| | By Mick James
The recent boom in
consultancy has been
particularly marked by a
kind of "back to basics"
movement in which
clients have
increasingly returned to
the fundamentals of
traditional management
consulting. But how has
this played out at the
top end of the market in
strategy consulting?
Michael Jary,
worldwide managing
partner of OC&C Strategy
Consultants, is in no
doubt that these are
good times for
strategists as well.
"In 22 years I've not
experienced as long and
as strong a market as
this one," he says.
"Managing demand is our
biggest challenge – at
our Monday morning
meetings we are always
discussing which clients
are we going to turn
down and how."
"For clients it's
clear that 'strategy is
back' – they need to
address long-term issues
of competitive advantage
and positioning," he
says. "In recent years
the boardroom agenda has
become crowded with
seemingly urgent
operational issues: they
may be critical to
competitiveness but it's
a zero sum game
–everyone does them and
they do not create a
long-term strategic
advantage. Clients have
woken up to that and to
the fact that they can't | |
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| | put strategy on the back
burner any more."
A good indicator for
strategy firms is the
level of M&A activity in
the economy, says Jary.
"It's not in itself a
driver, but when the
investment banks make
money, we're in demand
too." Then there's the
new phenomenon of
private equity firms,
which have not just
become major clients in
their own right, but
have also driven many
corporations to look at
how they can meet the
challenge of private
equity by transforming
themselves.
As a result, says
Jary, all of OC&C's 15
worldwide offices are
"hungry for talent" and
the firm is looking far
and wide for the
resource it needs to
meet demand. As well as
the traditional
recruiting grounds of
Oxford and Cambridge and
the major business
schools, OC&C is also
extending the hunt to
other UK universities,
as well as schools in
Eastern Europe and
India.
"It's important to
attract the best people:
the fundamental of what
we look for is raw
talent and we haven't
compromised on that,"
says Jary. "The
temptation to compromise
on quality is fatal –
you always live to
regret it."
Whereas other | |
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| | branches of consultancy
have become increasingly
focused on experience on
content – and OC&C does
hire from industry – for
OC&C strategy itself is
the key skill.
"If you just take
industry experts and
make them consultants
you do nothing but
recycle the conventional
thinking," says Jary.
"The way you learn
strategy is as a generic
skillset which is
applicable across
industries, otherwise
how do you get to spot
trends and to swap ideas
between industries?
Clients hire us for
fresh thinking and you
don't have that without
experience across
industries."
This is not to say
that OC&C doesn't have
industry practices and
deep content knowledge
based on experience and
research.
"As people move up
the firm they tend to
move into industry
sectors," says Jary.
"But we absolutely don't
place people who join us
into an industry
practice, it's
forbidden, even if they
ask for it."
OC&C also uses its
growing network of
international offices to
expose its consultants
to an even greater
variety of experience
and is particularly keen
to recruit consultants
who want to pursue an
international career.
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"We've expanded
significantly into
India, China and the
Middle East," says Jary.
"They are all critical
locations in our point
of view – we couldn't
stay a European firm,
we're now a global
strategy firm. That's
what our clients need to
serve them in the
boardroom."
The breadth of
strategy work means that
OC&C has a dual message
to potential
consultants. On the one
hand it's keen to
recruit people who want
to go far in the firm.
On the other hand, it
recognises that a
long-term career in
strategy is not for
everyone, but provides a
superb foundation for a
business career:
"You don't
necessarily go into
strategy as a job for
life, but for the skills
it imparts," says Jary.
"It can be something you
do for four or five
years, it's the fastest
way to develop and you
get a tremendous toolkit
out of it."
Strategy has a
reputation for being an
intense working
environment, but Jary
says that a lot of this
comes from the fact that
strategy firms recruit
ambitious, driven
individuals. In fact,
OC&C has a number of
mechanisms to prevent
consultants falling into
the trap of working too | |
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| | hard.
"We advise clients
with our best quality
thinking when we have
the best environment for
consultants and they're
not fatigued and
pressurised."
Consultants also have
a "personal development
bank" which enables them
to study something
completely
extracurricular.
"People are currently
doing all sorts of
things, from cooking to
ballet to photography,"
says Jary. "We also have
a unique scheme of
flexible leave so that
people can automatically
opt to take additional
unpaid leave to go
travelling or build
their house or whatever
they want to do."
OC&C is still a
growing firm and it
places a high emphasis
on creativity and
entrepreneurialism.
However, Jary says,
growth will always be
tempered by remaining
true to the core product
of strategy:
"We've always stuck
to a very rigorous view
of what we do," he says.
"Good quality advice
backed up by facts and
analysis delivered in an
open and honest
relationship – we've
resisted the temptation
to deviate away from
that core."
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