Boston Consulting Group (BCG)

Thursday, September 14, 2006

Sponsored by JHMI Professional Development Office

resenters! Roger Sawhney, P and Partner, !ethesda - Roger has been with BCG for 9 years. He helped start the New York Offi e and !rrently ser"es as a partner in the #C offi e - $rior to %oining BCG& Roger earned his '# fro( Har"ard and did a residen y in internal (edi ine "roy #ndre, Pro$ect %ead, !ethesda - )roy was re ently pro(oted fro( ons!ltant to pro%e t (anager in the #C offi e - He earned a $h# in $hysi s fro( the *ni"ersity of Chi ago "#er#ie$! )he Boston Cons!lting Gro!p was fo!nded in +9,- and has& for the past .- years& been dedi ated to helping o(panies i(pro"e perfor(an e thro!gh inno"ati"e strategies& operational e/ ellen e& organi0ational design& and leadership of hange. BCG !rrently has o"er .&.11 total e(ployees and 2&,11 ons!ltant staff in ,1 offi es worldwide. BCG3s 4!ropean presen e is slightly larger than that of North 5(eri a and their 5sian presen e s rapidly growing. %hat they do! BCG is hea"ily engaged in orporate strategy ons!lting. )hat is& helping lients (aking diffi !lt hoi es in the b!siness en"iron(ent. Clients range fro( 6ort!ne 711 o(panies to start !p Biote h3s. Cons!ltants at BCG help C le"el (anagers 8C9O& C4O& Chief :ales Offi er& et ; and board (e(bers (ake infor(ed de isions that will i(pa t the o"erall prod! ti"ity and b!siness strategy of their respe ti"e organi0ation. <ith regards to the health are arena& pro%e ts o!ld range fro( helping a di"ersified phar(a e!ti al o(pany grow e/pand the presen e of a (edi al prod! t that has been on the (arket for se"eral years to working with a (!ltinational phar( o(pany to re"isit their entire b!siness (odel to de"elop strategies to generate additional re"en!e growth. O!tside the health are arena& BCG ons!ltants work on a "ariety of strategi initiati"es for their lients in the infor(ation te hnology& finan e and ons!(er goods and ser"i es se tors. &ealth'are(Biomedi'al ro)e'ts! )his area is the 2nd biggest pra ti e area for BCG in North 5(eri a& a o!nting for appro/. =+21-+-1 'illion in re"en!e& and -rd worldwide. 27 BCG partners ha"e efforts fo !sed solely on this se tor. ,1> of their health are fo !s is related to phar( 8(ostly :an 6ran is o and ?os 5ngeles areas; and biote h 8greatest on entration along the 4ast Coast orridor and California;& 21> related to (edi al de"i es 8high on entration in the

Chi ago and 'inneapolis areas; and the re(aining +1> of their pra ti e is geared towards paired pro"ider work 8i.e. Hopkins 'edi ine& :tanford& *C:6& et ;. %hat is the role o* h+,s and -+,s at BCG! 5 ording to Roger& last year3s BCG re r!iting lass was appro/i(ately @1> 'B53s and 21> non-'B53s 8in l!des ad"an ed degrees as well as !ndergrads fro( top 7 or , s hools;. 5ppro/i(ately& 221-271 new ons!ltants were hired last year in North 5(eri a and abo!t +&111 globally& tho!gh this n!(ber "aries fro( year to year. Roger stated that BCG is !rrently e/perien ing tre(endo!s growth. )hey are !rrently a 2Billion dollar fir( and the f!t!re o!tlook is strong in ter(s of finan ial stability. )hose who possess ad"an ed degrees are typi ally bro!ght as ons!ltants or generalists. )hat is& BCG does not hire ad"an ed degree andidates to spe iali0e in a ertain area. Rather& as generalists these indi"id!als an be assigned to any pro%e t whether it be related to finan e or the airline ind!stry. BCG offers a di"ersity of e/perien e )roy o((ented on se"eral skills that $h# le"el s ientists bring& spe ifi ally their !niA!e analyti al abilities. BCG seeks s ientists be a!se of their ability to think reati"ely while resear hing and disse ting o(ple/ proble(s. )roy said this (ade for a nat!ral transition fro( a ade(ia to ons!lting. Training "pportunities! BCG has re ei"ed a great deal of press for their professional de"elop(ent initiates. 9nternally& they ha"e a Career #e"elop(ent Co((ittee whi h e(ploys a holisti approa h to how they e"al!ate and pro(ote e(ployees. 4a h e(ployee at BCG (eets with a areer de"elop(ent ad"isor twi e a year to o"er"iew their own perfor(an e e/pe tations. 4a h in o(ing lass is assigned an a(bassador who works with ons!ltants in that lass thro!gho!t their ten!re to ens!re BCG is attending to the professional de"elop(ent needs of that ohort. Non-'B5 new hires are p!t thro!gh a --week B!siness 4ssentials $rogra( whi h is a for(ali0ed training progra( that tea hes b!siness skills and on epts adapted fro( top tiered 'B5 progra(s. 9n addition to this for(al training opport!nity& non-'B53s re ei"e e/tensi"e on the %ob training& with an apprenti eship (odel& learning as yo! go and pi king !p b!siness pra ti es and on epts in a relati"ely short period of ti(e. #!e to the di"ersity of pro%e ts& ons!ltants at BCG are trained ross f!n tionally Cons!ltants with 2-- years ten!re are eligible to parti ipate in BCG3s 5(bassador $rogra(. )his progra( pro"ides a ons!ltant an opport!nity to work for an e/tended period at one of BCG3s o"erseas offi es& while being paid on a *: based salary. Career ath, salary and $or. hours!

