1. A
COMPREHENSIVE PROJECT REPORT
ON
“Role of Consultancy in Bridging Gap between the Expectation of Management Students
and Industry”
Submitted to
Ahmedabad Institute of Technology
IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE
REQUIREMENT OF THE AWARD FOR THE DEGREE OF
MASTER OF BUSINESS ASMINISTRATION
In
Gujarat Technological University
MBA PROGRAMME
Affiliated to Gujarat Technological University
Ahmedabad
May, 2014
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2. Preface
“True learning is borne out of experience and observation”
Theoretical study gives us the conceptual clarity while practical study states about it
and how it can be performed in real life. Theoretical study does gives us the
knowledge about corporate world, but without the practical exposure one cannot be
total in the same field.
Learning and training are two crucial and ever-helping aspects in all phase. Training
is of sublime importance for managing performance. An army cannot go to war field
without adequate and proper training. Similarly, for survival in management you must
have practical insight balanced with theoretical background.
So practical Training and Research Work is included as a part of MBA’s curriculum in
which student has to undergo training in any company of his/her choice whereby
practical insights and exposure can be gained.
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3. Executive Summary
The consultancy plays different roles for their clients i.e the candidates and the
industry.
In recent years the gap among the students and the industry has increased. There
are many reasons for the increased gap between them. Among the reasons some
are lack of skills, abilities and the practical knowledge about their field. There are
some demerits form the side of the academic institutions. The institutions are
focusing over theoretical knowledge and less or even not at all on the practical
knowledge.
Those gaps are can be bridged by the consultancies playing a role between the
students and the institutions to bridge the gap. Many roles can be played by the
consultancies and can prepare some frame work of the model to overcome those
gaps.
This study will provide the suggestions and some important reasons how to lessen
the gap is important. And how consultancies and overcome such gaps.
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4. Table Of Content
SR.
NO.
PARTICULARS Pages No.
1 Introduction
History
Role of Consulting Agencies
Types of consultants
Trends
Advantage and Disadvantage
8
9
10
11
12
14
2 Human Resource Consulting 16
3 Big Five ( Major Players of Industry) 19
4 Indian Consultancy Industry Overview
Consultancy Firms in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.
21
23
5 Introduction of the Study
Literature Review
Problem Statement of the Study
Objectives of the Study
Limitations of the study
30
35
38
38
38
5 Research Methodology
Research Design
Data Collection Method
Source/s of Data
Population
Sampling Method
Sampling Frame
Date Collection Instrument
39
39
40
41
41
41
41
6 Data Analysis & Interpretation
Results & Findings
Suggestions
Conclusions
42
62
64
65
7 Bibliography
Annexure
67
68
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5. Introduction
Meaning of Consultant.
A consultant is a professional who provides professional or expert advice in a
particular area such as security, management, accountancy, law, human
resources, marketing ,finance, engineering, or any of many other specialized fields.
A consultant is usually an expert or a professional in a specific field and has a wide
knowledge of the subject matter. The role of consultant outside the medical sphere
can fall under one of two general categories:
• Internal consultant - someone who operates within an organization but is
available to be consulted on areas of specialism by other departments or
individuals; or
• External consultant - someone who is employed externally whose expertise is
provided on a temporary basis, usually for a fee. As such this type of consultant
generally engages with multiple and changing clients.
The overall impact of a consultant is that clients have access to deeper levels of
expertise than would be feasible for them to retain in-house, and may purchase only
as much service from the outside consultant as desired.
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6. History
Management consulting grew with the rise of management as a unique field of study.
The first management consulting firm was Arthur D. Little, founded in 1886 by the
MIT professor of the same name. Though Arthur D. Little later became a general
management consultancy, it originally specialized in technical research. Booz Allen
Hamilton was founded by Edwin G. Booz, a graduate of the Kellogg School of
Management in 1914 as a management consultancy and the first to serve both
industry and government clients. After World War II, a number of new management
consulting firms formed, most notably proud foot Consulting, founded in 1946 by
Alexander Proud foot, which implemented sustainable operational improvements
within its clients, and Boston Consulting Group, founded in 1963, which brought a
rigorous analytical approach to the study of management and strategy. Work done at
Booz Allen, McKinsey, BCG, and the Harvard Business School during the 1960s and
70s developed the tools and approaches that would define the new field of strategic
management, setting the groundwork for many consulting firms to follow. In 1983,
Harvard Business School's influence on the industry continued with the founding of
Monitor Group by six professors. One of the reasons why management consulting
grew first in the USA is because of deep cultural factors: it was accepted there,
(contrary to say, Europe), that management and boards alike might not be competent
in all circumstances; therefore, buying external competency was seen as a normal
way to solve a business problem. This is referred to as a "contractual" relation to
management. By contrast, in Europe, management is connected with emotional and
cultural dimensions, where the manager is bound to be competent at all times. This is
referred to as the "pater family as" pattern. Therefore seeking (and paying for)
external advice was seen as inappropriate. However, it is sometimes argued that in
those days the average level of education of the executives was significantly lower in
the USA than in Europe, where managers were Grandes Ecoles graduates (France)
or "Doktor" (Germany), though this is very difficult to quantify given the vastly differing
management structures in American and European businesses. It was only after
World War II, in the wake of the development of the international trade led by the
USA, that management consulting emerged in Europe. The current trend in the
market is a clear segmentation of management consulting firms. Another branch of
management consulting is Human Resource consulting. Such firms provide advice to
their clients regarding the financial and retirement security, health, productivity, and
employment relationships of their global workforce.
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7. Role of Consulting Agencies
In general, various approaches to consulting can be thought of as lying somewhere
along a continuum, with an 'expert' or prescriptive approach at one end, and a
facilitative approach at the other. In the expert approach, the consultant takes the
role of expert, and provides expert advice or assistance to the client, with, compared
to the facilitative approach, less input from, and less collaboration with, the client(s).
With a facilitative approach, the consultant focuses less on specific or technical
expert knowledge, and more on the Process of consultation itself. Because of this
focus on process, a facilitative approach is also often referred to as 'process
consulting,' with Edgar Schein being considered the most well-known practitioner.
The consulting firms listed above are closer toward the expert approach of this
continuum. Many consulting firms are organized in a matrix structure, where
one 'axis' describes a business function or type of consulting: for example, strategy,
operations, technology, executive leadership, process improvement, talent
management, sales, etc. The second axis is an industry focus: for example, oil and
gas, retail, automotive. Together, these form a matrix, with consultants occupying
one or more 'cells' in the matrix. For example, one consultant may specialize in
operations for the retail industry, and another may focus on process improvement
in the downstream oil and gas industry.
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8. Types of consultants
In the business, and as of recently the private sphere, the most commonly found
consultants are:
• Engineering consultants provide engineering-related services such as design,
supervision, execution, repair, operation, maintenance, technology, creation of
drawings and specifications, and make recommendations to public, companies,
firms and industries.
• Strategy consultants working on the development of and improvements to
organisational strategy alongside senior management in many industries.
• Human-resources (HR) consultants who provide expertise around employment
practice and people management.
• Internet consultants who are specialists in business use of the internet and keep
themselves up-to-date with new and changed capabilities offered by the web.
Ideally internet consultants also have practical experience and expertise in
management skills such as strategic planning, change, projects, processes,
training, team-working and customer satisfaction.
• Process consultants who are specialists in the design or improvement of
operational processes and can be specific to the industry or sector.
• Public-relations (PR) consultants dealing specifically with public
relations matters external to the client organisation and often engaged on a semi-
permanent basis by larger organisations to provide input and guidance.
• Performance consultants who focus on the execution of an initiative or overall
performance of their client.
• Immigration consultant who helps through legal procedure of immigration from
one country to other country.
• Information-technology (IT) consultants in many disciplines such as computer
hardware, software engineering, or networks.
• Marketing consultants who are generally called upon to advise around areas of
product development and related marketing matters.
