Agenda

• Introduce groups• What's in it for you• Useful information• Next steps

What’s in it for me?

• Generate powerful accomplishments for resume.

• Work on a legitimate business problem• Experience the value of teamwork.• Gain insight into yourself and others.• Improve your influencing skills.• Develop your analytical skills.• Develop your communication abilities.

What’s in it for me…..

• Appreciate the nuances of consulting.

• Initiate potentially useful networking clients.

• Experience self-fulfillment.• Gain an appreciation of

management challenges.

Useful information• Attendance.• E-Mail.• Web page.• Team composition.• Class participation.• Team participation.

• Establish team rules early to avoid problems.

• Time management.• Due process prior to termination.

Useful information……..

• Seriousness of effort.• Professional conduct when meeting with

client.• Client cooperation.• Meetings with professor.• Use of experts.• Scheduling final presentation to client.

(Avoid week of final exams.) • Don’t procrastinate!!!!!!!!!• Maintain excellent client relations.

What Next

• Introduce yourselves• Exchange information• Decide on best schedule• Contact Client and arrange 1st

meeting• Team name & background• Team standards• Question list for client meeting

Next Steps

• Call the client to arrange meeting• Pick a name for the group• Develop a mission statement• Prepare biographies• Develop questionnaire• Determine meeting frequency

Readings, Discussions, Facilitation Groups

• Each group will lead at least one discussions of one reading from the course reader.

• Discussions should be on the relevance to the course.

• 30 minute discussions.Get everyone involved.

Managing Team Client Self

Analyzing FramingDesigningGatheringInterpreting

Presenting

Structure

Buy-in

Data

Intuition

Service Leadership Consulting Skills

Consulting Realities

•Don’t re-invent the wheel

•Look for structure weakness in the problem

•SWOT Analysis

•Remember the 80-20 rule

•Don’t try to boil the ocean

•Always remember your time frame

Service LeadershipPepperdine

Applying Structure

Mutually exclusive-Collectively exhaustive

Separate problem into distinct, non-overlappingissues

Make certain no issues relevant to your problem has been overlooked

Keep the problem manageable- don’t reinventthe wheel

Service LeadershipPepperdine

Interviewing the Client

•Be prepared. Write an interview guide

•When interviewing, listen & guide

•Listen don’t lead

•Paraphrase, paraphrase, & paraphrase

•Structure your interview

•Be sensitiveService Leadership Pepperdine

Interviewing Plan

• Be prepared. Write an interview guide

• When interviewing, listen & guide

• Listen don’t lead

• Paraphrase, paraphrase, & paraphrase

• Structure your interview

• Be sensitive

Always stay organized

• Secure the contract early• You cannot have progress without the

contract.• The contract frames your project.• The contract is negotiated.Keep your client informed.

If the client knows where you are headed there shouldn’t be any disappointments.

Stay organized

• Establish performance norms for your group early.

• Get in the habit of meeting regularly.• Do not accept sub-standard

performance from any team member.• Keep your team members informed of

any problems ( schedule conflicts, gathering information, different ideas.)

• Expect frustration. (How do you eat a whale?)

The Four “D’s” for success

• Discipline

• Discipline

•Discipline

•Discipline

Contract

Contract Examples

What is a contract?

• An explicit agreement of what the consulting team and client expect from each other and how they are going to work together.

• It is designed not so much for enforcement, but for clear communication about what is going to happen on the project.

Elements of the contract:

• Clear articulation of the business problem.

• Objectives of the assignment (what the team will accomplish).

• Methodology (how the team will accomplish the objective with validity)

• Expectations between client and consulting team.

Elements of the contract continued…

• Timeline of deadlines• Non-legally binding language • Options for Reflection Paper #2

(team must interact with clientele of non-profit organization or attend board meeting,etc)

• Identity of team and client

Contract format

• An opening: indicates to the reader the reason for the communication

• Background of business problem: communicates you are sufficiently familiar with the facts

• Objective of the assignment: the end result

Contract format

• Methodology: outline (preferably in chronological order) each major task you will perform.

• Timeline• Confidentiality statement (if

appropriate)• Closing (summary statement, directions)• Signature block: all parties must sign

Advice on contracts…

• Take your time to work through all of the details of objective, methodology and timeline.

• Review evaluation criteria in handout.

• Reach consensus as a team.• Be realistic, but thorough: this is a

capstone course!• Be open to feedback on Sept. 27th

Finally, the contract should….

• Look professional• Be written on team letterhead• Be free of grammar or spelling

errors• Be articulated with such clarity that

a third party could read it and understand all expectations and details of the project.

A Typical Consulting Project.• Ocean-boiling:

analyze everything

• Oh s**t !• Ah-ha!• The crunch: final

report time

STRATEGY CONSULTING PROJECTS ARE..

• Chaotic• Ill-defined• Poorly scoped• Subject to external shocks• Short term ( three months max)• Critical to the CEO

What is a Strategy?

How to compete.Where to compete.

How to compete is about….• Making money: basis of value creation either:

Lowest cost player, orValue added player.

• Describing the basis of sustainable competitive advantage.

• Understanding key success factors, competitor strategies, and core competencies.

• Describe HOW TO WIN

Where to compete is about…..

• Under-exploited customer segments.• Under-exploited geographies.• Under-exploited channels.• Under-exploited products and services.

Strategy Basic Rules

• Finding a market is the easy bit, do you have…

Relevant

Distinctive

Leveragable

COMPETENCIES?

Client Impact requires….

• Clear logic and structure in all communications

• Thought leadership (leading the agenda)• Understanding/interpreting the politics

• What are personal agendas• What is achievable now, later, never.• Who are the right sponsors• Where does danger lie?

Understanding the central question

The “problem definition” is all about context.

Every project therefore must begin with a “problem definition worksheet”

PROBLEM DEFINITION WORKSHEET

CONTENT• What is the key

question?• What is the “Issue Tree?”• What are the day one

hypotheses?• What does success

look like?• Why is this work

needed now?• What techniques will we

use?• What actions should

result

PROCESS• Who is sponsor and what is

the mandate ?• How important is success to

the sponsor• Who are the other

stakeholders and how should they be involved?

• When is the answer needed?• What resources are require

• Frequency and format of review meetings.

The best insights derive from..• Seeing the business from a new lens.• Reduce complexity into simple truths.• Increasing the level of ambition.• Spotting the institutional blind-spot.• Unexpected insights ( can come from

anywhere)

Strategy Basic Rules

• ARE YOU….

• Ambitious & energetic

• Committed

• “Backed” by your investors.

• The “Best Owner?”

WHAT IS NOT A CORPORATE STRATEGY?

• Pricing strategy• Human resources strategy• Supply chain strategy• Manufacturing strategy.• IT strategy……

These are functional plans not overarching corporate strategies.

They cover specific disciplines and processes not the business as a whole.

WHY WORRY ABOUT DEFINITIONS?

THE MOST POWERFUL STRATEGY IS THAT WHICH CLEARLY & INEVITABLY LEADS TO THE CREATION OF VALUE.

It must therefore be:

HOLISTICVALUE CREATING

IMPLEMENTABLE

RED FLAGS

RED FLAGS

• Expanding in crowded markets.• “Globalization” as justification.• The “ M & A “ escape hatch.• Strategy based on beliefs, not

facts.• Investments that are “critical”

but not value creating.