1

Table of Contents
Table of Contents....................................................................................................... 1 Consultancy firms around the world...........................................................................2 THE RAPID EVOLUTION OF THE CONSULTING INDUSTRY ........................................2 A Century of Professional Consulting ......................................................................2 Roots of Strategy Firms ..........................................................................................3 Background of consultancy firm in Bangladesh..........................................................8 Background of HR Consultancy Firms in Bangladesh...............................................13 CONCLUSION............................................................................................................15

Page 1 of 15

Consultancy firms around the world

A consulting firm is a firm of experts (consultants) providing professional advice to an organization or an individual for a fee. The primary purpose of a consulting firm is to provide access to industry-specific specialists / consultants and subject matter expertise. A consulting firm is a business that offers specialized expertise to its clients, which may be businesses or individuals. Different consulting firms offer different types of advice. Although there are numerous types of firms, some of the most popular are information technology (IT) consulting firms and management consulting firms. Other types of business firms include environmental consulting firms and human resource consulting firms. There are different types of consulting firms serving different sectors. They mainly fall under the following fields, Financial Information Technology Management Human Resources Legal

On top of the above mentioned divisions, there are consulting firms which serve niche sectors like Advertising/Marketing/Publicrelations consulting, Environmental consulting, Energy consult ing, Consulting in Politics and the Public Sector, Real Estate consulting etc.

THE RAPID EVOLUTION OF THE CONSULTING INDUSTRY

Advisors have existed since the beginning of time--often providing advice based on subjective opinions absent of any structure, facts, expertise or relevant experience. Unfortunately there continue to be many people who are quite capable of expressing an opinion on something for which they know nothing about. Charisma and self confidence, after all, can go a long way!

A Century of Professional Consulting

More legitimately, academics, government leaders, and senior business executives have also been consulted for generations drawing upon the expertise and personal experience that they have amassed throughout their long careers. However, it was not until the late 1800s when the
Page 2 of 15

rational, logically structured problem solving approaches began to be formally applied to management challenges. Arthur D. Little, a chemical engineer who studied at MIT, founded his business in 1886. It is generally acknowledged that this was the first management consulting firm even though their focus was not on the management process but on contracted engineering research. Frederick W. Taylor established his consulting practice in 1893 with an emphasis on time and motion, scientific management. While Taylorism influenced management thinking and industrial efficiency in the early 20th century, none of the consulting firms based on Taylorism principles ever emerged to become major consulting practices in the United States. Taylorism had greater sustainability in Europe with PA Consulting, founded in the UK in 1943 and still in operation today, adding a stronger human dimension by making the worker a participant in the productivity change process. Edwin Booz, a graduate of Northwestern University, established his firm in 1914. He promoted the concept that companies could be more successful if they could call on someone outside their own organizations for expert, impartial advice. John McKinsey, an accountant from the University of Chicago who is credited with advancing cost accounting disciplines, established his firm in 1926. He formalized general surveys (analysis of companies in financial difficulties) and systemized the process of soliciting new clients, particularly within the financial services community. What propelled the large scale development of the management consulting industry in the 1930s was the U.S. post-depression anti-trust regulation that formally separated commercial and investment banking (including their internal research departments) and prohibited the sharing of anticompetitive customer information amongst bankers. This created a demand for external research firms and a third party conduit for pooling and sharing of industry information. This demand was adeptly filled by the management consulting firms of the day.

Roots of Strategy Firms

These early firms Arthur D. Little, Booz & Company, and McKinsey & Company remain with us today. They were all strongly influenced by academic institutions such as MIT, Northwestern and Harvard Business School. They also spawned additional firms where partners from these original consulting firms resigned and started up their own consulting practices. Boston Consulting Group (partners formerly from Arthur D. Little), AT Kearney (original Chicago office of McKinsey), Bain Consulting (started by BCG alumni), Cresap McCormick & Paget (former Booz employees), Oliver Wyman (also from Booz) were all off-shoots of these first generation firms. These early consulting firms were research oriented--taking an analytical approach to solving business challenges by framing the problem, collecting a fact base and then
Page 3 of 15

