Konsult 2005 :Consulting in the 21st Century: Prospects and Challenges.
November 20, 2005

The Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode, organized the inaugural edition of its annual consulting seminar, Konsult, at its campus in Calicut, on the 19th and 20th of November 2005. The event saw enthusiastic participation from students and industry, providing an avenue for eminent persons from the consulting domain to share their myriad experiences. It was a forum for educated debate about the field of consulting, with additional discussion on required skills, and the career prospects in this domain for B-School students.

The first speaker to address the seminar was Mr Sam Balaji, Partner, Deloitte Consulting LLP, and MD, Deloitte Consulting India. Starting his talk on the topic "Consulting in the Telecom Industry" on a humorous note, he said that the world's first consultant was probably the Serpent in the Garden of Eden. He said that clients hire consultants for objectivity, fresh ideas, and their skills and experience. He discussed the telecom market, especially that of the US, in detail, considering the issues arising out of increasing convergence. In a time when markets are being redefined by disruptive innovations, he stressed that reinvention, adaptation, and perpetually staying market relevant is the name of the game. He said that the tradeoffs between mobility and bandwidth are reducing, thereby fuelling growth in the wireless segment.

He mentioned that the business model pioneered by Indian companies, of outsourcing all technical operations while retaining only the marketing function, could become a model that's followed worldwide. He noted that ethics play a very big role in the consulting industry, which is marked by confidentiality issues and conflicts of interest. In conclusion, he emphasized that learning should not and would not stop when the students passed out of the campus and became consultants, since expectations of clients are very high.

Mr James P Hogan, Managing Consultant and the Chief of Party on the DRUM (Distribution, Reform, Upgrades and Management) Project, PA Consulting Group, then spoke on Development Sector Consulting, drawing from the wealth of his consulting experience, from 1973 to present. He detailed the unique characteristics of development sector and government consulting, stressing how it is much larger in scale than private sector consulting. It is more long-term, involves many principals, and has to take care of more institutional, bureaucratic and political issues. Speaking primarily about public sector energy utilities, he noted how energy, especially electricity, was a vital ingredient to economic development. Due to the scale of this sector and the sheer number of stakeholders involved, he said that even partial success can make a huge impact on the lives of millions. He also mentioned that the public power sector in India is in urgent need of reform, but since it serves a vast population, it is necessary to rebuild our ship as we sail along. However, he said, he could see perceptible improvements in the institutional mindset. In the end, he quoted Schumpeter, "Unless you made a difference in the lives of people, you haven't really been successful."

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