What Should I Consider When Choosing Between Big Consulting Firms?

McKinsey & Company is a world-leading global management consulting company. It was founded in the United States in 1926 by James O'McKinsey , a professor at the University of Chicago Business School. ^[1-3] Since its founding in 1926, the company's mission has been to help leading corporate organizations achieve significant and lasting improvements in business performance, and to create outstanding organizations that can attract, cultivate and motivate outstanding talent.

McKinsey & Company

McKinsey can serve different competitors, but all personnel, information and materials have extremely strict management measures, so that consultants adhere to company policies, work procedures and ensure the interests of all customers.

1. Before undertaking any project, McKinsey will make every effort to ensure that:

1. The project can indeed provide customers with opportunities to obtain significant benefits;

2. There are no substantial obstacles to implementation.

However, in view of the fact that the above conditions cannot usually be determined in advance, McKinsey agrees that when the client believes that the project may not achieve the expected benefits during the project, the client may decide to terminate the partnership at any time. In the same situation, McKinsey also hopes to retain the option to freely withdraw from the cooperative project when the company judges that changes in the external environment will prevent the project from achieving the expected goals.

2. During the consultation process, the company endeavors to cooperate closely with members of the client organization. Always establish a consensus on the desired project results as early as possible, and often conduct formal or informal meetings with client company executives on project progress during the project. Aiming at the nature and importance of the issues discussed in the project, various feasible methods, and the timetable for achieving change, the company will try to establish a consensus on these views at all levels within the client organization. This approach makes it possible for the various levels of the company to understand, accept and support the proposed proposal when the proposal is proposed at the end of the project. Therefore, the content of the written report submitted by the company are all suggestions that have been communicated and discussed with the customer, and there will be no surprises to the customer.

Third, McKinsey and customers solve problems together instead of solving problems for customers. In accordance with this policy, the project work is done in full cooperation with customers, using the customer's business knowledge and McKinsey's problem-solving skills and knowledge. When appropriate, the client is required to designate personnel to participate in the project research full-time or part-time. This arrangement can bring very important benefits:

First of all, this method can greatly improve the work efficiency of project consultants and reduce the cost of customers, especially at the stage of project collection of factual data;

Secondly, the determination and commitment established by client staff in the actual project work process will help the effective implementation of the plan.

In addition, this collaborative approach allows McKinsey to impart modern management skills to client members.

4. If we don't help our customers take the necessary and cost-effective steps to ensure real change and impact, we think our work is not complete. The first step in participating in the implementation of the project is to assist the client to develop a detailed plan and timetable. Whether it will participate more widely in the implementation of the plan in the future depends on the needs of the client. For example, McKinsey's involvement in project implementation may be limited to overseeing the progress and results of the plan implemented by client personnel, that is, part-time project support. Or, sometimes clients will need more input from McKinsey, and we may assist in training client staff or assist in establishing and supporting the client's plan execution team. In addition, we can assist clients in conducting pilots, conducting tests, building models, or simulating new programs, new procedures, and new organizational adjustments.

Fifth, McKinsey & Company shall keep all customer information confidential. At the same time, sensitive opinions expressed by any individual are kept confidential. The company's internal personnel must receive special training to ensure that no customer information is disclosed on any occasion; the project team serving a particular customer cannot serve this customer's competitors within two years; the company's project data is blocked from each other The information must be approved by the directors.

1. The company's client audience: For the president, senior executives, ministers, management committees of large companies, non-profit organizations and senior government leaders to provide advice on management issues of concern to them.

2. Main business scope: Design and formulate supporting integrated solutions, strategic development, operation and organization structure for customers, especially for enterprises.

3. Focus on performance improvement that customers can quantify, such as improving sales revenue, profit costs, delivery time, and quality. McKinsey's consulting focuses on topics of concern to senior management. The work content belongs to strategy, overall organization and related policy areas, each accounting for 1/3. But in China, strategic and organizational design is a bit more significant.

1. Comprehensively research and solve management problems for senior management.

2. Provide comprehensive advice on the choices faced by senior executives.

3. Anticipate new problems and opportunities that may arise in future development, and formulate timely and pragmatic countermeasures.

