Rajiv Gandhi
Indian Institute of Management - Shillong COURSE SYLLABUS Term V: 2010
Management and Operations Consulting, 1 Credit Course 1. Instructor Information: Professor Swapan Kumar Majumdar; Email:
[email protected], Professor Ashoke Kumar Dutta; Email:
[email protected], and Visiting Faculty from Leading Consulting Firms. 2. Introduction The consultancy business continues to grow rapidly as almost every organization seeks help in becoming more adaptable in managing change more effectively and in growing and developing from within. The course responds to the increasing need among management consultants for reliable and expert guidance. The course is aimed at satisfying the needs of external consultants and also internal consultants within an organization. 3. Course Description: The aim of the course is to provide the participants with theoretical and practical knowledge in consultation work. It deals especially with understanding the need for consultancy, the nature of consultation work and different methods of performing consultancy. The course places emphasis on oral and written presentations and active involvement of the participants on real life consulting through a field project and the development of certain high impact skill areas in proposal writing, pricing, data gathering and client presentations. 4. TEXT AND READINGS This course would require two Text Books and a Casebook and one reference book Textbook 1. Block, Peter. Flawless Consulting Set, Flawless Consulting (Second Edition) And The Flawless Consulting Field book [With Fieldbook], Pfeiffer; 2 edition (November 15, 2000), ISBN-10: 0787957127; ISBN-13: 978-0787957124. 2. Greiner, Larry E. and Poulfelt, Flemming. The Contemporary Consultant – Insights from Experts. Thomson South-Western Publishing. 2004; ISBN-10: 0324290195; ISBN-13: 978-0324290196. Casebook 1. Greiner, Larry E., Olson, Thomas H. and Poulfelt, Flemming. The Contemporary Consultant – Casebook. Thomson South-Western Publishing, 2004; ISBN-10: 0324290195; ISBN-13: 978-0324290196. Reference Books 1. Alan Weiss, Getting Started in Consulting (Paperback), Wiley; 3rd edition (March 23, 2009); ISBN-10: 0470419806; ISBN-13: 978-0470419809.
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5. Intended Learning Outcomes: After successful completion of the course, the student will: Gain knowledge and understanding of many aspects of the management consulting industry and its major practices Strengthen one's ability to define key factors relevant to marketing and conducting a successful consulting engagement. Improve one's ability to analyze and frame business issues facing a client so as to interest them in purchasing a project and assure their later commitment to implementation. Gain exposure to a variety of intervention approaches essential for assuring change in solving a client's problem. Acquire practical skills in certain key areas of consulting. Gain practice in performing a field-consulting project. 6. Instructional Approach/ Pedagogy: The course will be covered within 10 * 180 minutes interactive sessions consist of lectures, Case Discussion individual Paper Assignment and Field Consultancy Project Presentations. Teaching methodology of this course is based on the philosophy of LEARNING BY DOING and collaborative learning. This wide variety of learning methods is intended to convey both the necessary knowledge and practical skill level necessary for building a foundation toward becoming a professional consultant. It is essential that everyone come prepared for class, as it depends heavily upon participation. The lectures will be conducted in seminar format to encourage the exchange and synthesis of various issues of business, economics, information systems and management. The lecture sessions will introduce the key concepts and questions of the case or the reading materials and would be seeking answers from the students. ‘ Teaching methods would be participative, interactive and exploratory in nature. Teaching materials include: Case Studies to simulate real life business situations and getting students involved for issue based discussions to sharpen their skills of problem elicitation, critical thinking and assimilation of different view points for generation of acceptable solutions, Individual Research Paper to encourage students to review, assess and apply their knowledge on a contemporary consulting topic/issue and write an essay as if his/her paper would published in a trade magazine on “Management Consulting”, Field Project to provoke learning by doing to enhance originality of thoughts, creativity in problem solving and developing innovative solutions, and to encourage team work and collaborative learning. Case Analysis: A Collective Learning Exercise Every case describes a story which narrates one or more conflicting situations and there is no single and straight forward solution. The main objective of Case Analysis is to improve students’ analytical thinking, but to be successful it relies on active and meaningful participation of class members. Everyone should read and be prepared to discuss the assigned case. It proves opportunity to look into the pros and cons 2
of real-life situation and often used to get every body involved in the situation and debate about what had happened, why it happened. What could have done or should have done in that situation? Finally what lesion can be learned form the case? Case analysis counts 30% of the weight of the learning assessment matrix. Students will be formed into learning-groups. Each group would be given the responsibility for analysis and presentation of a case (as shown in Table 1). Cases questions will be supplied subsequently. Every case is an example of application of one or several concepts and theories of strategy. Students are encouraged to visit the websites of the real companies to collect up-to-date performance data. Students are advised to use those concepts, which have been discussed in the class, while analyzing the case. More importantly, the case analysis should be conducted not only to answer the listed questions of the case, but also to: a.Discover which issues are generic (common across the industry) in nature and which issues are specific to the case in question.