• Interim managers as mentioned above may be independent consultants who act
as interim executives with decision-making power under corporate policies or
statutes. They may sit on specially constituted boards or committees.
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9. Trends
Consulting is a somewhat recurring industry. After a decade of sizzling growth and
enviable profits, the consulting business was forced to pull in its reins during 2001-
2003. The stock market bust of 2000-2001, particularly in the technology and
telecommunications sectors, caused this setback. Start-up companies that were once
lucrative consulting clients disappeared under crushing financial losses. Meanwhile,
a general economic slowdown in most of the developed world further hampered the
consulting industry. Consultancies posted significant growth from 2005 through
2007. However, 2008-2009 marked challenging period, in light of the global
economic slowdown and shrinking corporate budgets. Government budgets have
been under pressure as well, at the state and local level, where large deficits loom
and tax revenues are down. Corporations, large and small, have been slashing
spending, employment and capital investment in a sometimes desperate attempt to
pay down debt while cutting costs. This has been particularly hard on some
consulting sectors, since corporations and governmental agencies are prime clients
for consultancies.
E-Business Consulting - The Internet is changing the way companies do business-
and the kind of consulting they need. Many traditional consulting practices are in
danger of becoming less appropriate in the Internet Age. The consultants of
tomorrow will require different skills than the consultants of today. Many
consultancies have some sort of e-business push underway, whether it's a specific e-
biz practice, a special initiative, or just funnelling a ton of cash into figuring out all the
ways they can use the Internet to help their clients.
A slew of e-business boutique firms have arisen in recent years, including Razorfish,
Scient, USWeb/CKS, Viant and Agency.com. Look for these firms to increasingly butt
heads with the more traditional consulting firms for Internet-related and eventually,
perhaps, general-consulting projects.
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10. Consultancy Industry Overview.
 Global consulting industry revenues (including HR, IT, strategy, operations
management and business advisory services) will be about $415 billion in 2013,
according to Plunkett Research estimates.
 This represents reasonable growth from $391 billion in 2012.
 During 2010-12, for example, India’s leading consultancies enjoyed substantial growth
in employee count and revenues, as did most of the global consulting firms based in
the U.S. and European countries.
 A major development in IT consulting has been the extremely rapid growth of large
companies that are based in India but compete globally, such as Wipro, Infosys and
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS).
 Offshoring to India Drives Changes in Global Consulting.
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11. Advantage and Disadvantage of Consultant
Advantages
• provide unbiased, objective and independent advice
• provide specialist knowledge that is not otherwise available
• provide access to their own or partner's intellectual property
• have access to a wide and diverse network of knowledgeable people
• cost less than an employee under some circumstances and arrangements
• fill a short-term or part-time resource need where specialist knowledge, skills
and competency are required
• be expendable in cases where the assignment's risk of failure or termination is
high
Internal consultants can be:
• protected from other work and influences on their time
• used to cascade the specialist skills, competencies and knowledge introduced
by an external consultants
• develop a unique in-house strategy for change
• used to share specialist skills that were developed in house
• developed for managerial roles especially when culture change is being
nurtured
• used to retain specialist knowledge in house when the functional role has
ended
Disadvantages
The disadvantages of using a consultant usually become evident when the definition
and selection processes have failed. For an external consultant these can include:
• The consultant not being engaged in the business and primarily interested in
personal, financial or academic gains
• taking time to get to understand the organisation in depth
• High costs, especially for more specialist skills and unique competencies
• escalating costs if the organisation does not manage the expenditure
• Organisation knowledge gained and retained by the consultant
• An unethical or untrustworthy consultant
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12. • Intellectual property rights being shared with or owned by the consultant
• The consultant terminating the contract before the work is completed
In reality it is better to see these disadvantages as risks that should be evaluated and
mitigated during the establishment of a legally binding contract.
The disadvantages of using an internal consultant could include:
• The restriction to knowledge, competencies, skills and intellectual properties
that are owned by the company
• being embroiled in the politics and culture that the organisation wants to change
• cost of ownership can be higher than immediately apparent due to fringe
benefits, national insurance, paid holidays and sick leave, training and personal
development, facility and other organisational overheads
• Harder to terminate the arrangements
• Knowledge networks may be limited to those internal to or close to the
organisation
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13. Human Resource Consulting
Human resource consulting is an $18.4 billion industry that has emerged
from management consulting and addresses human resource management tasks
and decisions. HR Consultants are responsible for assisting clients with strategically
integrating effective HR processes, programs and practices into their daily
operations. Their role is also to maximize the client's performance related to human
resources by introducing or marketing "best practice" products or services as well as
to provide periodic feedback to clients regarding their performance related to annual
management objectives. To accomplish this, the HR Consultant may need to perform
needs assessments or audits and make recommendations or proposals, coordinate
the creation and implementation of an action or corrective plan, and when required,
organize and coordinate cross-functional Human Resource teams to assist the client
with developing and implementing performance improvement corrective plans,
programs or processes.
Overview
It include everything from designing an employee evaluation and compensation
system to conducting organizational effectiveness training to helping an organization
through a significant change event, such as a merger. HR consultants often work as
long and travel as much as their counterparts in general management consulting.
Representative firms include Accenture's Change Management Group, Buck
Consultants, Hay Group, Hewitt Associates, Mercer Human Resource Consulting,
Towers Perrin, and Watson Wyatt.
While outsourcing consulting was the bread and butter of many firms over the past
few years, that are all changing. The BLS expects consultants in business,
technology and health care to enjoy a whopping 60 percent growth rate between now
and 2014-more than four times the cross-industry average of 14 percent, and making
it the fifth-fastest growing employment segment. Increased profitability reported by
top firms bodes well for fuelling that growth. With a tight labour market, it's actually
cheaper and easier to hire specialized expertise in the short term than it is to try to
find an appropriate staffer to bring on-board.
The BLS says that the growing number of businesses means increased demand for
advice in all areas of business planning as consultants draft business plans and
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14. budgets, develop strategy, and determine appropriate salaries and benefits for
employees. Some of the key areas of growth include:
• Location and marketing planning for franchised restaurants and retail stores.
• Logistical consulting, mapping the most efficient links between suppliers and
customers.
• Human resources and workplace safety experts who can help companies
navigate increasing federal, state and local employment law, as well as how
companies can better attract and retain talented employees.
• IT consultants who can help companies take advantage of technology.
• Environmental compliance and "green" consultants who can help businesses
navigate stiffer environmental laws and regulations, while helping companies find
ways to be more sustainable, which is of increasing importance to customers.
Core fields of HR consultancies:
• Human Capital including remuneration (also called total rewards), employee
rewards and incentive programs, and talent acquisition and management
• Health & Benefits; i.e., orchestrating optimal employee health plans with the
carriers themselves
• Mergers & Acquisitions, examining fit across culture, job-type, and transaction
costs, etc.
• Communication, including surveying employee attitudes, satisfaction,
engagement, and other employee behaviours
• Retirement
• Recruitment process outsourcing
Well Known Companies in the Field:
HR consultancies vary in their ranges of services and sizes, with many consultants
and academicians breaking off to form their own practices. In 2007, there were 950
HR consultancies globally, constituting a USD $18.4 billion market.
Major HR Consultancy firms included:
• Aon plc
• Deloitte
• The Hay Group
• Hewitt Associates
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15. • Mercer
• PricewaterhouseCoopers
• The Segal Company
• Towers Perrin
• Watson Wyatt Worldwide
Aon and Hewitt Associates have since merged to form Aon Hewitt; Towers Perrin
and Watson Wyatt Worldwide have combined to form Towers Watson.
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16. Big Five
The Hay Group
Hay Group is an American global management consulting firm based in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, with 85 offices in 47 countries as of 2006, having 2,600 employees
Established in 1943, the firm was purchased in 1984 by Saatchi & Saatchi, but
returned to private ownership through a management buyout in 1990.
