Course 2019-2020 a.y.

30206 - INTRODUCTION TO MANAGEMENT CONSULTING

Department of Management and Technology

Course taught in English
Go to class group/s: 31
CLEAM (6 credits - II sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/10) - CLEF (6 credits - II sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/10) - CLEACC (6 credits - II sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/10) - BESS-CLES (6 credits - II sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/10) - WBB (6 credits - II sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/10) - BIEF (6 credits - II sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/10) - BIEM (6 credits - II sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/10) - BIG (6 credits - II sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/10) - BEMACS (6 credits - II sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/10)
Course Director:
FERDINANDO PENNAROLA

Classes: 31 (II sem.)
Instructors:
Class 31: FERDINANDO PENNAROLA


Mission & Content Summary

MISSION

The management consulting profession has today acquired a well-known reputation among the service industries. Consultants offer their professional advice to client organizations by leveraging their knowhow in the fields of management. Consultants often assist clients in the change process, and in some cases act as key characters in the implementation phase. Today, more than in the past, consultancy has become a viable professional development alternative, typically offered to young students from graduate or undergraduate degrees. This course does not cover the management consultant’s tools: models, approaches and findings of the research on management that consultants use to serve their clients. The course is entirely focused on the process side of the relationship between clients and consultants. The course also deals with the characteristics of the industry and with some key features of the profession.

CONTENT SUMMARY

The course combines both theoretical and applied materials. Emphasis is placed upon case discussions and insights offered by visiting speakers from a variety of consulting firms. The aim of the course is to provide students with hands-on experience with issues of organization, strategy, and operational effectiveness as they emerge in modern management consulting firms. The course is thus well-suited for those interested in pursuing careers in management consulting as well as those interested in learning more about how to analyse the integrated strategic, organizational and operational options and opportunities of a business.


Intended Learning Outcomes (ILO)

KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING

At the end of the course student will be able to...
  • Professional service firm management: definitions and characteristics.
  • Data analysis and data collection methodologies.
  • Intervention models and techniques.
  • Managing relationships with clients.
  • Gaining the engagement with clients.
  • Knowledge management.
  • The management consulting industry.

The main Learning Tracks of the Course are the following:

  • The management consulting industry: fundamental concepts and trends of evolution.
  • The management consulting profession: required skills and capabilities.
  • Delivering the service: the processside of a consulting project.
  • Organizational practices and people management in consulting firms.
  • Operational models and practices of management consulting firms.

APPLYING KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING

At the end of the course student will be able to...

Knowledge: you should be able to:

  • Demonstrate understanding of the key principles of intervention practice.
  • Demonstrate the ability to carry out a project intervention / consultancy assignment within an organisation.
  • Demonstrate the ability to scope and define a client problem or opportunity.
  • Be able to prepare a proposal to undertake a consulting project.
  • Demonstrate successful operation of a piece of consulting work with a specific client.

Skills: you should be able to:

  • Negotiate and communicate effectively in the course of the engagement.
  • Develop skills associated with data collection, analysis and presentation.
  • Demonstrate personal skills associated with the management and operation of a piece of advisory work.
  • Show an ability to be able to reflect upon progress throughout the project and to evaluate its outcomes.
  • Demonstrate general project management skills.

Teaching methods

  • Face-to-face lectures
  • Guest speaker's talks (in class or in distance)
  • Exercises (exercises, database, software etc.)
  • Case studies /Incidents (traditional, online)
  • Individual assignments
  • Group assignments
  • Interactive class activities (role playing, business game, simulation, online forum, instant polls)

DETAILS

Students run a simulted consulting project (done in teams) during the course. Each group receives their own customized engagement letter from a virtual client and deliver a project output by the end of the course.


Assessment methods

  Continuous assessment Partial exams General exam
  • Written individual exam (traditional/online)
 x   x
  • Individual assignment (report, exercise, presentation, project work etc.)
 x    
  • Group assignment (report, exercise, presentation, project work etc.)
 x   x
  • Active class participation (virtual, attendance)
 x   x

ATTENDING STUDENTS

  • Consulting Simulation (team work activity) = 10%.
  • Consulting Project (team work activity) = 30%.
  • Final exam (individual) = 60%.
  • Class participation +1/30 (individual) to max 5 students.

NOT ATTENDING STUDENTS

Final exam (100% grade) based on textbooks for non attending students.


Teaching materials


ATTENDING STUDENTS

Reading and cases provided online by faculty at the begging of the course.


NOT ATTENDING STUDENTS

  • P. MCKENNA, D. MAISTER, First among equals: how to manage a group of professionals, The Free Press, NY, 2005.
  • L. GREINER, I. POULFELT, Management consulting today and tomorrow, South Western College, 2009.
Last change 02/05/2019 17:02