The BCG study Essay Example for Free

The BCG study Essay The Boston consulting group is a global management consulting firm serves as an advisor to clients in the private, public, and non-for-profit sectors across the world. Now, the Boston consulting group is private company with more than 75 offices in 43 countries and recorded revenues $3700 million in 2012. The headquarter of the Boston consulting group is in Boston and employed 6200 consultants. The company was founded by Bruce D. Henderson in 1963 as a division of the Boston sage deposit and trust company. In 1975, Handerson arranged an employee stock ownership plan and the buyout or all shares was completed in 1979. Serving as a management consulting firm, Boston consulting group acts as an adviser to many businesses, governments, and institutions. The recent clients of the Boston consulting group include Google, IBM, American Airlines, Ford Motor Company, Tata Group, Havard School of Public Health, Russian Ministry of Energy, Government of Canada and so on. As a world’s leading advisor on business stratedy, the Boston consulting group focus on cooperate clients to identify their highest-value opportunities, address their most critical challenges, and transform their enterprises. The SWOT analysis of Boston consulting group: Strangths Weaknesses Well accepted in the industry of consulting. Expertise covers a wide range of insustries. Lagging behind in the technology area. Comperetively low scale on the area of oprations. Opportunities Threats Strengths: Well respected and globally accepted brand in the strategy consulting domainBCG, over the years has cultivated and built up a reputation for itself and a corporate brand which has become almost synonymous to strategy consulting. In the process, BCG has pioneered some path breaking ideas and concepts in the strategy consulting domain that provided innovative frameworks and solutions to address the needs and problems of business  community. The companys focus on conceptual, strategic thinking has yielded many concepts that went on to become classics of strategy, and resulted into many academic constructs, tools and methodologies. It pioneered the growth share matrix/BCG Matrix model which was one of the famous concepts in resource allocation strategy and was the basis for origin of further models.The company also formulated many concepts, including the experience curve, time-based competition, sustainable growth, and total shareholder value, which many organizations have leveraged to improve their competitive positions. Most of BCGs models are regarded as benchmarks in strategic management and business consulting areas. The strong acceptance of BCG as a strategy consulting brand differentiates it from many of its peers and equips the company with competitive traction. Expertise developed across multiple industry sectors strengthens its business reach The company has gradually developed broad expertise in offering services for various industries, including automotive, biopharmaceuticals, consumer products, energy and environment, engineered products and infrastructure, financial institutions, insurance, media and entertainment, medical devices and technology, health care payers and providers, metals and mining, private equity, process industries, public sector, retail, technology and software, telecommunications, industries, transportation travel and tourism, and social impact. The company works with humanitarian organizations on a range of areas, including poverty and hunger, global health, education, community and economic development, arts and culture, philanthropy, and corporate social responsibility. The expertise developed across multiple sectors, industries and areas enables the company to keep its business sustenance at high levels. Weaknesses: Lagging technology enabled offerings with a poor presence in technology consulting BCG, on a relative basis to its competitors lagged in integrating and utilizing technology in its various offerings and also has a relatively weak technology consulting practice. Technology consulting is one of the high potential areas for consulting companies to take advantage of the growth potential it offers in long term. In recent years, technology companies, such as Capgemini and Infosys, added business and strategy consulting capabilities to their portfolio to pursue cross-selling  opportunities for consulting services for their existing clients. Further, consulting companies, such as Accenture and Deloitte Touche, developed technology capabilities pursuing growth opportunities. As a result various companies, such as Accenture, Capgemini, Booz Allen Hamilton, IBM and Infosys, have achieved strong presence in technology consulting. However, BCG has not been a significant player in the technology consulting area. Also, most of its competitors developed strong research andanalytics platforms to support their various consulting practices by creating large outsourcing capabilities in strategic locations. The companys poor presence in high growth practice areas, such as technology adversely impacts its growth prospects and cross-selling opportunities. Lower scale of operations limits its competitive ability The companys scale of operations is comparatively lower than its competitors. Many of its competitors, such as McKinsey Company, Accenture, Deloitte and Booz Allen Hamilton, have substantially greater financial and other resources than the company. For instance, the company’s competitor, Booz Allen Hamilton reported revenues of $5,859.2 million during the financial year ended March 2012 (FY2012). Also, the company’s another competitor, Accenture reported revenues of $27,862.3 million during the financial year ended August 2012 (FY2012). Comparatively, BCG recorded revenues of $3,700 million in FY2012. Large scale