b. For effective case discussion, participants are requested to follow Case Analysis Guidelines as indicated in section 10.1 and ask two additional questions:
How relevant are those Case Situations in Indian Context?
Can the case situation be replicated in other organizations For-Profit and Not-for-Profit? If yes - in what form; if not why not?
Every day, each group has to involved in one case analysis Table 1 indicates the session # and the case Title. What is required, students will from their learning group. Each group will be assigned Group #. In the first session the instructor will initiate case debate for Case 0: McKinsey & Co Table 1: List of Cases W#
S#
Gr#
Case Title
W1
S1
-
Case 0: McKinsey & Co
W2
S3
G1
Case 1: Hunter Business Group
W2
S4
G2
Case2: Guam Visitors’ Bureau
W3
S5
-
Case : Eden McCallum: A Network‐Based Consulting Firm
W3
S6
G3
Case 3: International Management Group
W4
S8
G4
Case 4: Performance Management at NIM
W5
S9
G5
Case5: Deloitte & Touche Consulting
W5
S10
G6
Case6: Beijing EAPS Consulting
W6
S11
G7
Case7: HCL Technologies
W6
S12
G8
Case8: Daksh & IBM BP Transformation in India
W7
S13
-
Case: The Bridgespan Group
W7
S14
G9
Case 9: A Tale of Two Turnarounds at EDS
W = Week; S = Session; G = Group Each group will have 30 minutes to present their findings and will open the floor for debate. Each presentation is like an examination and it will count for10 points. Class participation is mandatory. If any one is absent without prior permission during the presentation time will get negative point and the same would be deducted from his/ her individual score.
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Students are expected to read the relevant chapters of textbook and other listed reading materials to understand the theoretical framework of the issues involved in the case. Students are encouraged to review other references and Internet sites to sharpen their ideas and to substantiate their arguments, but the same must be presented in their own language. Any thing that is considered as plagiarism is unacceptable. Field Project (Learning by Doing): The final requirement of the course is project work. This is a group assignment. Project work requires extensive research and careful analysis. It inculcates out of classroom learning and encourages students to develop business strategy of selected organizations from the specified Indian industry sectors as listed in Table 2. Table 2: List of Projects: W.#
S.#
Gr.#
Project #
W8
S15
G1
P1
W8
S15
G2
P2
W8
S16
G3
P3
W8
S16
G4
P4
W9
S17
G5
P5
W9
S17
G6
P6
W9
S18
G7
P7
W9
S18
G8
P8
W10
S19
G9
P9
Select a Firm from Industry
W = Week; S = Session; G = Group; P = Project 7. Class Conducting Policies: I regard my role in the class as a coach but not a policeman. The success of the course is completely depended upon your total involvement in the conduct of the class. I am here to help you for your learning and career advancement. A critical component of the course is the in-depth analysis and discussion of detailed cases and reading materials. Like a coach, I will question, poke and push you to think critically about the issues contained in each case as well as in the assigned articles/chapter review. You are expected to enter class thoroughly prepared to discuss each case as well as the scheduled reading materials. You will provide not only your opinions but detailed evidence to support your ideas and recommendations. What you get out of each case discussion and the chapter/article review will depend solely upon what you and your fellow classmates bring to the discussion. I will expect every student to enter each class discussion prepared to contribute and therefore I will not hesitate to call on students randomly and regularly. Advanced preparation is a key to success in the class participation portion of this course. With that in mind I make the following suggestions for case preparation: Every group is expected to meet regularly to discuss each case prior to class. These are detailed cases—a study group will help you “share the load” as well as to test out your ideas prior to each class discussion. 4
