Schulich’s student-run consulting group helping real-world organizations
Real-world learning is one of the hallmarks of a Schulich education.One of the best examples of that is the York Consulting Group (YCG), a hands-on consulting group run by Schulich MBA students and supervised by Schulich faculty that also happens to be Canada’s largest business school consulting service.
Founded more than 50 years ago, YCG has assisted countless organizations over many decades while helping hone the management skills of our students and launch numerous successful careers in the consulting industry.
In this month’s column, YCG academic executive director and highly accomplished senior management executive Kostas Tsambourlianos provides an engaging and heartfelt account of how the consulting group not only sharpens our students’ analytical and strategic skills, but also delivers actionable solutions for real-world clients.
Best,
Detlev Zwick, PhD
Dean, Tanna H. Schulich Chair in Digital Marketing Strategy
Schulich School of Business
Schulich’s York Consulting Group: Real Clients, Real Problems, Real World
Time stands still for no person, no business, no government, and if you are lucky enough, no education institution. When I started teaching International Business at Schulich fifteen years ago, fresh off my own MBA, the world – especially the academic world – was a very different place. I’m sure it reflects many of the changes we each see in our own day-to-day lives. But looking forward has always been the card I play.
The YCG (York Consulting Group), where I’ve served as academic executive director for the past four years, is one of these unique parts of the School that sits at the crossroads between the past and the future. Our clients are at a crossroads of their own, between the past and future, struggles and success. Many of the students who are part of YCG are also at a crossroads, between “Pre MBA” and “Post MBA”, and they work in YCG (it’s not a course, it’s an experience). That’s not where the magic happens though.
The magic happens when you get to look a client in the eye and connect with them on the problem they’re having. This isn’t some business case carefully constructed to deliver valuable business lessons. Often our clients come to us with their problem and are asking for help. Sometimes they are asking for help to solve a problem, but don’t know if they are solving a symptom or the root cause. Are they solving for the problem in the context of legacy operations or a strategic one? Or are they looking to solve for a problem they see coming?
At Schulich, students have many different options that range from taking great courses that will impress a future employer to racking up solid grades for dean’s list or other exclusive co-op opportunities during one of the many career fairs the school puts on.
At YCG, we’re different. We make it real.
Students apply to become part of YCG in the same way they apply to many different student clubs that the School offers. The differences start there. At YCG, we ask: Why should we “hire” you? What will you do for “us”? What skills do you bring? Pretty standard fare for a real job. We also ask: Where will you find clients? What kind of projects do you want to work on? What kind of problems do you like solving? How much time can you put in? I’m sure many of the students think for a fleeting moment, “Have I graduated and am applying for a real-life consulting job?” Well, no and yes. You haven’t graduated yet, and yes this is a real-life job. You even get paid.
YCG is a place that can help a municipality figure out the economics for a new multi-sport arena in a fast-growing suburb. When we started that project, it seemed straightforward enough, but when you start pulling the strings on the different parts, it quickly becomes a complicated tapestry of intersecting problems that is a real world PESTLE analysis. There I go, breaking my own advice to never talk like an MBA.
One of the proudest moments of my business or academic career happened during some of the darkest times of the Covid lockdowns, when everyone in the world, let alone our students, were trying to find their feet. Desjardins and YCG partnered, which means Desjardins funded an effort to help 20 of their clients across all walks of life to weather the pandemic storm. We were in the position of having these 20 “patients” walk through the door, and every single patient presented a different problem.
It was exhilarating to be able to help many of these small entrepreneurs come up with a solid plan to not only weather the Covid storm but position them for success as a new day dawned. Many times, it was real-life open-heart surgery, with people’s entire net worth on the line, and they looked to us to help them. There was a lot of pride during those weeks and months, with the Zoom screens crackling with energy as the YCG students worked tirelessly to apply their new-found skills.
There is a lengthy list of clients our consultants worked with through the years. Each of those clients had a different problem, a different challenge, a new idea. Many of them are a microcosm of, “I’m an entrepreneur, built this small business by investing my whole net worth in it, and now I’m stuck.” Some of those clients offered real-life jobs to our consultants.
Real clients, real problems, real world.
That’s the YCG experience.
Kostas Tsambourlianos
Academic Executive Director, York Consulting Group
Schulich School of Business