Are real consulting projects like case studies?

Is consulting like case studies?

• Yes and no, basically kinda depends on the type of consulting you're talking about
• Closest projects to a case study I can think of are CDDs (commercial due diligences) for PE funds, because they are so fast paced (usually 3-4 weeks, max.):
  • You clarify the initial prompt / investment thesis
  • You set out your key buckets / areas to dive in, in order of importance
  • You explore each one in succession with a clear hypothesis about what the answer is (e.g., Will the market grow at +15% p.a. in the next 5 years? Is the target's competitive positioning sufficiently differentiated and defensible?)
  • You come up with the kind of data points you will need to prove / disprove each in turn and go explore
  • You size the market (and do whatever calcs you need)
  • You eventually come up with a clear recommendation: buy / don't buy
• For other cases, say pure Strategy cases or Restructuring, although every firm has some basic framework (e.g., Where to play? How to win?), this becomes more complex because the "true" final answer may be emergent from what you find rather than more easily testable like in a CDD
• Even then, it is key to have a clear hypothesis each and everytime that you can quickly test out in order to progress at speed and avoid wasting time, hence being hypothesis-led / answer-driven (or however you want to call it) is crucial

Why spend $M on consultants?

• There are several reasons, that range from pratical considerations to political ones
  • CDDs are typically done by consulting firms because (a) we are able to focus on the commercial dimension better than PE associates, because that is our whole job, and (b) while PE associates could definitely learn to be just as astute in their commercial assessment as in their financial one, but they just don't have the time to do it. They already work 60-70h a week (if not more), so if they want an answer in 3-4 weeks on top of their other work, they'd have to work 120-140h a week, which would just not be feasible (or you could hire more people, but now you're likely going to have to pay them less)
  • Big Strategy projects can come about because a new CEO is coming, the company is relatively young (say a spin off from a larger Co) or the senior execs may simply be too out of touch with broader market realities (e.g., luxury retail sector and digital capabilities / shifting consumer preferences and behaviours)
  • Big reorg projects can come about because of a post-merger integration and they need someone without vested interest within the company to help them come up with recommendations or it could be that the organisation has gone through too many internal iterations because of changes in leadership and meddling stakeholders/shareholders and now they need someone to help them start from scratch
  • For all other types of projects (and even some of the above) it could also be because:
    • the client company needs very specialised knowledge / capabilities they do not have and have no reason to have internally (e.g., IT or economic consulting)
    • the client company simply does not have the resources in terms of FTE to do what they need, either because of not enough people, no dedicated function exists, or the people just don't have the experience / capabilities and they only need this done once (so they don't want to hire FT employees for several years on costly long-term contracts)
    • the client company is tyring to do something they've never done before, like a massive acquisition for the first time (e.g., a $B co that's 10 years old looking to buy a rival) or enter a brand new market they do not know at all (e.g., NA TelCo going in EMEA)
    • the client company could also hire a consulting firm in order to appear to be doing something because they are under pressure from shareholders or from the board or other stakeholders
    • the client company could hire a consulting firm to have a "scapegoat" just in case it doesn't go well, say if they know they need to do massive layoffs to cut costs fast but don't want to admit to it publicly (and/or aren't interested in other measures). They might hire consultants for a cost cutting project and try to steer them very heavily toward cutting FTEs, so the execs can protect themselves when the news breaks

Obviously the last two are projects you really want to avoid as a consulting firm, because that not only is bad press but it's also just a s***** gig where no one will be happy (partners will feel used, the team will feel like they're just puppets, everyone is frustrated)

Also, sometimes, a new problem in one industry (say healthcare) could be an old problem in another (say retail), and unless the execs at the Healthcare Co happen to know this (and why would they if they've been in HC for 30+ years?), consultants are the way to go, because of the vast array of experiences from the partners and the amount of past projects done