applying structured frameworks and tools, in order to produce a range of possible outcomes from which to select a solution to progress forward with. Combined with formal educational backgrounds and relevant consulting experiences they produced robust, logically precise yet practically applicable solutions to business problems. These firms gave significant thought to how they communicated their findings and recommendations. They produced compelling story lines using a series of logically structured key messages coupled with simple yet content rich graphics (and, for most of the 20th century, without the benefit of computers, word processors or PowerPoint!). These consulting firms took pride in the profession of consulting where client interests came first; thought leadership was highly valued; and partners were accountable for developing the next generation of consultants so that they left the firm in better shape than when they themselves had become partner. In terms of their economic model, given the character of their projects, partner leverage was low, between five and eight, although standard rates were relatively high. While AD little maintained its emphasis on technical research and analysis studies, other firms like Booz, Cresap McCormick & Paget (acquired by Towers Perrin in 1983) and McKinsey expanded their service offerings into organizational design and productivity with a strong emphasis in the mid 20th century on decentralization and divisional structures. It was not until the 1970s that strategy consulting became the premier service that Bain, Booz, BCG, and McKinsey are associated with today.

Below is a list of the 20 top consulting firms. While theres some room for debate as to who belongs in the final spots (varying based upon geography and specialization), theres a pretty good consensus on who belongs on top. 1)McKinsey & Company Many regard McKinsey as the firm that started the whole strategy consulting industry. Headquartered in New York with 17,000 employees spread across almost 100 offices worldwide, theyve got a level of prestige that makes them desired by graduates from top schools worldwide. 2) The Boston Consulting Group BCG is headquartered in Boston, with over 70 offices and 4,500 employees. They do work similar to McKinsey and Bain and are known for having an approach thats slightly more academic, emphasizing thought leadership more than the other two. 3) Bain & Company Bain is the final member of the MBB (McKinsey-BCG-Bain) prestige trio and it competes for the similar work from corporate boards. Headquartered in Boston, with 5,000 employees, their number one priority is client financial results.

Page 4 of 15

4) Booz & Company Booz & Company (often abbreviated Booz and Co) used to have three names in the firm (Booz Allen Hamilton) but is now independent of the US government practices that previously dominated Booz Allen Hamilton. Booz is headquartered in New York with 3,300 employees spread across 61 offices. 5) Monitor Group The legendary creator of Porters Five Forces, Michael Porter, co-founded this consultancy in 1983. The Cambridge, MA-based consultancy has now grown to 1,500 employees across 29 offices. 6) Deloitte Consulting Deloitte Consulting is a part of the Big Four audit firm Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu. They consult in three key areas: human capital, strategy & operations, and technology. They have 15,000 employees in the consulting practice and are headquartered in New York with 50 offices worldwide. 7) Oliver Wyman Oliver Wyman operates in over 50 cities with 3,000 employees. They draw on the expertise from other companies within their parent company, Marsh & McLennan. Theyre known for their financial capabilities and international acumen. 8) Roland Berger Unlike many top firms headquartered in the United States, Roland Berger touts its European heritage. Founded in Munich in 1967, they provide strategy consulting in 46 offices via over 2,000 employees. 9) L.E.K. L.E.K. tackles questions of strategy with 900 employees in 20 offices. They were founded in London in 1983. They emphasize five main capabilities: Strategy, Shareholder Value Management, M&A Support, Operations & Organization, and Marketing & Sales. 10) A.T. Kearney Headquartered in Chicago, A.T. Kearney has a rich history tracing back to the days of McKinsey. The firm split from McKinsey in 1939 and has maintained a focus on operations, supply chain, and manufacturing. 11) ZS Associates Founded by Northwestern professors, ZS Associates was founded in Evanston, IL and has grown to over 20 offices around the world. They mostly tackle projects related to sales and marketing. They serve a variety of clients, but pharmaceuticals are still their bread and butter.
Page 5 of 15

12) Accenture Headquartered in New York, Accenture is the worlds largest consulting firm, with revenues over $20 billion. Its primarily known for systems integration work, but they also have a small strategy consulting unit. 13) Capgemini Headquartered in Paris, Capgemini serves clients in a wide variety of industries through outsourcing, IT, and managementconsulting projects. Their life sciences division is known to be particularly strong. 14) PricewaterhouseCoopers Headquartered in New York, PWCs consulting arm addresses issues related to finance, operations, forensic accounting, organizational structure, crisis management, and IT. Their engagements and focus largely emerge from their roots as an accounting firm. 15) IBM Headquartered in Armonk, New York, IBM backs up their technological consulting with a robust suite of computing-related products and services. Engagements can range from application management to business analytics to developing and rolling out a customized solution enterprisewide. 16) Ernst & Young Headquartered in London, E&Ys consulting function provides advisory and insurance services for clients across all industries. A Big Four audit firm, E&Y has particular expertise in operational risk and compliance issues. 17) Towers Watson Headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, Towers Watson (formed by the 2010 merger of Towers Perrin and Watson Wyatt Worldwide) provides human resources, risk management, and reinsurance consulting from its 72 offices worldwide. 18) KPMG Headquartered in New York, KPMGs management consulting group tackles four key areas: Business Effectiveness, Financial Management, People and Change, and IT. KPMG is primarily a tax and audit firm, and another set of services between accounting and traditional management consulting. These services include Risk Consulting and Transactions & Restructuring. 19) Mercer Headquartered in New York, Mercer is another member of the Marsh & McLennan family. They
Page 6 of 15