In short, McKinsey is about helping clients make positive, lasting, and substantial improvements in their business, and build great companies that attract, grow, motivate, and retain outstanding talent.

McKinsey has more than 4,500 consultants from 78 countries, all with advanced degrees from world-renowned universities. According to statistics from the beginning of 1997, a master's degree in business administration (MBA) accounted for 49%, and a doctoral degree accounted for 16%. When recruiting consultants, McKinsey focuses on outstanding character and problem-solving skills, excellent wisdom, and the ability to effectively interact with people at all levels. Most of McKinsey's consultants had considerable business experience before joining McKinsey. At McKinsey, job levels and achievements are directly linked. Throughout his career, McKinsey reviews consultants' performance, assessing the quality of their problem solving and the impact on clients.

McKinsey is a private partnership, and its internal management style also uses a partnership system. The ownership and management of the company are completely in the hands of nearly 600 incumbent senior directors (senior partners Director) and directors (partners Principal). All directors have served as associates when they joined the company. They are staff members in different countries and regions. The company ownership system ensures independence and objectivity, so the company is only responsible to customers and the company itself.

The company's executive directors are elected by senior directors for a term of three years. The company strictly adheres to the principle of personnel who do not advance and retires, and those who fail to meet the company's promotion standards will properly advise them to quit the company. Almost all senior directors and directors of the company have been carefully selected from consultants after 6 to 7 years of rigorous training and exercise. The probability of becoming a director is about one in every 5 to 6 consultants. Promotion to director. Many directors will eventually decide to leave McKinsey and join other large companies in key positions, such as IBM,

Most of McKinsey's customers are excellent large companies in various countries.

Establish a consulting project team to work with companies

The project will be guided by the client's steering committee and the project leadership team, and the specific tasks will be jointly performed by a dedicated project team composed of McKinsey personnel and client personnel.

Consultation by consulting project team

McKinsey & Company consults as a project team to optimize the task

Among the global strategic consulting firms, McKinsey, Boston and Bain & Co. are leading the way. Its consulting business entered China in the 1980s, and more than 20 years have passed. Although there have been some errors in market competition, its comprehensive consulting service model is still widely recognized in the consulting industry.

Comparison of China's Distribution Power

McKinsey: The business network covers 43 countries, has 82 branches and nearly 9,000 employees. McKinsey entered the Asia Pacific region in 1959, and its business in China began in 1985. Since then, McKinsey has established branches in Hong Kong, Taipei, Shanghai and Beijing. Mainland China has been established since 1993. There are about 180 consultants in McKinsey & Company in Greater China, and over 80 consultants in Mainland China. The number of staff in Greater China has surpassed the Boston office. McKinsey China's clients have grown from 100% of multinational companies in the past to more than 60% today are local Chinese companies, including state-owned enterprises and private companies. From 1996 to 2000, McKinsey did nearly 300 consultations in Greater China. Projects, excluding projects that are not fully completed, are very challenging.

Boston: The Boston Consulting Group was founded in 1963. After nearly 40 years of development, Boston Consulting Group has become a world-renowned management consulting company. Provide professional consulting services to large international companies and organizations on development strategies and business performance. Boston entered the Chinese market in the 1980s. In January 1993, Boston Consulting Shanghai Co., Ltd. was officially established in Shanghai. There are more than 70 consultants in China, including Hong Kong, and 2,700 consultants worldwide.

Bain: Bain & Company was founded in 1973 and is headquartered in Boston. Its principal founder, William Bain, was employed by the Boston Consulting Group in his early years. In 1973, Bain led several consultants to leave the Boston company to form Bain & Company. From 1973 to the mid-1980s, Bain's annual growth rate was about 50%. In 1998, Bain & Company had nearly 1,500 consultants and an annual operating income of $ 450 million, with customers mainly distributed in more than 60 countries.

Bain officially opened an office in Beijing in 1993 and was the first strategic consulting firm in Beijing. There are already more than 50 consultants in China and more than 2,800 consultants worldwide.

