Inherently Flawed Strategy for Strategy Consulting Firm - Consultant Mars & Co Employee Review

2.0
Jun 29, 2019
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

- Exposure to F200 clients; except actual on-site work can be limited - Great company for CPG industry experience; ~80-90% of projects have CPG focus - All promotions internal; if you stick around long enough, you will be promoted - (Finally) attempting to address some of the issues mentioned below - Can get a nice functional variety in projects (market analysis, growth strat, etc.)

Cons

- Best consultants leave in 1-2 years, causing mass exodus of talent - Consultant exodus leads to reactive company promotions to retain leftover talent and fill gaps by rewarding less-able consultants who stuck around long enough - Inherently faulty strategy leads to obvious failure loop: 1) All VPs promoted from within so only have CPG experience and can't sell projects in other industries; 2) Historical one client per industry model makes it harder for new VPs to sell projects to other CPG clients; 3) new VPs become glorified project managers (with greater impact of Mars' bonus cash pool) of projects sold by other VPs (this has changed recently but I am skeptical of a lasting trend); 4) This leads to smaller bonuses for rest of company (expediting exodus cycle mentioned earlier)

Explore other reviews about Mars & Co

5.0
Dec 9, 2024
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Collaborative workplace. Abundant opportunities to hone skills and grow.

Cons

No significant issues. Sometimes struggles with communication.

1
4.0
Mar 19, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The people are great to work with

Cons

Management can be a hit or miss

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