...Richard Ivey School of Business, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada, N6A 3K7; phone (519) 661-3208; fax (519) 661-3882; e-mail cases@ivey.uwo.ca. Copyright © 2004, Ivey Management Services Version: (A) 2009-10-07 That’s not at the Matthews standard! You’re going to have to perform at a higher level if you want to work here! Summer Associate Moez Kassam slowly rubbed his temples as his senior manager, Sherif Mahfouz, at Matthews Management Consulting stormed out of the client office they shared. It was early August 2003, and Kassam had been in Abu Dhabi for only two weeks. Already his dream assignment was becoming a nightmare. He felt he could do no right, and was beginning to lose confidence in his abilities. This was the third time he had been scolded, and he felt his chance of leveraging the internship into a full-time offer with Matthews was in serious jeopardy. THE CONSULTING INDUSTRY Since the burst of the dot-com bubble in 2000, many articles, in business magazines, had characterized the industry’s decline and even forecasted its demise. With the consulting industry’s role in scandals such as Enron, the glut of MBA...
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...Kassam Moez: Consulting Intern Table of Contents 1. Executive Summary 1 2. Problem Identification 2 2.1 Key Facts 2 2.2 Problem Statement 2 3. Analysis 2 4. Alternatives 4 4.1 Decision Criteria 4 4.2 Alternatives 4 5. Recommendation 5 6. Action plan 6 7. Annotated Bibliographies 7 1. Executive Summary Ebrahim El Kalza’s internship at Matthews Management Consulting has taken a turn for the worse. After initially being rejected for the Abu Dhabi assignment, he found his way onto the team after inception, to assist with client interviews. However, being unprepared for the intensity of it all, has his head spinning. Despite exerting a great deal of effort, his work is constantly being criticized, and he can’t seem to get on the same page as his supervisor (Sherif Mahfouz), leaving him to wonder how he can salvage something positive during his remaining days in Abu Dhabi, and secure a job offer. Mahfouz is charged with growing the Middle Eastern business; his success is tied to the existing engagement, and he is somewhat dependent on El Kalza to support his efforts. At the heart of the problem is ineffective communication, which has led to interpersonal conflict between them. Their poor communication perpetuates the perception of conflict, further eroding the relationship, and jeopardizing the mutual goal of successfully completing the project, which will negatively impact their individual goals. In order to resolve this problem...
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