Chapter 2: Bridging The Divide: Enhancing the Real-World Experience in a Management Consulting Course

How can a university management consulting course bridge the academic/practitioner divide in order to achieve relevance? This chapter describes the nature of the problem, examines a variety of methods suggested by others and provides a more detailed overview of the approach adopted in the management consulting course at Memorial University. Like many university-based consulting courses, the management consulting course at Memorial University operates in two environments: the client’s real world environment and the university’s academic environment. What is likely most distinctive about Memorial’s approach is that within the university environment it attempts to extend and replicate the real world experience by requiring students to engage in the consulting process as members of a simulated professional consulting firm, complete with senior partners, managing partners and practice leads. The replication of organization structures and processes were key goals guiding the development of the course; their inclusion arguably enhances the course experience but do require a greater commitment of resources.