Mc Kinsey Case Study - Harvard

McKinsey has developed key aspects in terms of organization design over a long period of time and uniquely utilized its specific environment that has allowed it to become the number one firm in the space with an organization model almost impossible to imitate.

• In terms of the organization structure, McKinsey has managed to build a flexible yet complex that is vertical, horizontal but also almost circular: The vertical industry sectors complement the Functional Capability Groups that are reinforced by the information networks of resources, training…

Within this organization, teams of generalist and specialized consultants are grouped geographically and assembled based on project need according to their tenure and experience.

• The incentive system very much follows this structure whereby partners are not only remunerated on business development but also on knowledge generation or as they identify it: “snowball making and snowball throwing”. To the extent that it is a group of partners whom own clients instead of just one.

Incentivizing consultants based on their project work but also on their contribution to PDnets is a key to the sustainability of the knowledge management model.

The “up or out” rule is a strong incentive to perform for all consultants.

• In terms of the people it hires, McKinsey has mainly two types of consultants: the generalists or T shaped and the specialists or I shaped.

The T shaped consultants are more traditional and tend to be considered as more important in the value chain, even if there is a cultural effort to erase that idea.

The I shaped consultants are industry specific and have more difficulty to fit into to their organization. Their expertise is mainly used for knowledge management.

McKinsey has made a strong effort to invest in the image of knowledge specific consultants – appointing as head of practices the most respected consultants; however this has proven more difficult to pass through the general...