and Retail, Corporate Development, e-commerce, Energy and Utilities, Financial Services, Health Care, High Technology, Industrial Goods, Information Technology, Organization, and Operational Effectiveness Management.
Andersen Consulting;Bain & Company;Booz-Allen & Hamilton;McKinsey & Company;Mercer Management Consulting;Monitor Company More Company Profiles For more career information, go to Vault.com ©2000, Vault.com Inc
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