&areer Path Cli(bing the ladder fro( ons!ltant to partner an typi ally take anywhere fro( , to @ years. $artner typi ally (anage a staff of , or so ons!ltants& tho!gh it "aries fro( offi e to offi e )he areer path str! t!re at BCG is as followsB Cons!ltant-------$ro%e t ?ead--------'anager-----------C$ and $artner 82-- yrs.; 82 yrs.; 82-- yrs.; Salary Roger stated that starting salary for ons!ltants is appro/. =+21&111 to +27&111D with bon!s potential !p to .1> base salary and +7> of total o(pensation for $rofit :haring Retire(ent 6!nd. 'anager an e/pe t to earn in the (id , fig!res and $artner in the low E fig!res. 'or( Ho)rs Cons!ltants an e/pe t to work ,1-E1 ho!rs per week. 9f a pro%e t reA!ires tra"eling& it will typi ally in"ol"e tra"el 2-- days per week Stru'ture o* pro)e'ts! 6or ea h pro%e t a (anage(ent tea( onsisting of a partner& (anager and pro%e t lead is assigned. )he (anage(ent tea( works to on ept!ali0e the lient3s ase and str! t!reFfra(e the ase into (!ltiple pie es or (od!les. 4a h ons!ltant is gi"en an indi"id!al (od!le or on rete pie e of work. Often ti(es this (ight entail a A!iring different data ele(ents 8i.e. ond! ting (arket resear h& p!r hasing e/ternal data so!r es& et ; and briefing other ons!ltants with infor(ation obtained. )he ne/t step& on e the data is a A!ired& in"ol"es o(paring the findings to the hypothesis for(!lated by the (anager to reate a logi al story to present to the lient. The appli'ation and s'reening pro'ess! )he re r!it(ent pro ess at BCG is "ery syste(ati . 9nterested andidates sho!ld apply dire tly thro!gh BCG3s website at www.b g. o(. )he appli ation will onsist of a res!(e 8one page& resear h a ti"ities sho!ld be "ery s! in t and fo !s& not hea"y te hni al %argon;& trans ripts& test s ores and a personal state(ent. Candidates who pass this initial s reening will be in"ited to inter"iew at the #C offi e. )his first ro!nd of inter"iews will onsist of - ase inter"iews. Case inter"iews are essentially a t!al BCG ases that ha"e been slightly hanged or (olded down so that indi"id!als witho!t a b!siness ba kgro!nd an get their head aro!nd the a t!al task at hand. Candidates will be asked to work their way thro!gh these ases and BCG representati"es will be assessing the andidates ability to take a "ag!e reA!ire(ent and break it down into indi"id!al proble(s. Candidates witho!t a b!siness ba kgro!nd will not be at a disad"antage. Rather& $h# and '# le"el s ientists will ha"e an opport!nity to e(ploy their analyti al skills in ta kling these proble(s and showing the "ario!s relationships between different aspe ts of the proble(. 9f andidates pass this ro!nd of inter"iews& they will be in"ited to a de ision ro!nd of inter"iews at their preferen e site. Candidates hoose --. offi e lo ations that wo!ld like to work at. 5l(ost always& andidates are sele ted to their top preferen e. #!ring this ro!nd of inter"iews& andidates will (eet with (anagers and partners and be p!t thro!gh and additional ro!nd of ases. 9f they pass& the final inter"iew

will be an infor(al inter"iew with a partner. )ypi ally& this pro ess takes 2 (onths. )o best prepare for these inter"iews& pra ti e ase inter"iews. 5lso& Roger s!ggested ski((ing thro!gh 'B5 referen e (an!als s! h as G)he $ortable 'B5H& %!st to get a lay of the land for how the b!siness world works and so(e basi on epts. 5lso& pra ti e ase inter"iews. Yo! an find these free online.