Comparison of business features

McKinsey: The pious counseling priest McKinsey is characterized by strict adherence to the rules and regulations. Some people even call the McKinsey people pious counsellors. "Make sure to maintain independence when consulting, and do not interfere too much with the internal affairs of the client." This is a commandment for the company by Marvin Ball, one of the founders of McKinsey in the last century. Occupying a dominant position and regarded as the golden rule by many consulting companies, it has also become the first industry norm for the consulting industry to grow.

Boston: Occupy the market with knowledge management. In 1963, Boston Consulting Company established a highly concentrated intellectual resource center at the beginning of the establishment of the consulting firm, and embarked on a business path of "occupying the market with knowledge management."

Bain: To provide clients with the best results Bain's consultants regard improving the overall economic value of clients as their mission. They believe that what should be provided to clients should be based on their experience to defeat their competitors and strive for more returns. Their business is not confined to any single traditional industry, but a unique perspective from many industrial and business models. Customers always get the best results from them, not just a report.

Comparison of business scope

McKinsey McKinsey's consulting focuses on topics of concern to senior management, designing and formulating supporting integrated solutions for customers in various industries, including corporate strategy formulation, business operations, and organizational structure. Usually focus on performance improvement that customers can quantify, such as improving sales revenue, profit cost, delivery time, quality, etc.

Boston Public Corporation's main business scope includes consumer goods and retail, industrial products, energy and utilities, healthcare, high-tech, financial services and other industries. It mainly provides consulting services for enterprises in the following areas:

Allocate resources between different enterprise categories; develop diversified new businesses; formulate long-term strategies to adapt to changes in the competitive environment; understand the strengths and operating principles of competitors; expand new brands and reposition existing brands; in sales, In terms of manufacturing, operation and development of new products, improve the response to customer needs; identify appropriate opportunities, establish strategic alliances, joint ventures, and conduct acquisitions and spin-offs; assist newly-created enterprises on the track of normal operations.

Boston is gradually exploring other special fields, including mining, pulp and paper industry, environmental ecology and other industries; and management concepts such as "value-based management model" and "corporate reengineering project" developed for strategic innovation of enterprises.

Bain's main business areas include: strategic decision-making, e-commerce strategy, customer relationship, corporate growth, optimization of business operation management, supply chain management, organization and change management, mergers and acquisitions.

Comparison of consulting tools

McKinsey: Well-known three-level theory and 7S model. McKinsey has proposed a relatively well-known three-level theory and 7S model in consulting theory.

The core of the three-level theory is to select the second-level business on the basis of ensuring the core business, so that it can quickly develop into the first-level business, and at the same time select the third-level business for the future long-term development.

The 7-S model points out that in the development process, companies must consider all aspects of the situation, including structure, system, style, employees, skills, strategy, and common values. In other words, it is not enough for a company to have a clear strategy and a well-thought-out plan of action. In the model, strategy, structure, and system are considered the "hardware" of business success, and style, people, skills, and common values are considered the "software" of business success.

Boston: Boston Matrix's Leading Series of Consulting Tools Boston's business philosophy has affected countless companies around the world. Popular competition methods in the business world, such as price wars, advertising wars, slapstick IPOs, dumping and anti-dumping, all seem to find their roots in Boston consultants.

Boston has proposed a series of analytical tools and management concepts: Experience curve, Time-based competition, Segment-of-one marketing for market segmentation, investment or product portfolio strategy (growth / occupation) Rate matrix) Portfolio strategy the growth / share matrix, Value-based management, Sustainable growth formula, Sustainable growth formula, Total shareholder value, Strategic market segmentation, Strategic segmentation, Expansion of prospective customers discovery, Value chain analysis.

Bain: "Main Profits" Pursue Continuous Profit Growth Bain & Company has released "Main Profits" after 10 years of strategic decision research. The results in the book show that 90% of the world's companies have failed to achieve sustained profitable growth in the past 10 years. After analyzing the strategies of long-term profitable companies, Bain & Company found that there are two crucial factors for a company to successfully formulate and implement a growth strategy: unleashing the full potential of its core business; and expanding adjacent businesses that surround its core business. . In the research of this theory, Bain & Company summed up a series of business consulting theories, such as market division, competitor evaluation, profit analysis of adjacent industries, customer analysis, customer segmentation, productivity improvement, competitive benchmarking management, customers Loyalty, price analysis, related business division, market entry analysis, etc.