Several days before the case/article is assigned do a quick read, establish the key issues of the case, and set out your research needs. Prior to your study team meeting, analyze the case carefully. Set out the facts in an organized fashion. Determine the problem presented by the case. Carefully differentiate between the symptoms and the causes. Gather all evidence needed to support your analysis. Remember that evidence includes not only the facts of the case and your relevant research but also logical reasoning and examples and theory. The following suggestions might help you in developing a superior contribution: Expect the class to do most of the talking with me taking the role of a coach (questioner and listener). Back up your position and solutions with evidence. Expect me to probe for reasons and supporting analysis. Look beyond the printed story and make logical conclusions as to future problems/opportunities. Expect and tolerate challenges to the views expressed and be willing to submit your conclusions for scrutiny and confutation. Fairly and thoroughly critique other class member’s analysis and solutions. Be willing to alter your analysis and solutions when the evidence strongly supports doing so. Note: Participation points will not be allotted simply for “showing up.” Reading the case plus reading materials and stating opinions is also not enough. I expect you to participate by providing “informed” opinions, facts, and questions that move the case discussion forward. Showing up having read the case gets you 6 points, 8 points for clearly demonstrating an understanding of the case, 10 points will only be allocated if you provide insightful comments and push well beyond the case materials provided.
Does and Don’ts of the Course: You must raise your hand, if you want to ask a question. Absolute silence must be maintained while the class is in session. There will be NO make up for any missed component of the course. Cases and Project Reports are to be submitted on the due dates only. NO CELLULAR OR MOBILE PHONES IN CLASS.
Intellectual Integrity and Honesty (general): Although group discussions and/or collaboration for understanding and clarification are encouraged for all assignments and projects, while research paper and individual assignments should be results of individual efforts. Presenting work of other students’ work as your group is considered as ‘Plagiarism’. Plagiarism in group work will result removal from the course with a failing grade. The student will be reported to the PGP office for disciplinary actions. There is no second chance. 8. Outcome Assessment and Grading: The examinations are considered as part of learning process rather as an assessment tool. The course consists of several exercises, assignments and one Open Book examination. The exercises and assignments are to assess participating students’ understanding about the core concepts and practices of the course. There is no final Exam for this course.
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Your final grade will be calculated on the basis of weighted averages of your test scores plus the scores of the exercises and the assignment as shown in Table 3. There will be no make-up test. Table 3: The criteria that will be applied to assess the learning outcomes of this course: Assessment Criteria
Percentage
Continuous Assessment
Efforts Category
80%
Class Participation
10%
Case Presentation
10%
Submission of Case Analysis (Write Up)
20%
Project Presentation
10%
Field Project (Written Report)
30%
Final Assessment
Individual
Group
20%
Individual Consulting Research Paper Grand Total:
20%
Individual 100%
Individual consulting research paper will test your ability to think critically and apply the theories into practice under different situations. Do not miss any component, if you like to have a good (B+) grade. Grading Scale: The class' grading scale system is standard (Based on Student’s Handbook P-22): Grading Scale Letter Grade Final Points Grade Points 96 -100 A+ 10 93 - 95 A 9 90 - 92 A8 87 - 89 B+ 7 83 – 86 B 6 80 - 82 B5 77 – 79 C+ 4 73 – 76 C 3 70 – 72 C2 60-69 D 1
