 |
||
|
|
||
| |||||||||||
Monitoring the world If those business school professors are so smart, why aren't they putting their words into practice? Michael Porter, charismatic Harvard Business School professor did just that in 1983, when he became a founding father of Monitor Company, a growing consulting firm now charged with the mission of applying Porter's pearls of wisdom to the thorny troubles of companies worldwide. Monitor opened its first office in 1983 and has opened at least one new office every year since. Through 25 offices spread across the globe, the firm offers strategic management consulting services to Fortune 500 companies, international firms, government agencies, and major nonprofit organizations. Undivided Unlike some other management consulting firms, the Monitor Company does not group and divide its consultants by industry. Instead, it fully integrates its practices. The firm does, however, have "affiliate" organizations that provide support in particular areas such as market research and software support. One of Monitor's key strategies is a "horizontal" web of networked expertise and experience rather than what it views to be the vertical monolithic structure of most consulting firms. Bringing the five forces worldwide Monitor has taken a strong lead in places like South Africa, where it was the first global management consulting company to make a long-term commitment, and the former Soviet Union, where Monitor has been active since the dawn of perestroika. Wherever it operates, Monitor emphasizes profit reinvestment in order to provide its consultants with state-of-the-art resources. Though Michael Porter is reportedly rarely seen around the firm - and was never CEO - Monitor is pervaded by his ghost. The founding principal and Harvard Business School professor's book, Competitive Strategy, and successive business-oriented tomes have inspired and led generations of Monitor consultants. The books are guides to the interaction between industry structure and competitive strategy and the logic of the variables affecting a company's competitive situation. The academics Monitor still draws inspiration from Porter, but some consultants say "we don't use his stuff as much as we used to." Monitor retains the academic slant of its founding, encouraging a university-like atmosphere, casual dress, and rafts of theories, including "Productive Reasoning," an intervention technique for handling client executives who are nervous about working on the future of their company with outsiders (i.e., Monitor consultants). Monitor also encourages pro bono work through its nonprofit Monitor Institute. In January 1998 consultants from Monitor started a venture capital fund, Monitor Clipper Partners. Clipper Partners functions much like Bain Capital, the darling of competitor Bain Consulting.
Monitor hires consultants at both the college graduate and MBA level; the company also considers graduates from other advanced degree programs. While the title is the same, the starting pay and responsibilities differ based on a new hire's level of schooling. On average, Monitor hires over 50 new MBAs each year. For a complete breakdown of the Monitor hiring system consult www.monitor.com/career/career.html. Monitor recruits on certain business school campuses during the months of October and November. For those going through on-campus recruiting, insiders report that the first two interview rounds are held on-campus, at a local hotel, or at a nearby office. The second interview is a case interview - with a twist, one insider tells us. In a typical case interview at other firms, the case interviewer will spring a short case question upon the applicant, who then must quickly come up with pertinent questions and observations. But at Monitor, interviewees are given a fairly detailed written case to read (about four or five pages, including exhibits, say informants). The final round is at one of Monitor's offices. This round involves a "group case" for which candidates must collaborate with other applicants. Job offers are typically made the same day as the last interview or "no more than 24 hours afterwards by phone." Monitor welcomes hiring inquiries from persons not attending school or at schools not directly targeted by the firm. Monitor courts not only undergrad and MBA students but Ph.D. and other advanced degree candidates for its summer consultant program. The program is designed to approximate the work experience of a full-time consultant as closely as possible. Monitor provides training, feedback and mentoring, and places summer consultants on case teams. Summer interns are required to work for 10 weeks, although start dates are flexible.
Building the Monitor pyramid Monitor stresses that its organizational structure - a "deep and wide pyramid" - differs from that of other firms in the industry. Its employees report that this organizational structure enables new hires to receive significant responsibilities quickly. Consultants enjoy an "unusual degree of independence" and "continuous, on-the-job learning." Insiders say that Monitor has "no titles or structure" and that consultants "can move at their own pace - either rapidly or slowly." Kindly Monitor folk "Throughout the interview process, people are being evaluated for intelligence and ability," says one insider, "but they are also being judged as good or bad people for Monitor." What is good for Monitor? Monitor is reportedly "a little friendlier, laid back, and personable." "There is uniformity in peoples' attitudes here," reports one content insider. "No one's aggressive or hyper-competitive. And there is no 'up-or-out' policy - of course people help each other out." Another insider proclaims: "Everyone here is fairly humble. It is quite a mature environment. People at Monitor are more sure of themselves people at other firms." This relaxed atmosphere is reflected in the firm's dress code, which is casual except for client meetings - so casual, that one employee at the company's headquarters comments that the Cambridge office "tends to be a tad more formal - khakis instead of jeans." The firm's consultants maintain that they have more "highly developed interpersonal skills than consultants from BCG, who are often more eccentric." Also, says one insider: "They have a strong sense of civic responsibility - lots of informal pro bono work, especially with community organizations and development work. The original founders were very civic-minded." The firm is is community-minded when it comes to each other, too. Explains one insider: "It's a young group of people and we enjoy each other's company." In fact, one consultant estimates that "about 10 percent of the consultants at Monitor are dating each other." Low turnover - despite lots of hours In this "meritocratic" atmosphere, consultants often have the opportunity to travel overseas or to work closely with the CEOs of major corporations. Insiders also say that "Monitor has a very low turnover rate in the ranks because we use a much more thorough screening process." Employees work the "grueling hours" typical of management consulting; one insider reports hearing of a consultant work back-to-back 120-hour weeks. Big bonuses Monitor consultants also like the company's generous bonus system: year-end bonuses typically run up to 60 percent of base salary - larger than those given by most industry rivals - and can be as high as 100 percent of base salary. In keeping with the academic slant of the firm, consultants aren't afforded their own assistants. In fact, Monitor "recently downsized its research staff, on the theory that consultants should be able to do their own research more efficiently. We kept one guy to take care of the copy machines and stuff like that." But Monitor consultants aren't eager to graduate. "I thoroughly enjoy the work," says one consultant, "and find that I continue to learn on a daily basis."
Human Resources
Management consulting
Bain & Company;Booz-Allen & Hamilton;Boston Consulting Group;McKinsey & Company More Company Profiles For more career information, go to Vault.com ©2000, Vault.com Inc
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