enables these competitors to leverage on their facilities and resources to achieve operating efficiency. The company stands to lose out often in bidding for larger projects and assignments due to its lower scale which also impacts its operating efficiency significantly. Opportunities: Management consulting market potential in emerging markets The emerging markets are expected to record strong growth in coming years driven by their contribution to global commerce. Despite the global economic slowdown and recession in developed countries, the emerging markets continued to maintain growth. In coming years, the emerging markets are forecasted to increase their contribution to global commerce and consumption. This can be perceived by the growth prospects for emerging markets. For instance, the emerging and developing economies real GDP growth is forecast to reach about 5.5% and 5.9% in 2013 and 2014, respectively, compared to a growth of 2.1% in 2009. The growth is being driven by China, India, and other emerging Asian  economies. Positive outlook for emerging markets provide growth opportunities for various businesses. Moreover, in recent years, most of the companies in emerging markets continue to pursue global practices in their operations. Positive outlook for emerging markets provide growth opportunities for various businesses. Moreover, in recent years, most of the companies in these markets continue to pursue global practices in their operations. BCG being one of the major players in the business consulting market is in a position to capitalize on growth opportunities in providing services for companies in emerging and developing markets. Positive outlook for non-IT end markets drives demand for consulting servicesSome of the companys non-IT end markets returned to growth trajectories in 2011. Markets including the healthcare, oil and gas, and pharmaceutical markets are forecast to show a steady growth. For instance, the US healthcare sector is providing positive growth opportunities for the company. According to the industry estimates, the total US healthcare expenditures were $2.7 trillion in 2011, and are expected to reach $3.5 trillion by 2016. The US healthcare expenditures are projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of about 4.6% during 2007-11. Healthcare spending in the US is expected to reach 20% of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2021. The global oil, gas and consumable fuels market is forecast to reach a value of $10.9 trillion in 2014, growth at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of about 13.5% during 2009–14. In addition, the US government initiatives are catalyzing the growth of new energy projects. Further, the pharmaceutical industry is one of the fastest growing industries in the world. According to MarketLine, the global pharmaceuticals market grew by 3.5% in 2011 to record a value of $782.1 billion and it is forecast to reach $971.1 billion in 2016, an increase of 24.2% since 2011. BCG conducts research and analysis across a range of industries, including biopharmaceuticals,benergy and environment, and health care payers and providers, among others. Positive growth in such end markets will result in the origin of new projects, thereby creating the demand for the companys consulting services. Threats: Intense competition BCG operates in a highly competitive consultancy business and requires product and solution innovation on a regular basis to create and maintain competitive edge.The company faces competition from other large  players in the consultancy market such as McKinsey, Accenture, Deloitte Consulting, Booz Allen, and Ernst Young International. BCG also faces competition from companies that originated in the strategic consulting environment such as Bain, firms with core competence in IT solutions such as IBM, Capgemini, Hewlett Packard, and Infosys entered and extended their presence in the consulting industry, bringing a new breed of innovations and solution design, allowing other smaller IT companies to do the same. This trend may put pressure on the margins of mainstream consultancy firms such as BCG. Intense competition in the marketplace may negatively impact BCGs growth in market share and margins. Continued and prolonged weakness in global economic outlook In recent years, the global economy has undergone significant turmoil amid stock market volatility, difficulties in the financial services sector, tightening of the credit markets, softness in the housing markets, concerns of inflation and deflation, reduced corporate profits and capital spending, reduced consumer spending and various other economic difficulties. According to industry estimates, the global economy is expected to remain weak and uncertain in 2013. The downturn in the euro zone is forecasted to continue till the end of 2013. The recent macroeconomic data, state-level regional data, and the increased volatility in the financial markets in the US shows significant downside risksto the economic growth in the near term. In addition, factors such as weak household balance sheetsand confidence, relatively tight financial conditions, and continued fiscal consolidation are expected to halt the growth. According to the IMF, the US economic growth is expected to fall from 2.2% in 2012 to 1.9% in 2013.Weak economic outlook could affect business prospects of the company. The company derives most of its business in strategy consulting and substantial part from government and quasi-government agencies. The government bodies in developed world have deferred their various expenditures to curtail growing fiscal deficit. Similarly, large organizations in these countries have planned to go slow on their domestic growth strategies. The company may find it difficult towin new consulting business from these regions.