Career Options for MBAs - Real World Advice From Industry Veterans on Investment Banking, Consulting, Global 500 Companies, Entrepreneurship and Choosing the Right Career (Bigwig Briefs) PDF
Preview Career Options for MBAs - Real World Advice From Industry Veterans on Investment Banking, Consulting, Global 500 Companies, Entrepreneurship and Choosing the Right Career (Bigwig Briefs)
About Aspatore Executive Business Intelligence www.Aspatore.com Aspatore publishes only the biggest names in the business world, including C-Level leaders (CEO, CTO, CFO, COO, CMO, Partner) from over half the world's 500 largest companies and other leading executives. Aspatore publishes a highly innovative line of business intelligence brands including Inside the Minds, Bigwig Briefs, Focusbook, ExecRecs, Brainstormers, What Ifs, IdeaJournal, CareerJournal, Business Travel Bible and Aspatore Business Reviews, in addition to other best selling business books, journals and briefs. By focusing on publishing only the biggest name executives, Aspatore provides readers with proven business intelligence from industry insiders, rather than relying on the knowledge of unknown authors and analysts. Aspatore focuses on publishing traditional print books with individuals, while our portfolio companies, Corporate Publishing Group (B2B publisher) and ExecEnablers (retail business intelligence stores) focus on developing areas within the business and book publishing worlds. Aspatore is committed to providing our readers, authors, bookstores, distributors and customers with the highest quality books, journals, briefs and publishing execution available anywhere in the world. The Bigwig Briefs Series Condensed Business Intelligence From Industry Insiders www.BigwigBriefs.com Bigwig Briefs features condensed business intelligence from industry insiders and are the best way for business professionals to stay on top of the most pressing issues. Bigwig Briefs features knowledge excerpts from the best selling business books published by Aspatore books, other leading business book publishers, and essays written by leading executives for inclusion in a particular brief. Bigwig Briefs is revolutionizing the business book market by providing the highest quality content in the most condensed format possible for business book readers worldwide. B I G W I G B R I E F S BIGWIG BRIEFS: CAREER OPTIONS FOR MBAS Real World Advice from Industry Veterans on Choosing the Right Career Published by Aspatore Books, Inc. For information on bulk orders, sponsorship opportunities or any other questions please email [email protected]. For corrections, company/title updates, comments or any other inquiries please email [email protected]. First Printing, 2002 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Copyright © 2001 by Aspatore Books, Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the United States Copyright Act, without prior written permission of the publisher. ISBN 1-58762-102-9 Library of Congress Card Number: 2001119820 Edited By Ginger Conlon Cover design by Rachel Kashon, Kara Yates Material in this book is for educational purposes only. This book is sold with the understanding that neither any of the interviewees or the publisher is engaged in rendering legal, accounting, investment, or any other professional service. This book is printed on acid free paper. The views expressed by the individuals in this book do not necessarily reflect the views shared by the companies they are employed by (or the companies mentioned in this book). The companies referenced may not be the same company that the individual works for since the publishing of this book. The views expressed by the endorsements on the cover of this book are from the book the original content appeared in and do not necessarily reflect the views shared by the companies they are employed by. BIGWIG BRIEFS: C O MBA AREER PTIONS FOR S C ONTENTS Frank Roney, IBM, General Manager, Worldwide Business Innovation Services The Consulting Path 7 Randolph C. Blazer, KPMG Consulting, Inc., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer The Art of Consulting 11 · Dr. Chuck Lucier, Booz Allen & Hamilton, Chief Growth Officer, Senior Vice President Should You Become a Consultant? 18 Heidi Roizen, SOFTBANK Venture Capital, Partner The Best Reasons to Become a Venture Capitalist 32 Sam Colella, Versant Ventures, Managing Director Winning the Venture Capital Game 34 David Cone, Camstar, Founder and Chief Executive Officer Are You an Entrepreneur? 49 Oliver D. Cromwell, Bentley Associates L.P., Senior Managing Director The Art of Investment Banking 68 Jimmy Dunne, III, Sandler O’Neill & Partners, L.P. The Elements of a Good Investment Banker 70 Eduardo G. Mestre, Salomon Smith Barney, Vice Chairman, Chairman Investment Banking Division Successful Investment Banking 74 BIGWIG BRIEFS: CAREER OPTIONS FOR MBAS CAREER OPTIONS FOR MBAS 7 Frank Roney, IBM, General Manager, Worldwide Business Innovation Services The Consulting Path I’ve been in professional services for 24 years. It’s an intoxicating profession. IBM’s consultants live at the intersection of business strategy and technology execution, and it’s constantly changing in both areas. There’s never a boring day, a boring assignment, or a boring engagement. Our customers’ business designs are evolving as new applications of technologies emerge. At the core, the consulting industry is all about creating value for our customers, and ultimately for their customers. But it’s also about hard work and staying on the leading edge of change while being practical about what can and cannot be done. Today, creating value has everything to do with the transformation to e-business. In the early 1990s, as technology became a key enabler for business strategy, we saw a real acceleration of consulting around technology. It was driven by ERP systems and by the opportunity to reengineer businesses, to take out costs and become more productive and efficient. That increased throughout the 1990s, particularly around the Y2K technology changeover. With the initial emergence of the Internet and the first wave of e-business, we saw an insatiable demand for leading consulting talent – talent that could develop strategies, 8 BIGWIG BRIEFS create new business models, and implement technologies that drive a company’s growth, increase their competitive advantage, save money, or all of the above. Then, in the past two years, we saw a surge around some very big ideas propelled by the business designs of the dot- coms. As we now know, it was short lived. The dot-coms learned the hard lesson that ideas and innovation without tangible business results isn’t going to cut it. The best consultants know how to deliver on the promise of big ideas. You have to execute. You have to marry innovation with maximizing shareholder value. The second wave of e- business is all about the hard work of both business innovation and technology integration. The Art of Consulting I think the art of consulting starts with the ability to understand our customers in the context of their business in their industry. I think of every customer’s enterprise as a puzzle. Our job is to both listen to the customer and to be very thoughtful. We need to decompose what we hear, assess the parts, and then reassemble them using our insight and our knowledge to help them develop their business strategy. The art is really about both good listening and having a point of view on what to do and how to do it. However, consulting must be about both ideas and execution. Because of the demand for time-to-market, consultants who can get customers into the market with fresh ideas and workable strategies faster than the competition will lead in the marketplace. CAREER OPTIONS FOR MBAS 9 The Need for Consultants Consultants work with clients for many different reasons. Most of our customers are looking for innovation, fresh insight into their business strategies, and ways to leverage technology. They know the hot topics, and they know a number of different directions they could take, but they’re looking for specific industry thought leadership and a point of view. Wireless is a great example. They understand wireless, but they come to us to help them think through the right alternatives that will drive business results. In this sense, customers come to a consultant because they are looking for both insight and capability – whether it’s for business strategy, managing change, or implementing technologies. The ideal customer/consultant relationship is when the change agent becomes the trusted business advisor. This requires having the customer’s best interests in mind at all times. Sometimes that means saying no to the customer. Sometimes that means changing the direction of critical customer projects. Objectivity is crucial. Consultants operate best when they are held accountable for delivering on their ideas. Increasingly, our customers are saying they want not only the ideas but also the execution. Often our best customer relationships have a healthy dose of creative tension, where ideas are challenged and accountability is held paramount. We think that’s about right.
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