By Rejoy Karup
Rejoy Kurup is a Management Consultant with Boston Analytics, a boutique management advisory & research firm headquartered in Boston with offices in India. He
has significant experience in the areas of strategy, transformation and operations consulting.
A brief study of ancient kingdoms along with an appreciation of the way nations were built could potentially offer interesting parallels with the modern day consulting industry and the firms operating therein. In a bygone era when hunger, wars and epidemics were the leading cause of deaths instead of lifestyle diseases, the critical need for any nation was to assert its self- sustenance both in terms of food grains and defense.
The kings and the founding fathers wanted to build a country, which could feed its people and protect its people. This ideal led to two key roles: that of a soldier and a farmer. Of course, the role of the soldier is not only to protect but also to explore… to explore new lands and spread his country's domination far and wide. Similarly, the role of a farmer is to be the engine of growth and to produce crops more effectively and efficiently (better yields, reduced wastage, latest technology, equipment and so on).
But what does all this mean to the world of consulting? Well, the way we see it, consulting delivery is like farming. At the end of an engagement, you are producing something (hopefully tangible). And while doing so, you are constantly trying to improve your methodology, obtain knowledge of the latest tools and techniques and ensure that you are producing the best quality output so that you can get a good price in the market.
Business development, on the other hand, is like exploring new lands, going to war and winning them. Except that the battles take place not in fields but in boardrooms and sometimes over a meal. Just like a soldier would protect his country, a strong business development team would protect the firm against a fluctuating external environment by maintaining a steady pipeline of projects.
Complications and Challenges
- Unlike in the case of a nation where the roles of soldiers and farmers are clearly demarcated and defined; in a consulting firm, it is often not the case. Hence the same set of people who are involved in delivering the project are often also responsible for selling more business. This could lead to conflicts of interest and reduced levels of trust in the eyes of the client. Because the client would be wary that the consultants would try to sell more business even before they have accomplished the existing task at hand, or that the recommendations would be given with an eye toward future business and therefore not be totally objective. Hence, a case may exist for separate business development and consulting delivery teams.
- From a nation's perspective, there is always a trade-off between the budgets allocated to its defense vis-
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