have over 19,000 employees operating in 40 cities across the world. Mercer focuses on human resources issues such as compensation, benefits, communication, and change management. 20) Aon Hewitt Headquartered in Lincolnshire, Illinois, Hewitt is a leader in benefits consulting. Previously independenty operated, Hewitt was acquired by Aon in July 2010. Aon Hewitt consulting also works on engagements related to talent management, communications, and the people side of M&A.

Page 7 of 15

Background of consultancy firm in Bangladesh The rich and powerful have always needed advice on how better to manage their affairs and make effective decisions.The demands for mass-produced goods (initially weapons, but later consumer products) drove thousands of new employees into large, unfamiliar factories where there was little expertise on organizing people, processes and machinery to maximize efficiency. The first recognized management consulting firm was formed in 1890.In Bangladesh consultancy is not popular term.ACE Consultants Ltd is the oldest consulting firm in Bangladesh.It started its journey in the year 1958 as Associated Consulting Engineers Ltd. As Bangladesh was born in 1971, ACE continued its operation as Associated Consulting Engineers (Bangladesh) Ltd, serving the war torn young nation in the reconstruction and rehabilitation process. There are different types of consulting firms serving different sectors. They mainly fall under the following fields, Financial Information Technology Management Education Human Resources Legal

Most popular 10 bangladeshi consultancy firm list is given below:

ACE Consultants Ltd: ACE is a leading firm providing consulting services in multiple disciplines in Bangladesh since 1958. It has strong record of providing quality services in full range to more than one hundred projects in the sectors of water resource management, rural infrastructure development, roads and bridge, environment, agriculture, power & energy, education, health, social infrastructure, physical planning, GIS, architecture etc.In 1977, it was privatized and registered as a joint stock company. In the year 2002 it was renamed as ACE Consultants Ltd in a completely new look and get up under a new management.

Page 8 of 15

ACE has professionals and staffs in various fields. Our professionals are experienced in their field of work and are encouraged to maintain close contact with research institutes in order to keep pace with the latest developments in their respective field of disciplines.ACE has worked in projects of World Bank/IDA, Asian Development Bank, United Nations Development Programme, Commission of the European Communities and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

Panacea Consultants Ltd: They process Interest Free EEF Loan from Bangladesh Bank for Agro based projects & IT projects our services include EOI Preparation, Company Registration, & all the relevant procedures we also deal with Industrial & SME Loan from different Banks.

IMES Consultants Ltd: IEMS was established in 1996 as an educational & migration consultancy firm to quince the thirst of the students & nationals for higher education, migration and employment opportunities in land & overseas. Now it has established as one of the biggest education & migration advising firm in Bangladesh. This is the only consulting firm in Bangladesh which is also registered in Australia and UK.We are also representative of many foreign educational institutes, immigration firms, employment/recruiting agencies and organizations in land & overseas. We are also member of British Study Group.

StatPlus Consulting Services:StatPlus Consulting Services is one of the leading statistical consulting firms in Bangladesh providing appropriate and sustainable solutions in business. It can produce quality results in generating reports and in developing very efficient and powerful predictive statistical models that can facilitate a right set of business recommendations. In doing so, it uses a wide range of advanced statistical tools in all quantitative analyses. It is the most popular and effective solution provider in statistical consulting services. Its workforce has the technical expertise, strong set of skills and years of experience developed in the industry (JP Morgan & Chase, Prudential Investments, Fannie Mae, AVCO, Chase Manhattan Mortgage Corp., Nissan North America, Mitsubishi Motors Credit of America, VNU Marketing Information Services and Pratt & Whitney) in North America. StatPlus brings new concepts and innovative ideas that provide support in data driven decision making process. It can come up with the best set of recommendations for business in providing directions toward right business solutions. It can develop solid communication protocols that are helpful in presenting the statistically significant findings to valued customers. It can help consolidate all the consulting components into one concise and successful decision making
Page 9 of 15

10

process. It can also provide support in writing proposals based on specific business needs and requirements. It can optimize results based on a set of business constraints in providing the best solutions in business. It has the most experienced and dynamic workforce that can turn simple observations into extraordinary results.

