| Topic Name: |
LEK consulting |
| Message Name: |
I would argue that.... |
| Date Posted: |
02/12/2003 |
| In Reply To: |
Very interesting points on why L.E.K is not a boutique. At the risk of reflecting my beach time, I will add a few more thoughts.
I would suggest that a consulting firm can be described as a boutique if it has any focus on (1) industry or (2) a specific type of problem preferred (strategy, IT, etc.) or methodology used. Oliver Wyman was a great example (from Investment wanker) of the first type, since they focus exclusively on the FS sector. But isn't LEK focused on three different agendas only (business strategy, M&A, and shareholder value)? Wouldn't that make them a boutique?
One could argue that those three areas are so broad that they cover virtually all corporate strategy. I could see that. But take Marakon--they are shareholder value focused and methodology-driven. They are a boutique.
What about size? I think size is more of a result of the specialization. In reality the consulting industry is highly fragmented by boutiques that we never hear of, especially the 1-5 person shops who specialize on something like M&A for the cosmetic industry. I think the fact that most boutiques are smallish is more of a side effect--we're talking correlation versus casuality here.
Not sure where you draw the line of specialization--I'm probably arguing that BCG is a strategy boutique here, and that sounds kind of wrong. But I think this is an interesting way to get the lay of the land if you're new to consulting.
Hope this is useful to someone...
By the way, my cousin, who is a senior manager at L.E.K., indeed describes her firm as a boutique because of their focus on the three areas mentioned about.
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| Message: |
Corporate strategy is too broad to claim boutique status. There are numerous strategy boutiques - for instance ones that specialise in transaction appraisal, market enty, acq target searches, benchmarking to name but a few specialist areas. If your company pitches for any strategy work it can, then I would say it is not a boutique.
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