Hewitt Associates
Hewitt Associates was an American provider of human capital and management
consulting services. It operates 500 offices in 120 countries providing consulting,
outsourcing, and insurance brokerage services.
Hewitt was founded in 1940 and ceased to exist as an independent entity at the
completion of its purchase by the Aon Corporation in October 2010. Hewitt's
operations were merged at that time with some elements of Aon's consulting arm to
become a new subsidiary of the Aon Group called Aon Hewitt.
Mercer
Mercer is an American global human resource and related financial services
consulting firm, headquartered in New York City. Mercer is one of the largest
consulting firms in the world, operating internationally in more than 40 countries with
more than 19,000 employees. Mercer is a subsidiary of Marsh & McLennan
Companies.
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17. Towers Perrin
Towers Perrin was a professional services firm specialising in human resources and
financial services consulting, which merged in January 2010 with Watson Wyatt to
form Towers Watson. The firm was a provider of reinsurance intermediary services
and is active in the actuarial consulting arena with its Tillinghast insurance consulting
practice.
Watson Wyatt Worldwide
Watson Wyatt Worldwide, Inc. was a global consulting firm, which merged in January
2010 with Towers Perrin to form Towers Watson. The firm's services included
managing the cost and effectiveness of employee benefit programs; developing
attraction, retention and reward strategies; advising pension plan sponsors and other
institutions on optimal investment strategies; providing strategic and financial advice
to insurance and financial service companies; and delivering related technology,
outsourcing and data services. Its principal operating subsidiary, Watson Wyatt &
Company, is a human capital consulting firm with operations in the Americas, Europe
and Asia Pacific. Its corporate offices are in Arlington, Virginia.
As of January 2009 Watson Wyatt Worldwide had 7,700 employees in 106 offices
located in 32 countries around the world. On June 28, 2009 it was announced
Towers Perrin Forster & Crosby Inc and Watson Wyatt Worldwide agreed to merge
into a new publicly traded company called Towers Watson; the merger was
completed in January 2010.
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18. Indian Consultancy Industry Overview
India has been globally recognized for its fast paced development. The service sector
has been growing at a fast pace and now contributes more than 50% to the GDP.
Propelled by the increasing demand for consultancy services, both for domestic and
foreign firms, a study by Assocham pegs the consulting sector in India to grow at an
annual rate of 30 per cent, progressing rapidly towards becoming a Rs17,000-crore
industry by 2014. According to Assocham (The Associated Chambers of Commerce
and Industry of India) president Venugopal Dhoot, the US, the UK, Japan, China,
Saudi Arabia and Gulf nations acknowledge the competence of Indian consultancy
firms, with demand growing in the EU as well.
He cited the competitive edge of these firms over their counterparts in the ASEAN
countries as the reason for their preferred status. Indian consulting companies have
strong capabilities in areas like civil engineering, telecom, power, metallurgy,
chemical and computer software.
Largest concentration of consultancy organisations is in the four metropolitan cities:
Delhi (25.7%) has the highest number of consultancy organisation among four
metropolitan cities followed by:
Mumbai (25.5%)
Chennai (12.1%)
Calcutta (9.1%).
Strength & Weakness of Indian Consultancy
The major strengths of Indian consulting organizations include professional
competence, low cost structure, diverse capabilities, high adaptability and quick
learning capability of Indian consultants.
The major weaknesses of Indian consulting organizations, which has hindered the
export growth of consulting sector in the country, are low quality assurance, low local
presence overseas, low equity base, lack of market intelligence, low level of R&D
Trends
Fast Growth: The business world is desperate for consulting help. With excess staff
being cut down, most organizations lack the technical, strategic and project
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19. management skills to handle the benumbing rate of technological and market
change. The consulting industry is trying its best to accommodate the demand. Big
consulting firms are inhaling new employees, gulping up smaller firms and merging
with peers.
One stop for all your solutions: In addition to a boom in the number of consulting
firms, the size of individual firms is growing in response to another industry trend:
one-stop shopping. Providers that can't compete on size will still try to offer one-stop
shopping by outsourcing a chunk of a client's project to another firm while
maintaining responsibility for the overall project. Knowledge management tools, best
practices databases and the Internet make it possible for consultants to draw upon
the knowledge of every consultant in the organization as many as 27,000 people in a
firm like PriceWaterHouseCoopers, for example.
Shortage of people: The greatest threat to the growth of consulting firms is their
inability to get enough qualified people. Some firms are already devising creative
solutions such as launching their own accredited MBA programs - geared toward the
specific needs of consultants. Smart people are continuing to gravitate toward the
consulting profession, especially with its heightened demand and visibility, not to
mention inflated salaries.
In a down economy, highly successful companies will invest more in customers, not
less. Companies will compete for customer share, not market share. Companies will
realize customer satisfaction doesn't translate to loyalty and will stitch their customer
channels together. And finally, companies will shift to a long- term focus. Only one
thing is for sure – the only thing that is constant in the consulting industry like any
other industry is change.
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20. Consultancy Firms in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.
Prime Placement & Manpower Services
They started in 2005 and have come a long way in providing quality manpower to
different verticals. They cater to all the levels of manpower needs in the organization.
Working with them is an added advantage as they also provide the outsourcing
services, labor laws consultation that enables you to have total manpower solution at
one place.
Team: They are being managed by professionally qualified, long experienced team
members in the field of Personnel, Administration, Legal and HR. The team has
diverse knowledge and know-how of different industries. This enables them to
understand the requirement as well as serve you better.
Core Vertical:
• Cement
• Pharma
• Chemical/Paint/Oil
• FMCG
• Electronics
• Ceramic and Glass
• Engineering
• Power Plants
• Service Sectors and others.
Garima Placement Services
Garima Placement Highly Specialises in all categories relating to SENIOR LEVEL,
MIDDLE LEVEL & JUNIOR LEVEL positions. RIGHT job for the RIGHT person and
RIGHT person for the RIGHT job is our Motto.
Garima Placement Services a fast growing organization scouting human resources
for its clients. It is a team of young professional having an in-depth experience of
more than a decade in the service industry and proud to claim a list of 200
organisations clientele from a wide range of business and industries.
Motto:
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21. The main motto is to find the RIGHT job for the RIGHT person and RIGHT person for
RIGHT job
Havoc Job Consultants
Missions
Havoc’s primary focus is to provide quality services along with various beneficial
policies. This has been achieved through implementation of our formal organizational
structures and strong co-operation among the employees there by attaining the
highest level of professionalism. They are not different from other entrepreneurs as
far as dreams (still dreaming) are concerned. They have had numerous day dreams.
Most of them graduated as visions, out of which few have been executed. And duly
enhanced with all your support, our efforts will revolve around the same nucleus of
dreaming, thinking, implementing and achieving.
• Career mosaic
Career Mosaic is an ISO 9001-2000 certified organization and a premium-consulting
firm, engaged in the business of offering a full spectrum of services in the area of
Corporate Recruitment and Global Education. The Career Mosaic Team comprises of
highly motivated and experienced professionals engaged in Career Counselling,
Business Development, Corporate Alliance, Channel Partnership and HR Strategy
Consultation.
As India’s leading “Admissions in USA” Consulting firm, with core activities of guiding
and assisting students on University Selection, Application, Admission & Visa
procedures for higher education in USA, we aim at bringing the option of studying in
USA to the doorstep of every student, by making it easy, affordable and devoid of
cumbersome procedures.
The Corporate Recruitment division offers human capital services, with a focus on
providing Executive Search, Recruitment, Training and Temporary Staffing services
to client organizations. At Career Mosaic, we believe in the power of people.
HIGHHEADS Management Consultants
With a humble start in 2004 in Ahmedabad, HIGHHEADS Management Consultants
have come a long way with opening up of three offices in India and over 150 National
& International clients. It have proved our mettle in the Manpower Recruitment
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22. Industry and have been involved in Recruitment / Manpower / Management
Consultancy to industries as IT / ITES, Consumer Durables, FMCG, Textile, Hotels &
Hospitality, Couriers & Logistics, Telecom, Retail, Engineering etc.
