The
Consulting Continuum 2011 saw a wide array of speakers speaking on the topic
“Changing times, Evolving minds” – the theme of this year’s continuum. The
session drew participation from a lot of speakers belonging to consulting
companies dealing with management consulting, technology consulting, financial
services consulting, energy sector consulting and so on.. The consulting
continuum provided a unique platform for the students of SJMSOM to interact
with the industry stalwarts and get acquainted with the current best practices
and areas of concern in the field of consulting in India.
The Consulting Continuum 2011 was inaugurated by Dr.
Anand Patwardhan, Professor, IIT Bombay. Speaking on the topic, he
mentioned that nothing is more permanent in this world as change. He instigated
the young minds to ponder if the human minds are really evolving. He said that
every generation is learning from scratch and ways should be found to transmit
the learning of one generation to another.
The
first speaker of the day, Mr. Sabyasachi Chaudhury – India Head, consulting, Capgemini said that we are living in
a generation of opportunity where India is seeing a high growth phase coupled
with technology and regulatory inflection points. He also told that the value
model for any company should pertain to access, experience, price, product and
service. In addition, he shared with the audience the customer relevancy model
and its implications.
Ms. Rachna Nath,
Partner, Executive Director, consulting, PricewaterhouseCoopers had an
interactive session with the audience where she suggested the five step model
for effective consulting – adding value to the client, communicating it with
impact, innovating continuously, disruptive thinking and building a
relationship based on trust with the client.
Mr. Ganesh Ramachandran,
General Manager, Wipro Consulting, enlightened the audience on the 21st
century virtual corporation. He insisted that agility is very important for a
new organization and that the consulting industry has shifted from a fairly
matched demand –supply scenario to an uneven one and that this calls for staying
dynamic and flexible.
The
fourth speaker of the day, Mr. Prakash
Jayaram , Senior Principal, Infosys Consulting spoke about the services
offered by Infosys consulting. He stressed the importance of building a
competitive advantage and increasing the shareholder value to create a
successful organizational empire. He cautioned the students that they should be
flexible to unlearn and relearn to suit the changing environment, but at the
same time, to unlearn selectively.
The
post-lunch session of the continuum saw an engaging and interactive session by Mr. Akshat Rathee, MD, NODWIN group. He
opined that when a country seems to have a host of problems such as corruption,
poverty, lack of infrastructure, it provides a plethora of opportunities for
the entrepreneurial minds. He made the young minds understand the nuances of
consulting by engaging the audience in virtually creating a start-up on the
spot.

Mr. Rajeev Kakkad, Associate
Director –Protiviti Consulting gave insights to the students of SJMSOM on the niche
sector of energy consulting. He shared with the students the existing policies,
the power generation and transmission opportunities and felt that the key
challenges are posed at the stage of project execution, equipment shortage,
land acquisitions and environmental clearances.
Mr. Satish S. Nair,
Partner and Associate Director, MITKAT advisory services, advised that the
following three points to be kept in mind for effective consulting – Changing
landscape of consulting business which makes it mandatory for the consultant to
reach out to the client, moving towards value based fees rather than a “running meter”
and the need for domain knowledge instead of a ready-made frame-work based
solutions.
The Consulting Continuum 2011 was a grand success with the student community gaining a lot of knowledge and insights into the current trends in the industry.