| Topic Name: |
USA Today: White Collar Sweatshops |
| Message Name: |
I have to confess my ignorance... |
| Date Posted: |
01/07/2003 |
| In Reply To: |
i totally agree with all but one point.
I disagree that it better for the country for the best and brightest to go to mainline companies-although i do agree that these firms themselves may not add to much real value to shareholders.
I have three reasons.
1. Young management consultants probably get more exposure to main line companies than the their young counterparts within the organizations. That is, a 23 year old consultant who spends 6 months at a client site will probably see more of the overall operations and levels of management and even some details of operations than someone working there doing a narrow focused job in the corner somewhere.
2. the natural of the work yields a greater learning curve than the nature of hte work at the mainline corporations at the entry level.
3. When the individuals eventually leave consulting (we almost all do, it sucks) we will come into corporate america better prepared
4. corporations could not replicate the model because of the nature of the cost. An internal strategy group is a fixed cost that is hard to eliminate, thus will be used less optimally. A consulting team has to resell after every engagement and has to work extremely hard to keep their fees - assuring a very heavy load and an extremely fast paced learning experience for the business analysts.
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| Message: |
Of McKinsey, Bain, and BCG. My personal experience is Big 5 and that after 18 years in industry.
"That is, a 23 year old consultant who spends 6 months at a client site will probably see more of the overall operations and levels of management and even some details of operations than someone working there doing a narrow focused job in the corner somewhere. "
Perhaps. I might argue that a young worker in a small business would see a wider variety of assignments than either the narrow cog in a larger organization or the strategy consultant. But perhaps I would be wrong.
I do know that the young Big 5 consultants I saw tended to specialize or learn nothing of any value whatsoever. Or seemed to. I have to wonder how much good being consultants did them?
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