High Heads promises both, its clients and candidates, the most transparent
professionals’ practices, maintaining strict confidentiality in its operations. It believes
in leaving a mark in wherever it goes, whatever it does and whomsoever it deals with;
ensuring a Win-Win situation for everybody.
United HR Solutions Private Limited
Executive search company, catering to senior and mid-level managerial grade,
manpower requirements of companies in Africa, India and abroad.
Year of establishment: 1986
Legal status of firm: Private limited company
Nature of business: Service Provider
Number of employees: 26 to 50 people
Turnover: Rs. 50 Lakhs-1 crore
Trade membership: Members of executive recruiters association.
Members of IMCI
Members of AMA
Anything HR Solution
The focus is on complete gamut of Human Resource Management including
recruitment and HR services Like, Recruitment consultancy, Staffing Services,
Placement Services, Talent Acquisition, Head Hunting, Payroll Management, Exit
Formalities, Pre-hire and hire, HR legal compliance etc. They are going to guarantee
you to close your requirements within 60 days, else they will close that requirement
for FREE, and that’s their commitment.
They are here to change the way the business is happening today! They are an
emerging organization with a different approach toward the HR & Recruitment
business. At this stage, they can assure you that, they are committed to change the
perspective of Industry about HR Outsourcing business. They are going to stand by
our clients for their Recruitment & HR needs and share their burden.
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23. Himalaya Management Consultancy
With the wide spread network, professionally managed Himalaya Management
Consultancy is well reckoned as a widely preferred Placement Consultant. Located in
Ahmadabad city of Gujarat, we offer our premium services such as Placement
Services, Career Consultancy, Human Resource Consultancy, and Manpower
Recruitment etc. With the working slogan of ‘Serve Those Who Deserve’, we have
served several Job Recruiters as well as Job Seekers in Ahmadabad, Baroda, Surat,
Mumbai, Delhi, Calcutta and several other cities in India.
In a short time span, they have built close contacts with several reputed associates
and companies that help us in offering more job opportunities to more candidates.
They also have rich database of the candidates that are selected on the basis of their
qualifications and intelligence. They understand the value of time and strive to meet
our commitments of serving the clients with the best and maintain long-term
relationships with them. Owing to our positive approach and serving the clients with
the satisfaction, they have positioned themselves as a trusted Placement Consultant
in Ahmadabad.
Arrow Recruitment Consultant Pvt Ltd
With over a decade of experience in the placement and recruitment industry, Arrow
Recruitment Consultants Pvt Ltd has provided its services over the years in creating
an effective link between the job provider and the job seeker. Based in Ahmedabad,
Gujarat, they are counted among one of the leading Human Resources and Staffing
Solutions Companies well-known for offering gamut of services such as HR
Consultancy, Mass Hiring Services, Executive Search Services and Employee
Referral Check Services.
Established in the year 1995, they are a Human Resources and Staffing Solutions
Company, providing organizations with solutions & services to meet their workforce
needs across the world. They help our customers locate the best talent, enabling
them to retain their competitive edge and sharpen their focus on core strengths. They
strive hard to find the right employees with the right skills, to meet our clients’ needs.
They have fifteen plus years of management experience in providing recruitment,
staffing, and assessment and selection services.
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24. At Arrow Recruitment Consultants Pvt Ltd, they have successfully put to work
hundreds of employees annually through two business divisions: Professional
Services & Staffing Services. We work hard, and strive to be the benchmark in
providing quality employment opportunities.
Genius Placement Service
About Us.
Genius Placement Service., a Ahmedabad based organization, a subsidiary of
Nirman IT Junction Pvt Ltd, is a specialized independent consulting firm providing
Manpower Recruitment, Training & HR consulting services to all the big IT and non-
IT companies across the India, helping them source best professionals for both their
onsite / offshore requirements.
Service.
Other than this our HR Consulting team is expert in helping corporate into HR audit,
HR Policy & Manual design, Organization structure, competency mapping,
assessment & development centre design & implementation, PMS etc.
Recruitment / Placements
They undertake all your recruitment needs and fulfil it according to your
specifications. They are able to cater to your recruitment needs for.
• Senior Level Recruitment
• Middle Level Recruitment
• Junior Level Recruitment
• Fresher, Technical and Experienced Candidates
• Skilled/Semi-skilled/Unskilled Candidates
Recruitment Process
• Receipt of client needs
• Assessment of Needs
• Screening and counselling of suitable candidates from different sources
• Forwarding of updated bio-data to the client company
• Short listing of bio-data from the client company
• Communication and Interview Management
• Selection and Offer by the client
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25. • Offer Confirmation
• Reference check and compensation check of selected candidates
• Joining and Final Placement
• Post Recruitment Follow-up and Feedback
Pharmahood consultants
About
Pharmahood consultants has evolved as one of the fastest growing Human
Resource solution brand with expertise in services like ‘Recruitment Consulting’ and
‘Comprehensive Recruitment Solution’ across the Globe for the countries like Middle
East, Africa and South East Asia. Since its inception in 2005, a Pharmahood
consultant was termed as the same, for catering to only senior profiles in
Pharmaceuticals. There unique approach with all 3 quotients – Intelligence,
Emotional and Hardworking has referred us to the precious clients across the
different industries. Hence it has helped them to bag exclusive recruitment rights for
many MNCs into various different industries like Power, Energy, Healthcare, Retail n
FMCG, Financial services, IT etc.
There forte is exclusive search and head hunting for senior and middle management
profiles. There USP is their ability to understand and bridge the gap between
candidate abilities and corporate needs thereby becoming instrumental in changing
talented individuals into human assets for our esteemed clients.
Mission
Their mission is to forge strong, sustained relationships with our clients by creating
value for them. Their success is defined by the trust shown by our clients who come
back to us thus reinforcing their faith in our high-quality services.
Vision
They at Pharmahood consultants aims for one of the most respected companies in
recruitments, is committed to being a recognized, trusted and a preferred partner in
simplifying hiring process of their prestigious clients across the Globe.
Philosophy
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26. They adhere to a code of professional ethics with an emphasis on honesty and
integrity — handling their relationships with clients, candidates and colleagues with
great care. They ensure complete transparency with all their clients and candidates
abiding by core values of confidentiality.
They believe in partnerships & building businesses. Their commitment is visible in the
fact that they are amongst the top 3 preferred vendors with all our core clients. Their
work ethos is derived from our
• Aspiration: A long term Vision and the perseverance to achieve it.
• Achievement Orientation: Willingness to take on challenging goals, to stretch
themselves, and to be tough (but fair) while competing in the market.
• High EQ: Manifesting itself in mutual respect, openness, transparency in our
dealings, and empowerment.
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27. Introduction to study
In context of the changing global economic environment there is a need to assess
the relevancy of academic output from higher academic institutions to the industry
specially the country like India. Every year approx. 2.5 million graduates are being
produced by the academic institutions and most of them are being absorbed by the
industries at various cadres as rungs to channelize the wheel of our economy.
The main purpose of this study is to analyse the be-fittingness of these RCGs to the
industries and to assess the gap, if any and this gap can be filled by adopting the
suitable measures by academics and industry both. How the academia should design
its syllabi and pedagogy so that it can match with the current industrial requirements
of this globe. To attain this target, a close collaboration between institutions and
industry is very essential in order to minimize the obsolescence of academic output
from the institutions.
Why Do We Need To Bridge The Gap?
The reason that there are so few jobs to be found in academe is not because there
are too few colleges, universities, departments, or programs. If anything, there are
too many. The problem is that the number of available jobs is vastly outnumbered by
the number of people applying for them. There are simply too many PhDs produced
every year for the higher education establishment to absorb them all, despite the
absurd degree to which it has absorbed them into jobs that have nothing to do with
traditional research and teaching.
