Business Consulting

Programs & Courses › Specializations

While not a formal specialization, Schulich offers a select number of students the opportunity to consider a career in business consulting and gain valuable real-world experience through the York Consulting Group.

Gain genuine consulting experience and make valuable contacts in a format that analyses a client’s unique situation and proposes actionable solutions to complex real-world business problems.

York Consulting Group

York Consulting Group (YCG) is a student-run management consulting firm that specializes in addressing the needs of small and medium-sized enterprises. It is Canada’s largest business school consulting service.

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Kostas Tsambourlianos, Director, York Consulting Group

Specialization Details by Category

Study Options

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Available delivery options

Full-time 36 months

Location(s)

Schulich School of Business - Keele Campus Toronto
York University - Keele Campus Toronto
Miles S. Nadal Management Centre Toronto

Graduation Requirements

Available delivery options

Full-time 48 months

Location(s)

Schulich School of Business - Keele Campus

Graduation Requirements

To graduate, a student must achieve an overall GPA of at least 4.40. Students must complete the following to be eligible to graduate from the program:

MGMT 5500 0.00
45.00 credits of Schulich School of Business courses
first year program at Osgoode Hall Law School
45 academic credits of upper year Osgoode Hall Law School courses, including:
- successful completion of the Joint MBA/JD Seminar in the final year of the Joint Program;
- 2nd and 3rd year legal research and writing requirement (Osgoode);
- Business Associations or the Fiduciary Relationships in Commercial Context module;
- Administrative Law or the Principles of Administrative Law lecture; and
- at least one course or program with an experiential practicum component (“Praxicum”)
- successful completion of Administrative Law (LW 2010)
40 hour Osgoode Public Interest Requirement (OPIR)

Additional promotion standards apply.

Available delivery options

Full-time 16 to 20 months
Part-time 36 to 40 months
Accelerated Full-time 8 to 12 months
Accelerated Part-time 16 to 20 months

Location(s)

Keele Campus Toronto, Canada
Miles S. Nadal Management Centre Downtown Toronto, Canada

Graduation Requirements

Courses

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Requirements

Minimum 2 years of full time work experience.

Students need to spend a minimum of two terms in YCG and complete a minimum of 100 hours in consulting activities.

As part of their participation in the York Consulting Group, students enrol in a unique experiential course, MGMT 6960 3.00, Management Consulting. The course runs over 26 weeks and consists of workshops, case studies, and actual consulting assignments. Under the supervision of faculty, students learn to engage clients, develop consulting proposals, undertake consulting work, complete appropriate business research and compose consulting reports. Students are assessed on their performance in these assignments, as well as initiatives they undertake to promote and improve the work of YCG. Students can only register for the course with the approval of the YCG directors.

NOTE: YCG requires a minimum of two full terms commitment and recruitment drives happen twice a year around October and February. Accelerated full-time students wishing to participate in YCG will have to spend an additional term in order to complete the requirements for the program.

Recommended Electives

MGMT 6300 3.00 CASE ANALYSIS AND PRESENTATION SKILLS
This course is designed to give students the opportunity to practice and develop their analytical thinking and presentation skills. The key objective of the course is to train students to successfully participate in national and international case competitions. A secondary objective is to prepare students to successfully interview for management consulting positions. Second-year MBA students who enjoy analyzing cases and delivering presentations are encouraged to take the course.
Prerequisites: SB/ACTG 5100 3.00, SB/MGMT 6150 3.00 (Previously offered as MGMT 5150 3.00), SB/MKTG 5200 3.00, SB/SUST 5200 3.00 (Prior to S23 SB/SGMT 5800 3.00; prior to W20 SB/MGMT 5260 3.0) & SB/ORGS 5100 3.00
Corequisite: SB/SGMT 6000 3.00
OMIS 6750 3.00 PROJECT MANAGEMENT
This course covers the strategic, organizational and operational aspects of managing projects. Students learn to manage the technical, behavioural, political and cultural aspects of temporary groups performing unique tasks. Topics covered include: defining deliverables, formulating project strategy, effective group organization and management, dynamically allocating resources, managing without authority, and resolving conflict. Traditional cost and time management techniques are covered Microsoft Office and open-source, free project management software.

Prerequisite: All 5100-series Required Foundations of Management Core Courses
Course Credit Exclusion: SB/MGMT 6700 3.00
MGMT 6960 3.00 MANAGEMENT CONSULTING
MBA students active in the York Consulting Group (YCG) for a minimum of two terms, may receive course credit for their experience. This experiential course will give participants a comprehensive understanding of management consulting through fieldwork, preparing proposals and completing client projects and participation in YCG business meetings, educational workshops and professional development events.

Faculty

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Faculty members have extensive experience in consulting and have also been responsible for directing Schulich’s famous ‘601’ Strategy Field Study course which is the capstone experience of the Schulich MBA.

Selected faculty members

James Mackay
Adjunct Professor of Strategic Management; Director, Strategy Field Study Program; Director, York Consulting Group
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Career Opportunities

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Students will develop skills for a wide range of management consulting services for organizations ranging from small entrepreneurial to multinational corporations. Additionally each student commits to work at least 20 hours per week for the YCG for a minimum of 2 consecutive terms. Previous consulting projects have spanned a wide range of industries and have included: marketing plans, feasibility studies, promotional strategies, industry analyses, financial forecasts, business plans, competitor research and organizational audits.

The Schulich Centre for Career Design

Your career is top priority at Schulich. To make career decisions that are right for you, the CCD will help you identify strengths, determine career objectives, develop career plans, hone skills for career management and put your professional development plan into action.

- Our highly experienced CCD Advisors bring a unique combination of first-hand knowledge, experience and diverse perspectives in a wide variety of businesses and industry sectors.

- Take advantage of a series of proven career-building modules, including up-to-date Job Search Techniques, Self-Assessment, Resume and Cover Letter Writing, and Interview Skills to help you stand out from the competition.

- Corporate Information Sessions offer you an opportunity to meet top level recruiters, alumni and executives.
Visit the Centre for Career Design

Student Clubs

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Founded in 1972, the York Consulting Group (YCG) has grown to become Canada’s largest year-round business school consulting service. It offers a range of management consulting services to a spectrum of business that range from small entrepreneurial organizations to multinational corporations. Its consultants are MBA students currently enrolled in Schulich. Each student has at least 2 years of full-time work experience and commits to work at least 20 hours per week for the YCG for a minimum of 2 consecutive terms. In addition to work experience, preferred candidates for YCG positions have strong academic backgrounds. As part of the screening process for appointment, students must complete a special YCG case study assignment and be interviewed by a YCG representative.