Centre for Management Development: Centre for Management Development is a centre of excellence in the area of Human Resources Development and Management Consultancy. Since its inception, the organization has carried out many challenging assignments in the field of Human Resource Development and Management Consultancy in both private and public sectors. The centre has a pool of professionals who are highly qualified and possess wide range of experiences at home and abroad. The centre is equipped with modern training facilities and capable of conducting training programs on different areas of management and other fields. The centre offers regular training programs as well as conducts tailor made request training programs suiting the needs of the client organizations. The centre carries out training needs assessment, develops training manuals, implements training courses and renders advisory services for institutional development and strengthening of organizational capabilities. CMD also renders consultancy services to develop organizational systems, preparation of operations manuals etc. Its professionals have the expertise in bringing about organizational changes through different interventions such as OD, PIP etc.

Services and Solutions International Ltd (SSIL): SSIL-founded in 1995, is a multidisciplinary consulting, research, training and data management agency. SSIL has worked in over 20 different countries and executed over 130 projects. Its is specialized in providing technical assistance to donors, NGOs, governmental agencies and private businesses. SSIL provides high quality technical expertise and management services to assist policy makers and practitioners in achieving their goals of sustainable human development. It utilizes inputs from a team of 18 core professionals and over 2,500 affiliated experts of around 150 different nationalities and widely diverse professional background. Its team members are specialized in providing technical assistance to donors, NGOs, governmental agencies and private businesses. SSIL has completed more than 150 projects providing technical and programmatic support and capacity building for national and international organizations like ADB, the World Bank, UNICEF, EC, ILO, SIDA, CIDA, DANIDA, USAID, USDOL, Royal Dutch Embassy, UNFPA, as well as many INGOs other agencies.
Page 10 of 15

11

A2Z:Established in 1998. Looking after admission units of few world renowned Universities from Australia which is truly unique in Bangladesh.a2z Study is authorized to check on students credentials to issue Offer Letters, to provide professional counseling to select right program and career, to assist on Visa matters to arranging accommodation. Having high skilled workforce and dedicated to serve local students.a2z Study carries out on going research projects to assure practical minded support to our students. a2z Study is simply the Gateway to Australia.

BETS Consulting Services Ltd: BETS Consulting Services Ltd is one of the leading consulting firms in Bangladesh. It started its journey in the year 1979 as Bangladesh Engineering and Technological Services Ltd. (BETS). In the year 2005 it renamed as BETS Consulting Services Ltd.(BETS). BETS enjoys unique reputation in providing consulting services in different sectors and to be a proud development partner providing appropriate and sustainable solutions for infrastructure development through innovative technologies, affordable ideas, capacity building, proper policy making, suitable institutional reforms and community participations. Ever since its establishment in 1979, BETS has developed into a premier consultancy organisation providing services from the stage of conceptualisation to planning, design and detailed engineering of diverse discipline projects. Focusing on the need of clients, BETS has expanded its activities in diversified fields to develop areas of complementary expertise and strengthen firms capabilities. Collective professional achievements include a large number of assignments spread all over Bangladesh and of late in the Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Cambodia, Albania and Azerbaijan.BETS has worked at both national and international levels for public as well as private sector clients and has successfully participated in many projects funded by most of the international funding agencies like the WB, IDA, ADB, IDB, SFD, DFID, JICA, JBIC and other funding agencies and therefore is familiar with their procedures. We help our clients to realize their objectives by developing and delivering practical solutions, adding value to their services through application of our experience, innovative thinking and state-ofthe-art technology. SMEC (Bangladesh) Ltd:SMEC has operated in Bangladesh since 1977. SMEC's first project in Bangladesh was an aid mission involving road design and implementation of road construction equipment. A permanent office was opened in Dhaka in 1978. SMEC (Bangladesh) Ltd was established in 1998 to provide domestic support and local firm, ACE Consultant, was acquired in 2002 to operate as an independent subsidiary in Bangladesh. Since then, SMEC has been involved in a railway sector improvement project, provided consulting services for the integrated flood protection project, conducted a study to assess the
Page 11 of 15

12

effectiveness of the organisational and management structure of the rural electrification project and provided consulting services for improvement of the drainage channels in Dhaka City. SMEC has experience in the Transport, Water, Hydropower and Energy, Environment and Government and Advisory Services sectors in Bangladesh. SMEC was recently engaged by Chevron Bangladesh to carry out environmental impact studies for proposed natural gas fields and gas compression plants in northern Bangladesh including: Block 7 Exploratory Drilling Project in Kajal; the Jalalabad 3D Seismic Project; the Bibyana North Pad Erosion Control Project; and the Muchai Compression Project.