Current Status of Cooperation between Academia and Industry
• Academics are driven by their conferences and technical journals and their need
to publish.
• Academics seldom attend industrial conferences as they feel this is below their
standard.
• Academics look down upon industrial newspapers and magazines.
• Academics are not aware of the problems and constraints of industry.
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28. Present Situation of Students in India:
• India’s Higher Education system adds about 3.5 Lakh Engineers and 25 Lakh
University Graduates every year.
• 50 Lakh of them remain unemployed
• MNC finds only 15% of Indian Engineers and 10% of Management Graduates
employable (Survey by McKinsey Global)
• Scarcity of 5 Lakh Workers by 2012.
Reasons behind the Gap between Academia and Industry
• Academics and Industrialists have a different mindset, therefore both are living in
two different worlds.
• Both Academics and Industrialists are pursing different goals entirely. The
Academic is striving for recognition from his or her peers. The Industrialist is
striving to survive.
• Industry thinks in terms of short range goals whereas the Academic has a long
range perspective.
• Industry prefers proven solutions with a low risk, whereas Academia is interested
in creating new solutions with a high innovation rate.
• Industry seeks the minimum solution to minimize their risk, whereas Academia
strives for a maximum solution to maximize their recognition.
• Industry is mainly concerned with costs. Academia could care less about costs, it
is mainly interested in the benefits (and prestige).
Industry Needs and Expectations
The Industry has the highest expectations for newly hired MBAs in the area of –
Attitudes, Skills and Knowledge. The needs of the industries from the freshers are:
Proper attitude, Must be committed, dedicated to work, self-disciplined, and self-
motivated.
Showing an aptitude and willingness to learn, Strong analytic, listening and
communication skills. Must be able to work in a team and collaborate.
Basic knowledge of the organization and processes within the organization.
Understanding of products, solutions, and services – including those of competitors
and Consumer behavior.
Industries main three criteria are only: Attitude, Skills & knowledge.
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29. Students Expectations:
• Great Salary.
• Good Position.
• Mobility.
• Perception Disorder.
• Degree alone is sufficient for getting job.
• High salary - White Collar job.
View point of Industrialists over academic studies (Focus over MBA curriculum):
As a job giver the employees are well known about the curriculum of the studies
which all the institutions are carrying on.
As knowing about the studying pattern of the universities some industry experts say
that India’s MBA curriculum is flawed because of its emphasis on rote learning rather
than on hands-on experience.
The “one-size-fits-all curriculum” doesn’t give students a chance to get an in-depth
understanding of their area of specialization. Industry-specific skills and vocational
training is “glaringly missing” in most Indian business schools.
A frame Work for enhancing Skills:
As the one of the main criteria of industries for selecting fresher is SKILL.
It is necessary to build a source of various skills sets required to create “Industry
readiness” or “Job fitment” in the market today. The MBA graduates should be made
aware of the skill gap carry on around them and the way to strengthen it. This frame
work represented below helps in identifying various gaps which is often not
addressed by an seeking candidate. This is an attempt made to analyse the skill sets
required for the future work force, that is the current generation.
The following conceptual framework throws light on following skill sets which is the
need of the hour.
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30. Identify the skill gaps in the following skillsets
The word “Employability skills” is a wide spectrum, used in the industry today.
However, it can be narrowed into two distinct terms Soft Skills and Technical Skills.
Mentioning to Soft Skills which by & large an umbrella term relates to Behavioural
skills, Communication, Team dynamics. Interpersonal and Intrapersonal skills, has
definitely been the order of the day. The gap has widened so much that the industry
is facing a huge challenge to get the right people. The next skill set refers to the
Technical Skills which adhere to a thorough usage of MS word & Excel. This area is
left high and dry because most of the graduates do put emphasis on updating these
tools. However, today there is a need for updating on various other software & ERP
tools like HRMS, SAP & people soft, which is thoroughly used in the industry. So
bridging the above said skill gaps is very critical in today’s competitive world.
The other skill gaps identified in terms of “Talent Gap” specifies to alertness and
flexibility of the workforce. The mind-set to adapt to the changing world and honing
the skills continuously is needed. As challenges are a package deal in the workplace,
individuals should be equipped to deal with it.
The last aspect of the skill-gap conceptual framework is the information gap. This
includes understanding the industry, the products and services, clients, business
transaction, strategy involving competitors etc. Moreover, given the changing
customer centric world, understanding the best and the worst practices and the
evolving dynamics of the external environment should be comprehended by the
workforce.
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31. Thus the need to identify the skill gap and bridging them becomes at most important.
This conceptual frame work throws some light to identify the existing skill gaps. There
can be various awareness program created by the academia as a placement
preparatory program and administered to the upcoming professionals with the
collaboration of such consultancies.
The need to address the grass root levels is at most important. The fanciful terms like
“Industry readiness” and “Job fitment” cannot be just created in a jiffy. It can be
worked out only if the gaps are identified and analysed. Hence there is an available
market for training in the realistic purview.
For success and sustainability the first phase is to identify the required skills, followed
by user friendly learning system with appropriate content and delivery from the
academic perspective.
This can be a regular cycle which will lead to sharing and learning process thus the
awareness program can be initiated. In a outer layer this process might help in
igniting a spark in the minds of the young executives, thus they might gear up to
meet the industry needs. We can hope towards moving to the concept of industry
readiness if the training need analysis is realized and right involvements are
administered by the institutions.
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32. Literature Review.
 Rajsekaran and Rajasingh (2009) have concluded that the perception gap
between industry and faculty must be bridged to improve the employability of
students and enhance the quality of higher education. Industry leaders presume
that only 15% of people coming out of Indian colleges are employable. Green
defined the quality of higher education as "producing graduates to meet the
human resources needs of an organization in the business, industrial and service
sectors."
 Winbladh (2004) has focussed on the requirement engineering that involves
capturing, structuring, and accurately representing the client's requirements in a
manner that can be effectively implemented in a system that will conform to the
client's specifications. He also suggested project based & collaborative learning to
upgrade the students. He concluded that new graduates are ill equipped to enter
and survive a market with recessions because they do not exhibit the qualities the
qualities that the industry treasures.
 Hamatteh and Jufout (2003) described that a Consultancy firm comprised a team
of skilled consultants to match the demands and needs required by the labour
market with the educational portfolio. This must be implemented by regular
analysis, skill level determination, revision of the curriculums and finally to follow
up and control, on the basis of individual specialization. This model may reduce
the expenses of pre-employment training, which financially overburden the
industrial sector & increases the proficiency level of graduates.
 Authors: Isaac Lemus Aguilar &Ernesto Mosso Vallejo
Article: Identifying the skills for consultants working in project-based organizations
(A glimpse into the Mexican consulting industry), 2007
Even though and when most people share a common understanding of skill, defining
precisely what it means is quite problematic (Dench, 1997). The author finds a gap
when pointing that the real difficult part when trying to explain what does skill mean is
that there is a lack of a common terminology, connotations and even historical
32 | P a g e

33. traditions behind the word. And it should not be a surprise if it is realized that for
instance, employers, practitioners, job applicants and academics, they all use
different vocabularies from key skills to core skills and competences, then it seems to
be confusing to understand what this is all about. And this problem is well identified
by McKenna (2004) who explains that whatever that could be found written is, by
definition, interpretations of interpretations, this means that all definitions reflect the
interpretations of the authors as they interpret the interpretations of the researchers
whose work they report. Moreover companies interpret skills their own way and
Business schools do so as well, then at the end it seems not to be neither the right or
wrong definition of skill, is to understand from which perspective we are to define it.
For instance, Homer (2001) even explains that there are skills dictionaries available
which include skills in sales, management, IT, marketing, accountancy, engineering
and HR which are included within the available competency libraries.
