Konsult 2005 :Consulting in the 21st Century: Prospects and Challenges.
November 20, 2005
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Mr Abhishek Goenka, Partner of BMR & Associates, spoke about consulting in general from his varied consulting experience in the Big 4 firms. He said that in today's business scenario, you can't escape consultants, even as SEC mandates the Sarbanes-Oxley act are changing the face of consulting. Stressing the importance of client loyalty and the large costs of a dissatisfied client, he said that it is necessary to underpromise and overdeliver. He emphasized the crucial need for people skills, since no matter how big your firm is, consulting still boiled down to one person talking to another. He also mentioned that strategy is just the realized consequence of a professional's learning and what is a brilliant idea today will be a commodity tomorrow. From the viewpoint of B-School students who aspire to be consultants, he said, "Daily life as a consultant will seem to be a never-ending sprint, but you will still need to retain your long-term perspective and presence of mind to plan out your life as a marathon."
Mr Rajat Sud, Senior Principal Consultant, GRID (Government Reforms and Infrastructure Development) Consulting, PricewaterhouseCoopers, talked about the nuances of government and energy sector consulting in India. Many critical development metrics, like population below poverty line, school enrolment and completion, infant and maternal mortality, improved significantly when infrastructure improves, he noted. He mentioned that government sector consulting opportunities have greatly increased in recent times due to several change drivers, like the increased focus on governance, risk management and regulatory compliance issues, the innovative application of IT, the right to information act, and rising decentralisation. To give a practical view, he took a case study of a distributed performance improvement programme in a newly-formed govt-owned power company in Karnataka and discussed its strategy, supply chain, and revenue cycle in detail. He stressed that in the public sector, there were so many large and competing interests that it was necessary to focus on implementable rather than ideal solutions.
Ms. Sabitha Rao, Head, Chennai Office, Cerebrus Consultants, gave a holistic picture of Human Resource consulting. She detailed the four essential aspects of HR consulting, namely sourcing, performance, training and employee welfare and explained how each of these has evolved over the years. She mentioned that right since she passed out of IIM Calcutta, over two decades ago, B-School students have been averse to choosing HR as a specialization. This is not due to any inherent demerits, but to the perception of Finance or Marketing as being more glamorous that creates peer pressure. Starting from her first job at AF
Ferguson, and going on to joining a consultancy startup, she cited her
varied experiences in both line HR and consulting in different countries
and industries. Giving the example of several failed mergers, she noted that while the financial due diligence is done to the last possible cent, there is much less emphasis on studying and reconciling the work-cultures of both companies, leading to integration problems. Ms. Rao stressed upon the fact that personal credibility and professional respect were indispensable for any consultant, especially when dealing with the senior management of a company.
On this occasion, Mr Balaji, Partner, Deloitte Consulting LLP, launched the new issue of Spandan, the bi-annual student management journal of IIM Kozhikode. Conceptualized, designed and developed by the students of IIMK, Spandan was first published in 2000. Already into its fifth year, Spandan is today read and appreciated by students of premier B-Schools across India as well as corporates.
There was an evening performance of the ancient martial art of Kerala, Kalari Payattu, performed by CVN Kalari. This is the same team that has performed in movies like Asoka and the recent Jackie Chan-Mallika Sherawat starrer, The Myth. This display of breathtaking skill was enjoyed and appreciated by the seminar speakers and students.
The seminar was of great help to students in learning more about the consulting domain and fine-tuning their prospective career paths. Ms. Kanika Goyal, coordinator of Konsult 2005, said, "I did have a general idea about the consulting field, but this seminar brought many small details into sharp focus. I got a new clarity and insight, especially in the field of government and development sector consulting."
Concluded
