What is the difference between Business Analyst and Management Consultant (1 Viewer)

[AtarKing]

Both seem appealing to me as career prospects but I'm not entirely sure what the difference is. Also, as I'm in year 12 and yet to choose my preferences, I am unsure which degrees and/or majors which be best for each i.e IS or Commerce and their constituent majors.

 

[seremify007]

I'd say the simplest differentiation traditionally has been whether they are inwards/internal looking within their own organisation (BA) or external focused for other companies (MC). That being said both titles are very broad now and some large companies have internal MCs, and the traditional scope/role/responsibility of these jobs has broadened or being included in other roles now (eg someone working in a department may have 20% of their time set aside for 'improvement projects').

 

[enoilgam]

I'd say the simplest differentiation traditionally has been whether they are inwards/internal looking within their own organisation (BA) or external focused for other companies (MC). That being said both titles are very broad now and some large companies have internal MCs, and the traditional scope/role/responsibility of these jobs has broadened or being included in other roles now (eg someone working in a department may have 20% of their time set aside for 'improvement projects').

This pretty much. "Business Analyst" is one of the most broad and common titles in the commercial world and it can encompass a wide variety of backgrounds and degrees. Generally speaking, a degree in Commerce majoring in finance/economics/accounting is probably the most relevant pathway for becoming a BA. External management consulting is also a broad field, though mainly because the title has been muddied by gross misuse (some B2B salesman like to call themselves "management consultants", which is akin to having a First Aid certificate and calling yourself a Heart Surgeon). So Im going to assume you are talking about roles with organisations like BCG, McKinsey, AT Kearney etc. This field is probably the most difficult commerce field to break into and you need an advanced level degree (i.e. Engineering, Law, Maths etc) to have a chance - a straight business degree wont cut it.

 

[wrong_turn]

The difference mainly is the depth of work normally required for each role.

Business Analysts are traditionally gatherers of information and usually help organise and facilitate the project including priority of tasks/work and booking of meetings.
Management Consultants also complete roles of a Business Analyst some of the time but they also have greater involvement on the direction of the project where they will usually do the analysis as well. They are also usually the people who present at Project presentations ( aka Project Steering Groups).

I hope that might help you.

 

[seremify007]

I think given I've done a stint in management consulting now, I'd probably add that a BA role is typically a little more structured around the analysis aspect and typically you have already been given some framework as to what you want to analyse/what decision you are trying to support. There is potential for a lot of depth here too as you are very focused on specific needs.

MC on the other hand is far broader and you haven't got the luxury of guidance or framework and you're very often just coming up with it as you go along (not totally winging it though). You are there to help define the frameworks, the target operating model, the end state/goal, etc... and you are able to do that because you've done the analysis/had experience elsewhere. Traditionally the role was more about coming up with the vision but nowadays it's very much about implementation and execution too, and some skin in the game

 

[Confound]

I think given I've done a stint in management consulting now, I'd probably add that a BA role is typically a little more structured around the analysis aspect and typically you have already been given some framework as to what you want to analyse/what decision you are trying to support. There is potential for a lot of depth here too as you are very focused on specific needs.

MC on the other hand is far broader and you haven't got the luxury of guidance or framework and you're very often just coming up with it as you go along (not totally winging it though). You are there to help define the frameworks, the target operating model, the end state/goal, etc... and you are able to do that because you've done the analysis/had experience elsewhere. Traditionally the role was more about coming up with the vision but nowadays it's very much about implementation and execution too, and some skin in the game

Was your stint in mergers integrations/separations service line of big4?

 

[seremify007]

Was your stint in mergers integrations/separations service line of big4?

Nope. I was seconded to a large banking client to help them build a new platform for their core business.