STRATEGY CONSULTING vs MANAGEMENT CONSULTING

Question

Can you please explain the difference?

(In terms of which firm does what, type of tasks, exit opportunities ....)

Thank you

Answer 1

Hi There,

Strategy Consulting is just a type of management consulting. As the name would suggest, strategy consulting entails with defining the strategy for a company/division/geography, usually in facing a specific problem (e.g. how should we enter this market?).

There are many other types of "management consulting" which are done by both MBB and by other firms. For example:

- Organisational Consulting: Recommendations on organisational aspects - e.g. how to structure organisation, defining accountability/responsibility, etc.

- Operational Consulting: Anything which advises on how to optimise/improve operations of a business - e.g. optimising supply chain.

- "PMO (Project Management Office) projects: Helping set up and run a PMO at a company to track performance using KPIs of either overall company or specific initiatives/programmes

Hope that helps!

Answer 2

Hi,

Strategic projects are just one type of all variety of projects done by consultants (In line with Ops, org, etc).
All MBB companies have generalist roles, so you can / will be staffed on any kind of the project
Some 2nd and 3rd Tier companies have dedicated strategic groups (e.g.Accenture Strategy) where you will have just the strategic projects.
In terms of exit opportunities, it's not the main factor (more important is the brand of the particular company)
From the personal development point - the more different types of the projects you do - the more experienced you become as a manager (and thus you will better succeed once you exit)

Best!

Answer 3

Well I can be crisp and talk from the hiring perspective. At the end of the day, however, you will not be hired as a strategist but instead, as a consultant. Strategy consulting is still just a niche of management consulting. As such, I’m going to refer to all of these firms as management consulting firms unless I am specifically discussing the strategy function within a management consulting firm. This is all just nomenclature though. During the application process, presenters from various firms will stress the strategic nature of their work. So even though this blog is intended to help you land a job at a management consulting firm, it will focus primarily on strategy.

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As this was just my opinion, I also agree with most of you and am willing to discuss how can we come to a conclusion on this debate. I will be very much happy to carry on this conversation with all of you as I seek great interest in the management consulting industry and having worked in it for over 2 years now, I believe this is the place to go.