RITIKA SHARMA

1910120028

Ans1. Alternative 1: Moving over to Standard Consulting Limited

 Standard consulting was the management consulting farm of the Standard Group of
companies which required growth. Since, the work currently being done by Standard
consulting was of great interest to Cooper, there was an opportunity of working as a
consultant to external clients without the risks of abandoning Standard or
Kirkpatrick’s mentorship. Some aspects of Standard consulting that appealed to him
the most were the rich lifestyle, development of new skills and the benefit of leaning
about the issues as soon as possible for his future. Working under the Standard
Consulting banner would be like getting a new job without sacrificing the flexibility
and decision-making authority that he had earned from Kirkpatrick. If performed
well, Kirkpatrick would even give Cooper the opportunity to take over the company
and move it in any direction he wanted.

Alternative 2: Incorporating an Independent Consultancy

 Incorporating his own consultancy was something that Cooper had already been
considering for last 6 months. Through the network of contacts not doing business
with Standard, Cooper thought that he could start his consultancy with only 3 clients.
Moreover, Kirkpatrick was losing interest in some of Standard’s current clients which
provided Cooper with another opportunity to grow up his list of clients. There was a
great opportunity to bill Debra Foster’s company, named Geometric Management for
consulting services which could lead to higher profile engagements but the type of
work that Geometric needed to get the work done would require a lot of contact with
its network. There were other possible clients that were inappropriate for Standard
and that there would be no conflict in pursuing them for his own consultancy. There
was one more possible client that Cooper identified which was a minerals and mining
company which decided to bring the product to market on its own and that its
operations-based management team would require a thorough analysis of the
competitive landscape, a marketing plan and a website that Cooper could outsource
through another contact in his network while still making margin on those extra costs.
Moreover, as good as the opportunities seemed to Cooper, it was really difficult for
him to announce his departure from Standard after 5 years of knowledge transfer and
life-changing leadership training from Kirkpatrick.

Ans2. If I was Cooper, wondering about the reaction I would receive after communicating
my decision to Alan, if he would feel betrayed or the knowledge and trust that I gained under
Alan’s mentorship would not disappear, I would calmly present my dilemma to Alan. If all
the benefits and opportunities of incorporating my own consultancy and leaving Standard are
presented to Alan in a systematic way, then he might even be supportive for my decision.
Being successful in my independent consultancy should be a point of pride for Alan as he is a
selfless person and I hope to become as good a mentor as Alan had been to me in my 5 years
of career in Standard Group of Companies.