 Author: Caroline Scheepmaker & Nannette Ripmeester
Article: Employability: Matching employer needs with students capabilities. 12,
December
Author concluded that for being a suitable candidate It is not always about subject-
matter skills, or even generic skills. Students need to develop the flexibility and
attitude to always be looking for the next development, for innovation, for adaptability,
both in their field of expertise and in their personal and career development. They
also need to be able to demonstrate all of their acquired skills, thus also enabling
employers to pick the most appropriate candidate. Students have a difficult time
deciphering vacancies, understanding what jobs actually entail, in addition to
knowing what they could do with their degree, especially when entering a market
foreign to them. It is not that there are no (suitable) jobs out there; it’s just that job
market orientation is complicated. So the Consultancy firms organize seminars and
workshops to bring students and professionals together to clarify student options and
simultaneously offer organisations an opportunity to learn about what attracts
students.
 Robert w. Goldfarb, a management consultant and author (11/11/12) New York
Times
Author concluded that instead of finding shared interests linking those who need
work and those who need workers, he uncovered a serious divide that limits the
success of both after having a conversation with about a dozen of CEOs of different
33 | P a g e

34. industries along with more than 135 graduates. According to author the perception of
CEOs regarding the freshmen is that they are lacking the skills and discipline
required in today’s workplace. Instead of having records of part time jobs and
excellent grade by the fresh graduates which seems to make them promising
candidates but still executives countered that recent graduates have not fulfilled the
requirements and are not prepared for the complex jobs that companies must now
fill. According to author Robert w. Goldfarb best managers and best employees enter
the workplace with broad educations and not with the technical degrees. Authors
says, “it was a intuition that helped them ascend their abilities to suspect a flaw even
when data appeared correct, to read the mood of customers and employees, and to
sense potential in a product when others turn their nose up at”.
 Kaushal Mandalia, founder and director at insight HR and training consultants
(April 8, 2012)
The author found that the industry has the highest expectation for newly hired
candidates in the area of-attitudes, skills, and knowledge. Industry expects proper
attitude, commitment, dedication, self-discipline, strong analytic, listening and
communication skill, aptitude and willingness to learn, knowledge of the organization
and processes within the organization from the selected candidates. The author
states that they hire people for attitude and train them for the skills.
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35. Problem Statement
A fresh graduate or job seeker has some expectations from the organization in which
they want to make their career. And organizations also have some expectations from
the new candidate for designation. Consultancy deals with both of them, new job
seekers (management students) and industries. This report helps in understand the
how or what role consultancy play in bridging gap between the expectations of both
management students and industry.
Objective
1. To find the factors those are responsible for discrepancy between company
expectation and management students.
2. To identify the underlying factors for gap between academic output and industrial
requirement.
3. To discuss about the current need of industry in terms of competent.
4. To explore the possibility of having customized curriculum as per the need of
industry.
5. To filter promising candidate having broad knowledge as well as technical degree
from the pool of academic students.
6. To enable students to realize and articulate the skills, by connecting them with
companies, informing them of employer expectations.
Limitations of Study
Every gift is a curse. Though a project helps us to know interesting and informative
things, it is inclusive of some limitations. The limitations of our study were:
• The respondents may or may not have provided a valid reply.
• An even bigger sample size would have given a lot more analytical scenarios.
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36. Research Methodology
Research design
A research design is the arrangement of conditions for collection and analysis of
data in a manner that aims to combine relevance to the research purpose with
economy in procedure. Decision regarding what, where, when, how much, by what
means concerning an inquiry or a research study constitute a research design. As
such the design includes an outline of what the researcher will do from writing the
hypothesis and its operational implication to the final analysis of data.
There are different types of research design.
1. Exploratory research design
2. Descriptive research design
3. Analytical research design
Research design used is descriptive
Descriptive research is a fact-finding investigation with adequate interpretation. It is a
simplest type of research and is more specific. Mainly designed to gather descriptive
information and provides information for formulating more sophisticates studies.
Data collection Methods:
The task of data collection begins after a research problem has been defined and
research design/ plan chalked out. While deciding about the method of data
collection one should keep
2 types of data:
Primary
Secondary data.
Primary data are those which are collected afresh and for first time. (original data)
Secondary data are those which have already been collected by someone else
36 | P a g e

37. and passed through statistical process.
Primary data
We collect primary data during the course of doing experiment in an experimental
research. There are various ways of collecting Primary data:
Observation method
Interview method
Questionnaire
Schedules
Survey Method
In our research we use questionnaire method. The term questionnaire usually refers
to a self-administered process whereby the respondent himself reads the question
and records his answer without the assistance of an interviewer.
Secondary data:
Secondary data is data collected by someone other than the user. Common
sources of secondary data for social science include censuses, surveys,
organizational records and data collected through qualitative methodologies or
qualitative research. Primary data, by contrast, are collected by the investigator
conducting the research. Secondary data analysis saves time that would otherwise
be spent collecting data and, particularly in the case of quantitative data, provides
larger and higher-quality databases than would be unfeasible for any individual
researcher to collect on their own. In addition to that, analysts of social and economic
change consider secondary data essential; since it is impossible to conduct a new
survey that can adequately capture past change and/or developments.
Sources of Data
Data is collected from both, Secondary and Primary. Data is collected from the
questioner and personal interview as a primary data. For secondary data different
sites, articles, research papers and book are being referred.
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38. Population
Data is collected through 13 consultancy firms; population for the research is the
employees of those consultancies.
Sample size
The total sample size is 202. Total employees of 13 consultancies.
Sampling Method
Stratified sampling method is used for the research work.
Sampling Frame
Sampling Frame consist of employees of consultancy firms and management students of
Ahmedabad city.
Date Collection Instrument
For data collection, Questioner is being used consist of various questions regarding the
research topic.
Name of consultancy approached
Prime placement & manpower services, Garima placement service, Big idea
consultancy, highheads management consultancy, united HR solution pvt ltd.,
Anything HR solution, Himalaya management consultancy, Arrow recruitment
consultant pvt ltd., Genius placement service, Pharmahood consultants, HR insights,
ANS consultancy , Havoc job consultancy.
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39. DATA ANALYASIS AND
INTERPRITATION
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40. Introduction
The Questionnaire Contains 16 questions and some Demographic information.
The Graphical analysis and interpretation of the same are done following in different
charts.
Demographic Data:
Age:
The above chart shows that there are 48.02% employees in the age group of 20-30,
26.19%in the age group of 30-40, 5.56% of employees in the age group of 40-50 and
0.00% employees on age more than 50.
48.02%
26.19%
5.56% 0.00%
20-30 30-40 40-50 More Than 50
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41. No. of Experience:
The above chart shows that there are 22.22% employees who have experience less
than 1yr, 43.25%of employees who have experience of 1-2 yrs., 11.90% employees
who have experience of 2-4yrs and 2.38% employees having experience more than
4yrs.
Gender:
As we can see from the chart that there are 39.68% of female and 40.48% of male
employees working in the consultancy.
22.22%
43.25%
11.90%
2.38%
Less than 1yr 1-2 yrs 2-4yrs More than 4yrs
39.68%40.48%
Female Male
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42. Ques1. What are the functional area of your consultancy?
From the above chart we can see that there are different functional areas of a
consultancy as shown above 21.27%in banking, 75.86% in HR, 60.59%in finance,
41.87% in marketing, 22.17% in IT, 10.83% in academic and 18.23% in others.
22.17%
75.86%
60.59%
41.87%
66.50%
10.83%
18.23%
Banking HR Finance Marketing IT Acadamics Others
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43. Ques 2. Do you recruit management students in your consultancy as trainee &
junior level post ?
From the above graph we can analyze that 66.17% consultancy recruit management
student in their consultancy as trainee & junior level post whereas 13.89% do not.
66.27%
13.89%
0.00%
10.00%
20.00%
30.00%
40.00%
50.00%
60.00%
70.00%
Yes No
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44. Ques.3 Do you recruit management students for your client at corporate level?
