University Consulting Group Case

1 ABSTRACT

"MBA programs use both the lecture and case methods of instruction to help prepare students for careers in management, most successful business executives acknowledge that some lessons can only be learned in the school of hard knocks (Betzig, 1985)." With this in mind, many students from many business universities across the world have sought to get that knocks as soon as possible by forming University Consulting Groups (UCG). They provide low-cost or free consulting services to a variety of businesses. In addition to providing a vehicle through which students from UCG can gain experience, they benefit the community by assisting entrepreneurs in developing new ideas, and by helping existing businesses improve their operations. Even some UCG run by itself, some other groups get helped from real consulting firms which step in as a collaborative partner to provide support and to share experiences with the student consultants.

2 UNIVERSITY CONSULTING GROUP (UCG)

UCGs are student-run non-profit strategy consultancy organizations. They normally are formed by a group of undergraduate and graduate students who are talented and passionate groups of people from business schools. Their clients all had one thing in common - they could not afford classical strategic management consulting. The clients have been non-profit organizations, start-ups, profit-driven companies that could not afford other consulting services. Therefore, UCGs merely charge their clients a low-cost, symbolic service fee, or free-of-charge. These non-traditional consulting clients are in large need of a strategic perspective and therefore pose interesting opportunities to gain new experiences and make a significant impact.

Members of UCGs are young, talented, enterprising students willing to work parallel to the studies with a steep learning curve as salary. UCGs are in many business universities. Some groups are smaller, others are bigger. One of the biggest UCG is Harvard College Consulting Group (HCCG) which was founded in 2000 by a couple of undergraduate students, it has since grown to become one of the largest students groups on campus. The organization's great success is rooted in its unique approach to member involvement. Each semester, HCCG selects the most qualified undergraduate students from a competitive pool of applicants to form case teams. Each of which provides consulting services for businesses and non-profit organizations at Harvard and beyond. By combining analysts with diverse experiences and perspectives with the strong leadership skills of its case team leaders, the group ensures that each of its clients receives the very best that Harvard has to offer.

As mentioned above, UCGs' clients are mostly non-profit, start-ups organization, or profit-driven companies that could not afford regular consulting service. Many UCGs offer the service free or with really small charge. De Kleine Consultant, an UCG at Amsterdam University, charges its clients a symbolic rate of one Euro per hour. Others may charge more based on their reputation or experience, such as Cal State Fullerton, which asks as much as $3,000 average for a project (Zwahlen, 2009). Some projects are narrow - a marketing plan for a single product, for example. Others can be much broader, depending on what the company needs and the group's resources.

3 UCG & SMALL BUSINESSES

"Student consultants -typically business school undergraduate or graduate students - are an overlooked resource for small businesses, especially those looking for an edge during a lingering recession (Zwahlen, 2009). "

There is a great demand for consulting in wide range of areas including writing business plan, organizing manufacturing systems, and conducting market research. Although many companies are in need of these services, most firms are unable to afford the going rate of $100 per hour and up. UCG rate, because it has virtually no overhead and because its members are primarily interested in enhancing their education. However, not every small business is good match for a student consulting project. It depends on what fields which the students from UCG feel that they can handle, supports from schools' resources. Although some UCG are willing to work on start-ups or to help bring a company back from near death, most are looking for a firm with enough substance to give students something to work with.

Here are some examples on how appropriate a company can use UCG as a resource for their business .California Poly San Luis Obispo, with the fourth-largest agriculture college in the country tailors its programs to local agribusinesses such as wineries and food suppliers. California Poly dairy science students consulted with Pinkberry on quality control when the frozen yogurt chain was smaller. Students from California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology, based at the San Diego and Irvine campuses of the University of California, are working on nanotechnology, life science, information technology and telecommunications industry projects at Calit2, a start-up telecommunication company (Zwahlen, 2009).

Students from UCG may be considered as future recruitments for those small businesses. Normally, UCG projects are overseen by a faculty member. However, sometimes a successful outside business owner serves as a team mentor. They will spend much time with the students who are consulting for the project. Therefore, there is a good chance that these students will be employed when they graduate since they are people who understand the project and company culture after spending times inside the organization. They are also really smart, talented, and ambitious people with young,

...