A consultant’s framework is a systematic enterprise tool used to deliver key functions efficiently and guides to ensure that strategic plans are followed to achieve goals.

Consulting frameworks

These management consulting frameworks usually include external factors that limit business performance and limit success. Consultants using professional frameworks help solve professional problems or “pain points” through consulting.

Many top consulting frameworks include, among other things, markets and industry, business competition, internal valuation, and financial valuation.

Porter’s Five Forces

This framework helps analyze the competition and where your business stands in the market ecosystem. The results determine whether the market is favorable or not.

Named after Professor Michael Porter, who developed the framework, the two horizontal threats, one rivalry, and the two vertical bargaining powers, as follows:

  • The threat of newcomers – This involves the risk of the customer flow shifting to another organization.
  • Industry Competition – Competitive dynamics determine the importance of customer retention rates toward the number of competitors.
  • Substitute Threat – This involves the possible replacement of products with alternative types from competitors, leaving more completeness.
  • Buyer power – It is the power that consumers influence in reducing the prices of a company’s products. It depends on factors such as the number of customers it has.
  • Supplier Power – This analyses suppliers’ availability and promises to find resources for their products.

For precise information about it, you can Learn All About Porter’s Five Force Model.

The 3 Cs Framework

This excellent strategy model is used to develop sustainable solutions. The business deals with the internal and external strategic elements needed to succeed – the company, competitors, and customers.

  • Corporate – An internally controlled company establishes a public-facing brand by defining its business model, vision, goals, and business objectives. Review how well you have done in the past and plan for success in the future.
  •  Competitors – Analysing the competition in potential market packets will help them to know their position and redevelop their marketing strategies and build customer experience.
  • Customers – Company categorizes its clients by demographics and analyses customers’ spending habits.

These factors, in particular, are semi-fixed environmental factors in the market or industry that are essential for success.

PEST Analysis

This framework is used to evaluate any major external factors that affect business operations. It helps organizations stay competitive in the market by enhancing their current position and preparing for future changes that may bring opportunities or challenges.

PEST analysis is based on key factors in the broader political, economic, social, and technical conditions in the business functions.

  • The political analysis examines how government regulations and other legal factors, such as tax guidelines, can affect trade and business.
  • The economic analysis reviews financial issues, such as inflation and interest rates, which can affect the success of an organisation.
  • Social Analysis evaluates features such as their lifestyle and education to better understand their customers’ shopping needs.
  • Technical analysis determines whether technology factors such as technological advances can have a positive or negative effect on how customers respond to a new product or service.

You can watch the video to know about How to perform PESTEL analysis?

SWOT Matrix

The SWOT Framework matrix is used to create strategic plans for developing projects. It also helps in determining the position in the competition. This matrix does evaluate both internal and external factors based on the factual data and derives realistic estimates.

This framework deals with four areas of a business:

  • Strength of your company, such as a strong brand or unique technology and quality of service, can make you stand out from the competition.
  • Weaknesses indicate factors that limit a company’s performance, and improvements can be worked out, such as higher turnover rates.
  • Opportunities are counted in external factors which lead to favorable deals on competitors, such as finding vendors who supply quality parts at reasonable prices, buyback policy, etc.
  • Threats are harming factors that threaten a company’s operations, such as increased competition and policy changes.

The SWOT model combines the conceptual and practical analysis of a business with its strategic planning operations.

You can watch the video to know How to perform SWOT Analysis?

The 4 Ps

Marketing Mix – 4 Ps analyzes key marketing variables, including product, price, advertising, and placement under company control. Generally used as a supplement to the 3 Cs framework. This framework contains critical elements related to product/service marketing workflows and processes.

  • Product – Goods or services offered to meet customer demand.
  • Price – What customers pay based on perceived value and other factors such as competitive pricing and additional discounts.
  • Promotion – Strategies used to judge whether products and prices are reasonable to consumers.
  • Placement – Ways and channels through which a company launches and sells its products.

McKinsey 7S

This McKinsey 7S framework is used to determine the effectiveness of their organizational structure. This tool helps find and solve internal problems.

The McKinsey 7S has 7 major components:

  • Structure describes how the company organizes its employees and units, including command and accountability relationships.
  • Strategy is a business plan that a company uses to gain a competitive advantage in the market and to achieve its goals.
  • Skills are the ability to help an organization and its employees achieve their business goals and overall goals.
  • Systems are the processes and procedures that organizations follow when working and making decisions.
  • Shared values ​​are the company’s goals and objectives that guide the behavior of employees and the actions of the company.
  • Style is how management leads the company, communicates with others, and makes decisions for the organization.
  • Staff includes the company’s human resources and talent management through the appointment and implementation of a reward system. 

Benchmarking

Companies use this framework to compare their metrics with their competitors. Involves reviewing key factors that affect business processes and performance.

Here are some common metrics for benchmarking: 

  • Production cost is what a company pays for the production of its products or the provision of services. This can include costs such as raw materials and employees.
  • Revenue is the total amount earned by selling a company product or service.
  • Employee turnover is the rate at which a company loses its employees over a certain period and due to specific reasons like retirement.
  • Process cycle time is the amount of time that is spent creating an item for a team organization.

You can also know more in Benchmarking – Consulting 101

(source: https://blog.seekho.ai/the-ultimate-guide-to-a-consulting-career-in-india/

Takeaway

When deciding which framework is best, no one framework fits best for any enterprise. Consultants prefer to choose a strong framework to solve unique problems. 

Some enterprises may use a combination of frameworks to better optimize their management practices and methods, while others may use just one framework to adopt best practices within their management teams. For some businesses, the hybrid approach may be the most effective. When used properly, such a framework can help businesses achieve their objectives and see new opportunities to help their enterprise grow and scale.

Even in modern, digitally advanced, IT, and data-driven businesses, strategic planning can only be accomplished by business consultants. They play an important role in providing valuable advice and guidance on a variety of business topics.

There is a constant demand in the corporate world for smart consultants who can steer the business in the right direction. Those who want to upskill and extend their consulting career can start by joining Seekho and signing up for Select Membership. You can learn more about the best opportunities in this competitive age in your Consulting Career in India. If in doubt, seek the help of Learn Insider for your career-related questions on Seekho’s Discussion Forum.

For further reading, you can visit our next blog – A Complete Guide to Consultant Roles and Responsibilities

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