As shown in the graph we can analysis 64.19%constltancy recruit management
students for their clients at corporate level whereas 15.87% do not recruit.
64.29%
15.87%
0.00%
10.00%
20.00%
30.00%
40.00%
50.00%
60.00%
70.00%
Yes No
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45. Ques 4. The students are employed on what basis?
From the above graph we can analyse that 9.92%stuedents are employed on
contractual basis, 21.03%students are employed on permanent basis and 49.21% on
both contractual and permanent basis.
9.92%
21.03%
49.21%
0.00%
10.00%
20.00%
30.00%
40.00%
50.00%
60.00%
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46. Ques 5. If on contract basis, the contract between:
From the above graph we can analyse that 9.31% contract is between consultancy
and candidate whereas 54.76% of contract is between industry and the candidates.
9.13%
54.76%
0.00%
10.00%
20.00%
30.00%
40.00%
50.00%
60.00%
Yes No
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47. Ques 6. Fresher's are selected on the basis of
From the above graph we can analyse that 15.08% of fresher’s are selected on the
basis on academic performance, 43.15% on KSAO’s and 21.83% on both.
15.08%
43.25%
21.83%
0.00%
5.00%
10.00%
15.00%
20.00%
25.00%
30.00%
35.00%
40.00%
45.00%
50.00%
Yes No Both
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48. Ques 7.Do you tie up with academic institutions for collaborative skill programs?
From the above graph we can analyse that 27.38%consultany tie up with academic
institutions for collaborative skill programs whereas 51.78% do not tie up.
27.38%
52.78%
0.00%
10.00%
20.00%
30.00%
40.00%
50.00%
60.00%
Yes No
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49. Ques 8.Do you conduct seminar and workshop for fresh candidates & pursuing
candidates?
From the above graph we can analyse that 29.70% of consultancy conduct seminar
and workshop for fresh & purusing candidates whereas 50.40% consultancy do not
conduct seminars.
29.76%
50.40%
0.00%
10.00%
20.00%
30.00%
40.00%
50.00%
60.00%
Yes No
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50. Ques 9.Do you agree that academic should focus on practical studies rather than
theory?
From the above graph we can analyse that 60.32% of consultancy agree that
academic should focus on practical studies, 7.54% say that they should focus on
theory and 12.30% say that they should focus on both practical and theory.
60.32%
7.54%
12.30%
0.00%
10.00%
20.00%
30.00%
40.00%
50.00%
60.00%
70.00%
Yes No Both
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51. Ques 10. Do you agree that fresher’s expectations are unrealistic about the first job?
From the above graph we can analyse that 64.68% of consultancy think fresher’s
expectations are unrealistic about the first job whereas 15.48% do not agree with it.
64.68%
15.48%
0.00%
10.00%
20.00%
30.00%
40.00%
50.00%
60.00%
70.00%
Yes No
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52. Ques 11. Do you agree that industries give priority to the skill, attitude, discipline,
articulation, and practical knowledge of a fresher?
From the above graph we can analyse that 72.61% of consultancy say that they
agree that industries give priority to the skill , attitude, discipline, articulation, and
practical knowledge of a fresher whereas 7.54% do not agree.
72.62%
7.54%
0.00%
10.00%
20.00%
30.00%
40.00%
50.00%
60.00%
70.00%
80.00%
Yes No
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53. Ques 12. Do you agree that demand of jobs in market is less as compared to supply
of management students?
From the above graph we can analyse that 55.16% of consultancy agree that
demand of jobs in market is less as compared to supply of management students
whereas 25.00% disagree.
55.16%
25.00%
0.00%
10.00%
20.00%
30.00%
40.00%
50.00%
60.00%
Yes No
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54. Ques.13.Do you have direct experience in managing people and teams?
From the above graph we can analyse that 50.79% of employees of the consultancy
have direct experience in managing people whereas 29.37% do not have direct
experience.
50.79%
29.37%
0.00%
10.00%
20.00%
30.00%
40.00%
50.00%
60.00%
Yes No
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55. Ques 14. Are you played a liaison role/healthy relation with clients and organization
that you work with?
From the above graph we can analyse that 56.35% of employees play a liaison
role/healthy relation with the clients and organization with whom they work whereas
23.81% do not agree.
56.35%
23.81%
0.00%
10.00%
20.00%
30.00%
40.00%
50.00%
60.00%
Yes No
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56. Ques 15. Working through this table, consider what are your key areas of expertise
and rate the same priority wise, that you serve to your client (Candidates and
Industry both) as a human resource professional and Consultants.
As from the above graph it is seen that the more priority is given to Recruitment and
selection, Remuneration and Strategic HR advice including development by
consultancies.
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Team development/teambuilding
Recruitment and selection
Facilitation and training
Learning and development
Remuneration
Strategic HR advice incl.development and…
Performance management incl. poor…
Leadership development incl. coaching
Organizational review and structures
Diversity management & Employee/industrial…
Culture/Change management
HR strategy and planning incl. workforce planning
Team
develop
ment/te
ambuildi
ng
Recruit
ment
and
selectio
n
Facilitati
on and
training
Learning
and
develop
ment
Remune
ration
Strategic
HR
advice
incl.dev
elopme
nt and
impleme
ntation
of
strategy
and
policies
Perform
ance
manage
ment
incl.
poor
perform
ance/dis
cipline
Leaders
hip
develop
ment
incl.
coachin
g
Organiza
tional
review
and
structur
es
Diversity
manage
ment &
Employe
e/indust
rial
relations
advice
Culture/
Change
manage
ment
HR
strategy
and
planning
incl.
workfor
ce
planning
High 24.14% 89.66% 19.21% 18.72% 42.36% 7.39% 1.97% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.09% 44.33%
Neutral 10.34% 9.85% 33.00% 28.57% 30.05% 0.99% 5.91% 6.90% 2.46% 2.46% 0.00% 11.82%
Low 18.72% 0.00% 9.85% 7.39% 4.43% 1.97% 0.00% 9.36% 4.43% 0.00% 2.46% 19.70%
High Neutral Low
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57. Ques 16. Working through this table, consider how do you Market your expertise &
Contact to your potential clients, Rate the same priority wise.
As from the above graph it is seen that the more priority is given to Cold calling, Mail
out, and contacting existing colleagues/contact by consultancies.
0.00%10.00%20.00%30.00%40.00%50.00%60.00%70.00%80.00%90.00%100.00%
Contacting existing colleagues/contact
Participating in networks (eg. Business Networks)
Seeking referrals from colleagues/contacts for…
Making public presentation (eg. Business seminar,…
Mail out of information on Company and…
Cold calling (contacting people who you do not…
Advertisement (in Newspaper, Social networking…
Contacting
existing
colleagues/co
ntact
Participating
in networks
(eg. Business
Networks)
Seeking
referrals from
colleagues/co
ntacts for
follow up
Making public
presentation
(eg. Business
seminar,
conference
paper etc)
Mail out of
information
on Company
and
candidates
Cold calling
(contacting
people who
you do not
have
connection
with)
Advertisement
(in
Newspaper,
Social
networking
sites etc)
High 59.11% 30.54% 31.53% 8.37% 62.07% 31.03% 37.44%
Neutral 12.32% 26.60% 35.96% 8.87% 6.90% 25.12% 10.84%
Low 17.73% 19.70% 10.84% 24.14% 0.00% 6.90% 32.51%
High Neutral Low
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58. Results & Findings
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59. Findings
• Major number of the consultancies which we have targeted are working in the IT
and the HR area. Very low of the firm are working in academics and other areas.
• Most of the consultancies recruit fresher’s in their consultancies at the junior level.
But as trainee they are not priority.
• Almost most of the consultancies are placing the new candidates or freshers at
the corporate level i.e Bottom level, Middle level, and top level.
• Generally most of the consultancies place and recruit in their own consultancies
to the students on both permanent and contractual basis. If the consultancy place
a student in industry over contractual basis the contract is between industry and
candidate.
