Strategy& vs. Parthenon/LEK
Hi everyone - another post on choosing between firms!
Post-MBA here, deciding between Strategy& vs. Parthenon/LEK (offer is from one of the two - but see them as similar shops).
Strategy&
+ Mid-sized city I want to be in (family in the area and much more affordable cost of living)
+ Impressed by the partners I've met with
- uncertainty from merger that has been discussed in different threads
- incoming consultants placed in vertical (prefer generalist, but the vertical I'm placed in is an area I enjoy)
- More difficult to make relationships within firm given the majority of the partners focused on my vertical are not in the city I'll be placed in
- travel every week
Parthenon/LEK
+ limited travel
+ more pure strategy focused projects (which I prefer)
+ generalist
+ office I'll be in has a strong culture, and have enjoyed interacting with folks from within the office
- large city/office hub -- doesn't make sense for me to pay 2x the rent for a city I'd rather not be in (and further away from family)
As of now, don't see myself as a long-term consultant, so I'm pretty focused on understanding the type of post-consulting opportunities each will offer 2-3 years down the line. Would be great to get the forum's thoughts!
Thanks in advance!
From what I've heard, Strategy& isn't doing so great under the PwC integration. If you've heard different, feel free to correct me, but I would go with LEK. I would also separate Parthenon and LEK, I think the latter is better.
I would go first with LEK and then Parthenon. I would skip Strategy& altogether unless that's your only option. Integration into PwC is a mess and business is tanking.
Reviving this thread as I have had offers from both S& and LEK now in my counrtry (Western Europe)
How would people see LEK vs S& comparison in 2018 now?
For western Europe LEK is considered better but consider 50-60% of their work is CDD whilst S& work is a bit more varied.
There are pros and cons to each firm. I've got many friends at two of the three and mutual business relationships between the third. Some high level thoughts.
LEK and Parthenon - pure growth strategy firms, focused on markets/revenue optimization/etc. Both are near the top of the market for growth strategy/PE due diligence and have a strong client base. Low to no travel. Trade off is that projects are going to mostly be short (CDD's are 1-4 weeks) and brutal (low to no personal life on a project, potentially including some or all weekends on said projects).
A note on Parthenon - the hours here are by far the most brutal of the bunch. S& and LEK staff on one project at a time, Parthenon staffs routinely on two and I know of people triple staffed. 2-3 CDD's at a time is crazy.
Strategy& - broader types of projects if you're also interested in tech, operations, etc. Projects tend to be around the BU head/C Suite level, similar to MBB, with much more client exposure than the other two firms (CDD's have almost no client exposure, and S&'s CDD's are mostly run out of their Deals practice). More travel, can be a pro if you like the points, but on a bad project you can travel all week and still have shitty weekends. In terms of the integration, from what I've heard, some verticals definitely been hurt more than others. I'd ask people in your future vertical about how utilized people have been, what their typical project looks like now vs a few years ago, whether people are getting bonuses, etc.
I'd also ask about both what partners have left and which have joined any of the three practices for your relevant group (i.e. S& is your vertical, LEK and Parthenon your local office). You're looking for multiple senior partners leaving or joining. Junior partners are less important. I've heard of wins and losses for all three firms but it's specific to certain cities/groups so I'll let you do that research.
freshstudent
Short update, I've recently spoken to some friends at LEK. They're generally pretty happy there. In your shoes at this point, for me the decision would be between LEK for growth strategy, or Strategy& (who do longer growth strategy projects for F100 in addition to other traditional consulting projects) if you want the client experience. Very few projects at LEK go on site, and if you're on a CDD you probably won't speak to the client until you're reading out results. Growth strategy is very outward looking (a lot of market research, which is talking to execs of competitors and desktop research), which is why they don't interact with clients much. The upside there, that can't be understated if you can't bear the thought of being a road warrior, is that while you'll work later, you will sleep at home - makes keeping a relationship much easier. LEK would also probably give you better PE exposure; PE clients are smaller (not F500) but you'll gain a better understanding of the deal process. Not sure if either firm has an edge for PE recruiting, wasn't something I looked at when recruiting.
I just don't see the value of Parthenon if you have an equal competing offer; the work life balance is zero due to the staffing model, and they're going through a lot of the struggles S& did 2-3 years ago in terms of integration. I'm also not convinced that the work they do (high end CDD for PE) is a great mix for the rest of EY's business - they can support elsewhere on a deal, but Parthenon is a premium shop, while EY's integration/financial accounting/corporate accounting practice is far from market leading, Deloitte/PwC command higher bill rates there. There are also rumors that EY's initial plan was to develop them into a full strategy arm to support their current clients, but partners/staff have balked at spending months at a time at remote client sites, so they've struggled to make that happen. Would love to hear from folks at EY/Parthenon if they have a perspective on that front.
For shops like LEK/Parthenon, where there is little to no travel, how do the junior partners make the client connections to start bringing in business? From my experience, being on the client site helps foster that relationship with clients and those relationships can be leveraged to bring in more business. Also how do these junior partners make connections at PE firms to bring in CDD projects? Just wondering in general how local/no travel model works.
I was under the impression that double staffing is only on VDDs...?
What’s VDD?
You seem to know a lot about LEK/DD projects. Can you go into some more detail about how work/life balance works at the companies that do mostly PE DD? What happens right after a DD project files i.e. is there any lag/break before you start another DD?
Trying to figure out if the lifestyle makes sense. Thanks!
Here are the biggest differences between CDD projects/firms and other consulting practices.
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