The organizations providing consulting services have exposure to varying combinations of business circumstances and industries that allow for the accumulation of valuable knowledge and business experience. It is precisely this exposure that helps them develop new frameworks, tools and techniques to provide professional support to client organisations in analysing and solving practical business problems. A recent report published by Statista projects the industry revenue of German “business and other management consultancy activities” close to 50 billion dollars by 2024. Having said that, it is easy to understand why many of our young and motivated graduates from business and tech fields look forward to starting their career as consultants.

The Pforzheim MBA wants to leave no stone unturned to prepare its students for this role and therefore offers 2 electives in the third semester that focus on building competence through practical casework carried out in ‘high pressure’ environment. Similar to what a consultant might have to work in on a usual workday.

In the first leg of the Consulting II course, Patrick Steinmann and Jessica Dihlmann from Avantalion Consulting Group conducted a two-day workshop style lecture on Business Process Documentation and Management. Day 1 consisted of introducing the students to the theoretical foundations of BPM and later, familiarising them with the BIC Design tool, a popular software used by consultants to model business processes. The inclusion of plenty of small exercises throughout the session ensured that the students grasped the software quickly. On day 2, the students were divided into groups of two and made to model a business process of their choice. New employee onboarding, smart warehouse picking, software quality testing and preventive maintenance of chemical pumps are some examples of the processes modelled by our students. After incorporating the feedback received from the instructors, students were also given an opportunity to present and explain their models to the class and as always, face challenging questions. Overall, this intensive two-day session was a great learning experience.

The second leg of the Consulting II course will take place on the university campus on December 4. The session would be built around an international business development case study. And we are sure that our students are eagerly awaiting its kick-off!

text: Shvetang Pai Angle, Class of 2021
screenshots: Shvetang Pai Angle, Class of 2021