272 Handbook of research on strategy process
Bad Economy
Nationalism More Competition
Impact: Less positions for international students Implications: Seek more global placements
Impact: Potential to lose top candidates Implications: More innovation and marketing
Impact: Decrease in recruiting Implications: Diversify firms
Figure 12.3 External Analysis Consulting Program at UNC KFBS
cannot be of equal importance. The rule of thumb I teach is to require the identification of the top three of any type of list. In this case, I am required, therefore, to identify the most important threats from an external perspec- tive, as shown and discussed in Figure 12.3. By far the most important macro issue is the overall economic decline . The impact of this issue is that the demand for consulting positions has decreased (in some cases up to a 40 percent decline) from the six primary firms which hire the majority of our students into consulting (Bain, Booz Allen, Boston Consulting Group, Deloitte, McKinsey and ScottMadden). The implication for strategy is that we will have to dramatically shift our target market to include many more firms, including small to medium sized firms with whom we have historically had little or no contact. The next important macro issue is a political issue and social move- ment toward more nationalism . In this context, companies in the United States are increasingly scrutinized for the hiring of international students for positions in the US. Historically, consulting was one of the few industries where hiring international students on H1 Visas was a bit more common. The impact of this is a drop in the number of openings for international students, which was a major draw for a number of these students to come to a US business school in the first place. The implica- tion of this issue from a strategy perspective is the need to seek relation- ships and placements in other countries. It also requires an increased effort in education to match the students’ expectations with the reality of the changes. The final macro issue comes from a competitive perspective . An increas- ing number of business schools are bringing in ex-consultants to assist in creating consulting programs and the schools have also become much more adept at utilizing alumni in consulting firms to prepare students for the interviews. The implication is that to effectively compete against some programs with even more relationships than we have, we will need to devise more innovative and outstanding activities than ever before. And speaking of activities . . . I almost forgot to share the key activities I undertook during this phase of the strategy journey. On an ongoing basis, I
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