Unice Education:Unice Education is a panel of sophisticated and education counselors who understand the need of the students, their parents and the sponsors. We provide our students the best possible information on the all available options, to help them to make the most prudent decisions. We offer the students a highly professional and cost effective service process that enables a quick admissionand smooth visa process. Quality service and reliability have formed the roots of it's success over the years. We consider client satisfaction as our foundation upon which we are standing. Therefore, our business goal remains absolutely inseparable from our clients' needs. We also believe that quality is the key to corporate success in an increasingly competitive market and thus strive to achieve excellence in all areas of performance. Every year we send around 500 (Five Hundred) students to the Malaysia institutions for their higher study and this number is increasing day by day. Besides this we have a good number of highly qualified support team at our office to assist our clients with need based guidance and support services. All these together have contributed in becoming one of the leading education consultancy firms in Bangladesh.

Page 12 of 15

13

Background of HR Consultancy Firms in Bangladesh

The term human resource refers to the people in an organization. Human resource management is concerned with people dimensions in management. When managers engaged in human resource activities as a part of their job, they seek to facilitate the contribution; people make to achieve an organizations strategies and plans. Human resource management encompasses those activities designed to provide for and coordinate the Human efforts, so that they can contribute to achieve the goals of the organizations. For the most part of Bangladeshs history limited attention has been paid to human resource management. However, from the past decade one can say human resources have been recognized as a crucial means as well as the ultimate end of organizational development and efficiency. With the importance of Human Resource Management recognized in organizational development and work many companies and corporate of Bangladesh has its own Human Resource Department. However, many organizations find it tough for managing all their Human Resource from their HR Department due to lack of manpower or expertise or shortage of budget. So, a lot companies prefer to outsource its Human Resource work to Human Resource consultancy firms who have expert Human Resource Consultants that will perform a large variety of tasks depending on many different variables from stepping in for a compensation manager to rearranging an organization's entire Human Resource division. Human Resource Consultancy firms are relatively new in Bangladesh with handful of companies providing Human Resource Management services exclusively. Most of the HR consultancy firms in Bangladesh have started their services during the past decade are able to provide limited amount of Human Resource Management services compared to other developed countries of the world. The role of Human Resource Consultant in Bangladesh is mostly to introduce many possibilities for implementing new policies and programs into an organization's recruiting procedures. Most HR Consultants help companies with their acquisition of quality data and their ability to correctly analyze and make appropriate adjustments to selected programs. Apart from that they render executive selection services in Bangladesh. They help in selecting and recruiting many top-level executives and mid level executives for the renowned group of companies of the country, multinational organization, national and international NGO, apparels industry as well as private sector groups.

Page 13 of 15

14

Other HR consultancy services provided by HR consultants of Bangladesh are help maintain a sound organization structure by Reviewing of organization structure at the corporate, divisional/ departmental levels, evaluation of staffing requirements and assistance in manpower planning, documentation of job descriptions and delegation of powers and assistance in change management. When it comes to Human Resource Development services such as review of personnel policies and procedures, review of performance appraisal systems, job evaluation and grading, compensation studies, comparative study of remuneration including perquisites in various industries, advice on structuring of an optimal pay package within the tax structure, advice on structuring pay packages for expatriate employees, executive selection, recruitment through advertisements placed on behalf of clients are placement are provided. Moreover, many HR Consultancy of Bangladesh also arrange training for their clients general management, finance, accounting and costing, information systems, computerization, organization, and personnel. List of Renowned HR Consultants of Bangladesh who provide HR services are: Axis HR Connections GrownExcel HR Services

Page 14 of 15

15

CONCLUSION

Consultancy firms provide specialized service to its clients. Clients (Business or individuals) can have professional and effective service from them in exchange of fees. Team of experts provides this expertise service which can effectively contribute to the clients professional operation. In Bangladesh consultancy has not grown large till now, it is still growing. When different types of unfamiliar industry started to grow then the demand for consultancy firms emerged. Now in Bangladesh there are consultancy firms for different sectors such as Financial, Information, Technology, Management Education, Human Resources, and Legal etc. For managing human resource many companies find difficulties to manage their workforce and find the best people for their specific requirement. Here Human Resource consultants try to serve them in a professional and effective way and ensures better professional operation.

Page 15 of 15