Management consultancy is rarely recognised in Kenya. In fact, few in the corporate sector would actually tell you what a management consultant does. A recent study by Career Point on highest paid jobs and professions did not list management consultancy as one of them. To those who have experienced management consultancy a lot of jokes come to mind, with some describing a management consultant as someone who borrows your watch to tell you the time, and then keeps your watch.
Management consulting is as an advisory service contracted for and provided to organisations by specially trained and qualified persons who assist, in an objective and independent manner, the client organisation to identify management problems, analyse them and help, when requested, in implementation of these solutions (Greiner and Metzger, 1983). In Kenya the most recognisable Management Consulting firms are PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC), KPMG, Deloitte, McKinsey & Company, Ernest & Young, AON and Kenya Institute of Management.
Competitive recruitment: Competition for an entry position in management consulting firms is extremely intense with high entry standards and requirements. All management consultancy firms have several rounds of interviews and assessment tests that candidates must go through. The process for application for these positions are always lengthy and can go as far as even four months to secure the job.
Highest paid graduates: New graduates employed as management consultants are the highest paid in the Kenyan market; their pay is much higher than their mates who join different industries. It is widely said that new graduate trainees who join consulting firms in Kenya earn between Ksh75,000-120, 000 in comparison to other industries that pay Ksh20,000- 55,000.
One of the most notable management consultants is former Massachusetts governor and the former Republican Party’s nominee for President of the United States in the 2012 election, Mitt Romney. His considerable net worth in 2012 stood at $190–250 million. Romney entered the management consulting industry, and in 1977 secured a position at Bain & Company.
Depending on the nature of the assignment that the firm has secured, a graduate management consultant recruited directly from university will, among other things, carry out research and data collection to understand the organisation, conduct analysis, interview the client’s employees, management team and other stakeholders; run focus groups and facilitate workshops; and prepare business proposals and presentations.
The Mitt Romney example
Management consultants are external and would not take the place of staff within the organization. Nor would they have direct clout in an organisation. Kubr (1996) notes that “objective and independent” implies a financial, administrative, political and emotional independence from the client.
Sought after employees: Given the above roles employees who have worked with management consulting firms are sought after by employers who see them as being better prepared to provide solutions to whatever crisis that would arise in an organisation. Starting your career as a management consultant also gives you a better advantage to lead an organization as a Chief Executive Officer.
Mitt Romney joined the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), reasoning that working as a management consultant for a variety of companies would better prepare him for a future position as a chief executive and would later serve as Bain’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
Different kind of competence
The skills he acquired as a management consultant helped him lead the company out of a financial crisis and in 1984, he cofounded and led the spin-off company, Bain Capital, which would later become a highly profitable private equity investment firm that became one of the largest of its kind in the United States. While serving as the Governor of Massachusetts he used the skills he acquired as a management consultant to lead the elimination of a projected $1.2–1.5 billion deficit through a combination of spending cuts, increased fees, and the closure of corporate tax loopholes.
Many CEOs say it is vital to have external business advisers and management consultants to help organisations to determine what kind of business model it should follow in restructuring programmes, building new products, growing new services and advising on management structure after two companies merge. A management consultant will therefore: provide competence not available elsewhere; experience outside the client; have time to study the problem; and give professional and independent advice.
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