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Integrally interesting Where can a consultant travel to exotic locations, work in the midst of intellectual giants, and go on the occasional canoe trip with fellow employees? Look no further than Integral. "Integral is a very stimulating place," exclaims one enthusiastic associate. The company was founded in 1988 by a distinguished intellectual combination: Harvard Business School professors Kim Clark and Steven Wheelwright. Since its inception, Integral has maintained close ties to numerous well-respected academic affiliates at leading business schools. Indeed, the company prides itself on its academic approach to problem solving and has no plans of changing its methods. Working with many industries Integral works with Fortune 100 companies worldwide in a variety of industries from pharmaceuticals to telecommunications to utilities. Integral consultants tend to be highly qualified in specific areas, yet also possessed of a general knowledge of business and technical fields. Services include finely-tuned economic and financial analysis, among other niceties. Currently employing over 80 professionals, Integral is owned and managed by nine so-called principals. The company's three corporate offices are located in Cambridge, MA; Menlo Park, CA; and Cambridge, UK. Since its birth, Integral has sustained an average growth rate of 30 percent per year. Strong training Integral considers itself devoted to professional development. The firm holds year-round company meetings and work sessions devoted to training. New associates are invited to attend an intensive program covering basic consulting skills, firm values, and various approaches to problem-solving. First-year employees also learn about Integral's more original projects such as Vusion, an innovative Intranet-based project monitoring tool which has earned a fair share of acclaim. Other unique Integral projects include the Resource Mountain Chart, a tool for resource allocation decisions, and the Consumer/Technology Matrix, a tool for managing portfolios of development projects.
Integral accepts candidates from all academic disciplines, including the liberal arts. Those applying to Integral should underscore any mathematical or economic accomplishments, since the firm emphasizes quantitative ability. Not surprisingly, the company also keeps an eye out for graduates of big-name schools and prestigious MBA programs. Those who have served out a summer internship at Integral also have a leg up on the rest of the applicant pool. Prospective employees can expect three tough rounds of interviews, insiders tell us. Each round is meant to test critical reasoning skills, quantitative understanding, and conceptual and strategic interpretation. Be ready for tricks which seem to serve only one purpose: to measure one's prowess at forming absurd answers to even more absurd questions. Here's an example: You're rowing your boat in a pond. When you throw in your anchor, will the water level rise, fall, or stay the same? A word of advice: on questions such as this one, interviewees are looking less for the appropriate answer and more for creativity and ingenuity in a person's problem solving method. Those good enough to make it past the first two interview rounds can expect a rigorous final round which lasts half a day and is jam-packed with more Q&A rounds. Fortunately, there is a little light at the end of the tunnel, insiders say. Many of the interviewers are said to approach their task in a friendly and even lighthearted manner. (By the way – the water level falls.)
Small is beautiful Integral is the quintessential small company, equipped with both the perks and the pitfalls of micro-size. It suffers from a "perpetual lack of support and resources," but has a "bounty of amazingly smart people." One insider remarks, "Integral is a small company that still acts like a small company." Part of what this means is notable internal politics. "There is a lot of internal hiring. And there are social cliques. People here tend to be recognized as experts in their fields. They tend to work with the same people – the people they are most familiar and comfortable with." A well-greased machine Nevertheless, for the most part, our contacts say that the people of Integral make the machine work well. "Across the board, the people at Integral are a talented, ambitious, and steady-handed bunch. There could be more diversity – especially racial diversity – but the company's getting better about that issue." There's also an undeniable academic slant to the company. "It doesn't hurt to work around a professor of the Harvard Business School," reveals one consultant. "I'm constantly learning. Working around PhDs all the time, well, to be honest, it's kind of humbling." Travel can be fun And there are other perks. Says one insider "I know some people view consultant travel as a bad thing, but I've enjoyed all of my stints abroad." Reports another consultant: "One of the reasons I chose Integral was the travel. I had the privilege of living abroad in my first year."
MaryAnn Gallagher One Brattle Square, 4th Floor1 Cambridge MA 02138 (617) 349-0600 More Company Profiles For more career information, go to Vault.com ©2000, Vault.com Inc
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