2009 Courses

Courses for January Term 2009

COMM 366: The Advice Business [3]

Elizabeth Thurston Assistant Professor and Director, PWC Center

With combined consulting industry revenues topping an estimated $300 billion, it is no surprise that approximately 20% of the firms recruiting at the University of Virginia this year were firms providing management consulting, business advisory, or technology consulting services. Staffing their client-delivery pipelines with capable junior consultants, these firms clearly provide attractive recruiting opportunities, with 23% of Commerce students, on average, accepting consulting jobs each year since 2000. Yet, anecdotal feedback from dissatisfied alumni and double-digit turnover rates beg the question whether students fully understand the work performed and personal challenges in this mysterious industry in which all firms solve client problems but do so in dramatically different ways.

Within this context, “The Advice Business” is an introductory course focusing on the advisory services that traditional management consulting, accounting, and technology consulting firms provide to their clients, including strategy, operations, change management, business advisory, and IT. The course is designed to explore the dynamics of each type of client-service offering, including the methodologies used to diagnose and solve clients’ problems, the specific skills needed for success, and the lifestyle and other cultural issues that help students assess career fit.

Course enrollment is open to third-year Commerce students with select spaces available for interested and qualified non-Comm students. If you are a non-Comm student or fourth-year Commerce student, please contact Professor Thurston directly at Elizabeth.Thurston@comm.virginia.edu for more information on enrollment requirements and the course waiting list.