LEK vs ZS vs IMS
Hey guys, I was hoping to get a sense of these three firms, specifically 1) What is each company's core competencies (salesforce/portfolio optimization etc) 2) Prestige (healthcare only) and exit ops within each firm
Thanks! Cheers.
I personally see IMS as the strongest and most prestigious, at least in Europe. Strong ties with Big Pharma. Should be easy to exit to a managerial position in virtually any department.
I'd agree with the above on IMS being the strongest in the Healthcare space. Would you be in LEK Life Sciences or just a regular employee? LEK is probably the best company if you want to keep your options open but if you are set on health care then I would go with IMS.
FWIW I've heard ZS Associates to be the gold standard of healthcare, particularly in sales/marketing in biopharma companies in the United States
Curious why you mention just those three firms - offers on the table?
IMS highest name recognition, but that's much more a byproduct of IMS data, which is how the rep was built. A limited reputation in strategy - more established in P&MA, but overall not a strong strategy shop. Will get you a market research / industry analytics job afterwards, potentially forecasting, with a focus on quant research and/or price point analysis.
ZS (agree with Niubi) best in class for sales force / marketing strategy, very weak elsewhere. Also, to be clear, it's much more a mix of resource deployment and basic messaging - they are not an Agency, they do not build a marketing campaign. Will get you a job in sales force management, potentially in commercial but that's harder.
LEK probably best in strategy (of the three...there are better firms that you didn't mention, IMHO) - portfolio optimization and new product planning. The big issue here is, it will be very difficult to move from "Life Sciences Specialist" to anything else. You'll have generalist undergrads helping you out (aka useless on content), and you'll have MBAs managing you and handling the client for you. Lots of stories that there is an invisible ceiling, and that it's very hard to move to EM. You'll get a job in portfolio management / new product planning / brand management - more interesting work, but it will take a longer time to hit that manager bar when you move. You may get a role in BD, but those are hard to come by without more autonomy. The frustrations of being a back room employee.
Happy to chime in about other firms - I spend a fair amount of time doing CI in the space, so ask away and I will answer as time permits.
Thanks for replying!
I'm curious how you would rank the top healthcare consulting firms. Additionally, who are the better firms in strategy?
Been in this space a while and agree with most of A5's points.
ZS is a leader in sales, they also do a lot of market research. Marketing and "strategy" is weaker but they are investing to try and improve these areas. They are also trying to diversity outside of life sciences and med device. Probably has the most "prestige" on the commercial side.
LEK - will have the most brand recognition on the BD/R&D side with some play in commercial. Not sure they are the best in "strategy" because I view them more of a business development/opportunity assessment/portfolio optimization (to A5's points) but less commercial (other firms stronger here) or corporate strategy (MBB-esque stronger here). The Specialist role is typically reserved for PhDs who are transitioning into consulting and is basically a higher-paid Analyst with an accelerated track to Consultant if they transition well.
At the MBA level:
ZS has a great culture and is strong in healthcare (Actually has the highest intern happiness rating on our intranet). LEK is more prestigious, but is focused on other things (PE DD) and is known as a bit of a sweat shop. IMS isn't really viewed as a strategy firm here, and haven't seen any interest in it.
agree strongly with both Niubi and A5 here...IMS doesn't hold a candle to the other two, honestly, and the caliber of the alumni I've seen proves that
I'm curious as to how a place like LEK/ZS would stack up vs. the healthcare practice of a MBB?
Anyone have similar insights on how places like ClearView Healthcare Partners, Leerink Swann & Co, or Campbell Alliance stack up in the life-sci consulting ecosystem with respect to prestige and exit opps?
I can chime in more!
Leerink and Campbell are both in unique situations, as they've both been acquired by bigger shops in the past few years - Leerink's consulting arm went to Navigant, whereas Campbell went to InVentiv. Leerink transition is still new, so hard to say, but what we've seen at Campbell, and what we typically see when a boutique gets bought by a bigger shop means a few things: - Weakened meritocracy (often in favor of more "established" hiring practices) - A brain drain of your top people - Commoditization of the product (Often a result of the drain, as they lose the ability to sell) Just look at Campbell's Glassdoor reviews in the post-merger aftermath - it's brutal stuff. They're aggressively trying to hire people in at the senior (VP) level, which kind of tells you everything.
ClearView is the one that always jumps out to me as the most intriguing - they're relatively new to the block, but have apparently been doing incredibly well. If you look on the Vault, their rankings are really world-class - I know of a few people who have opted to join them over MBB offers (we were also in play, but sadly lost). I've seen their deliverables, and they're typically taking on big projects - at least, the one I saw was a 15-year portfolio and innovation strategy effort for a biotech client (we did a targeted follow-on around one of their 10 recommendations). They're one of the firms that jumps to mind when I think best-in-class on strategy. The concern I would have is, they seem to work broadly across the space - whereas IMS and ZS have their niches, ClearView seems to brand itself more broadly. Will be interesting to see if they can keep it up.
I think IMS is way too much data driven and probably you will end up doing some research and/or analytics kind of work, more than strategy itself.
In terms of prestige, probably is something like LEK>>ZS>>>>>>IMS
I'm trying to decide between ClearView and LEK LSS. I'm leaning toward ClearView exactly because of that glass ceiling, but then again if the typical consultant works 2 years before leaving, would this even matter? Do you think the work ClearView and LEK does is similar? How do they compare? I'd also imagine the exit opportunities for LEK LSS would be better because it's a larger and more established firm.
Hey eds285! That's a great position to be in. Congrats! Which LEK office did you interview at?
As far as picking between the two firms, LEK appears to have a wider scope of work for LSS (healthcare, medtech, pharma and biotech). I have a friend at ClearView, though and he mentioned that the firm has been doing so great that they're constantly expanding beyond biotech. They're apparently opening an office in NYC in the next year as well. Great place to be, especially with profit sharing. Also, I'm thinking the Associate position has a higher pay than LSS at LEK. As far as exit ops go, I know a couple of people who moved into VC firms after 1.5-2 years at LEK. Make of that what you will as it's a tiny sample. Most people from both firms probably head to industry at similar levels. All in all, I don't think you can go wrong picking either. Which firm did you feel more comfortable at?
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