• According to the consultancies the freshers are placed based on both academic
performance and KSAO’s.
• There are very few consultancies who collaborate with the institutions for the
different types of the programs.
• Sometimes the consultancies arrange free seminars and workshops for the fresh
candidates and pursuing students.
• The consultancy emphasises on the practical studies over theoretical studies in
the institutions
• There are some consultancies who are agree that there are less demand of job
then compare to the supply of management students.
• The employees of the consultancies, to satisfy their clients sometimes creates
healthy relations with them.
• The consultancies give more priority to their basic work recruitment & selection
and managing remuneration compared to all other their expertise activities.
• Priority is given by the consultancies to the mail out, contacting to their current
colleagues and cold calling for contacting with people and marketing them self.
Some of the consultancies makes public presentation as in seminars, conference
papers etc
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60. Suggestions & Conclusions
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61. Suggestions
• Consultancies can launch some collaborative programs for students.
• Training Programs, Certificate Programs, and workshops.
• Collaboration with institution in order to help and create skilled and competitive
workforce.
• Such programmes which offers a range of resources and support to students,
faculty and institutions, in order to provide skills in open standards, critical in a
fast-paced and ever-changing industry scenario.
• For eg. Such collaboration with institution is made by multinational computer
technology and consulting major IBM, called ‘Drona partner programme’.
• An initiative, aimed at bridging the gap between academia and industry.
• Consultancies should broaden there working areas including facilitation and
training & learning and development of the new students.
• The consultancy should use some kind of frame work for the students or the
freshers to enhance their abilities which are need for nowadays for getting a job
• Students should thing realistic regarding job. And stop thinking that only academic
performance will be enough to get a good job.
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62. Conclusion
• Study of the resource management at graduate & post graduate level in India is
based on various kind of sectors as in an organization in the business, industry or
service which is a vast & diversified study for students to understand the practical
approach beyond the level of academic education.
• Quality in accordance with the quantity engaged by employer requires a
Constance process with upgraded version of information & sources which
provides the better results that is needed to be applicable & understible by the
students of HRM
• Through practical workshop & seminars by professionals, experts &
Consultancies itself.
• Industry expects proper attitude, commitment, dedication, self-discipline, strong
analytic, listening and communication skill, aptitude and willingness to learn,
knowledge of the organization and processes within the organization from the
selected candidates.
• At corporate level with high efficiency and technical skilled HR engaged whereas,
on the bases of potentiality & knowledge without experience, rarely been noticed
by the consultancies.
• A collaborative steps should be taken by both educational institutions and HR
consultancies for preparing futuristic steps based on requirement of current and
future demanded situations which sharpen the skills of students into
professionals.
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63. ANNEXURE & BIBLIOGRAPHY
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64. Bibliography
• Article:
Identifying the skills for consultants working in project-based organizations
(A glimpse into the Mexican consulting industry), 2007.
By: Isaac Lemus Aguilar & Ernesto Mosso Vallejo
B.Rajasekaran, S. Rajasingh (April 2009). Perceptual chasm between industry and
academic leaders on the quality of higher education, Journal of academic leadership,
USA, Vol 7.
Kristina Winbladh (2004). Requirement engineering: Closing the gap between
academic supply & industry demand, Crossroad: The ACM student magazine, 2004,
10.4.
Abu Hamatteh, Z.S.H. and Al – Jufout, S. A. (2003). Educational outcomes Vs the
world new industrial & economical demands: Jordanian electrical & mining sectors as
a case study, Pakistan journal of information & technology, 2 (1): 78-82, 2003.
Green, Diana, Ed, What is quality in higher education? Society for research into
higher education Ltd. London.
• Sites:
http://www.eaie.org/blog/matching-employer-needs-with-student-capabilities/
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/11/jobs/bridging-the-hiring-gap-for-college-
graduates.html?_r=0
https://www.wetfeet.com/articles/industry-overview-consulting
http://www.scribd.com/doc/12998751/Analysis-of-Consulting-Industry
http://www.wetfeet.com/
http://mgt.buffalo.edu/career/students/prep/research/tools/resources/consulting/indus
try
http://www.careercommission.com/2013/11/conceptual-framework-skill-gap-analysis/
http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2012/12/12/study-less-than-10-indian-mbas-
employable/
http://gulfnews.com/life-style/education/gap-between-academia-and-industry-
1.1221285
http://www.hindu.com/edu/2008/07/14/stories/2008071450270200.htm
http://yourstory.com//2012/05/youth4work-bridging-the-gap-between-academics-and-
industry/
http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2012/12/12/study-less-than-10-indian-mbas-
employable/
http://www.plunkettresearch.com/consulting-market-research/industry-and-business-
data/statistics
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65. Book:
o Basic Research Methods – By Gerard Guthrien.
ANNEXURE :
QUESTIONNAIRE
Dear Respondent,
We are students of MBA & doing a Comprehensive Project on “Role of consultancy in
bridging gap between expectation of industry and management students’’. We would request
you to Kindly spent some time to fill up questionnaire. We assured you that information provided
by you would be used for study purpose only.
Personal Information.
Name (optional): __________________________________________
Consultancy name:________________________________________
Designation:______________________________________________
Age.
20 - 30 30 -40 40 -50 More than 50
No. of Experiance.
Less than 1 yr 1 -2 yrs 2 – 4yrs More than 4yrs
Gender.
Female Male
1. What are the functional area of your consultancy?
Banking IT
HR Academics
Finance Others
Marketing
If others, Please Specify_______________________________
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66. 2. Do you recruit management students in your consultancy as trainee & junior level
post ?
Yes No
3. Do you recruit management students for your client at corporate level ?
Yes No
4. The students are employed on what basis?
Contractual Basis Permanent Basis Both
5. If on contractual basis, the contract is between
Consultancy and Candidate Industry and Candidate
6. Freshers are selected on the basis of
Academic Performance Knowledge, Skill, Aptitude & others (KSAO’s) Others
If others, Please Specify_______________________________
7. Do You Tie up with Academic Institutions for collaborative skill enhancing Programs?
Yes No
8. Do you conduct seminars and workshops for fresh Candidates & pursuing students?
Yes No
9. Do you agree the academics should focus on Practical studies rather than Theory?
Yes No
10. Do you agree that fresher’s expectations are unrealistic about the first job?
Yes No
11. Do you agree that industries give priority to the skills, attitude, discipline, articulation
and practical knowledge of a fresher?
Yes No
12. Do you agree that demand of jobs in market is less as compared to supply of
management students?
Yes No
13. Do you have direct experience in managing people and teams?
Yes No
14. Are you played a liaison role/ healthy relation with clients and organizations that you
work with?
Yes No
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67.  Note: For Question no. 15 & 16 please rate the option priority wise from 1 to 3, as
you feel is most appropriate as per the following: 1-High, 2- Neutral, 3 -Low.
15. Working through this table, consider what are your key areas of expertise and rate the
same priority wise, that you serve to your client (Candidates and Industry both) as a
human resource professional and Consultants.
Expertise 1 2 3
Team development/teambuilding
Recruitment and selection
Facilitation and training
Learning and development
Remuneration
Strategic HR advice incl.development and implementation
of strategy and policies
Performance management incl. poor
performance/discipline
Leadership development incl. coaching
Organizational review and structures
Diversity management
Employee/industrial relations advice
Culture/Change management
HR strategy and planning incl. workforce planning
16. Working through this table, consider how do you Market your expertise & Contact to
your potential clients, Rate the same priority wise.
Means 1 2 3
Contacting existing colleagues/contact
Participating in networks (eg. Business Networks)
Seeking referrals from colleagues/contacts for follow up
Making public presentation (eg. Business seminar,
conference paper etc)
Mail out of information on Company and candidates
Cold calling (contacting people who you do not have
connection with)
Advertisement (in Newspaper, Social networking sites etc)
Thank you for your cooperation!
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68. 68 | P a g e