Dean & Company Reviews

Pros

Medium sized company comprised of intelligent and personable professionals Communicative culture with emphasis on achieving more Issue quality hardware and try to provide all requested items to promote productivity Benefits Diverse in business endeavors, ensuring profits

Cons

Sometimes legacy workflows were maintained to appease upper management Diverse in business endeavors, which requires internal silos making certain communications restrictive

Pros

Small firm feel and visibility

Cons

Partners are not truly partners (firm owners). Run like a single owner firm

Pros

Project pipeline is strong Smart and energetic colleagues--- particularly the analysts Interesting work that makes an impact Management is better than in years past

Cons

Project mix not varied Location in suburbs not ideal Remote managers not always engaged Owners not visible and their long-term strategy is unclear

Pros

The work tends to be very analytical and interesting and the clients are top-tier. The recruiting process is very selective so you'll be awed by some of your classmates. Over the last couple years, the company has made a lot of changes and have promoted VP's to CMO and COO, which seems to have put more focus on growing the client base and improving the internal processes. The case managers on average tend to be pretty good. I think this is a great place for a quantitative type to begin learning about business.

Cons

Given that it's a small firm, the work tends to be concentrated in a few clients at any one time. The project flow can be uneven, especially on private equity, so you'll have some 75 hour weeks and other 45 hour weeks. Client contact and travel is uneven across projects. The training program is OK, but could use some upgrades

Pros

Analysts tend to be an interesting, smart and collegiate bunch. The work is quite analytical and of the quality and complexity you could expect at other top-shelf consulting shops

Cons

The CEO runs this company like his fiefdom, and top management are incompetent and spineless. Work and new clients tend to be difficult to come by as upper management tend not to be well-connected. Most are PHDs in Math/Science and tend not to be managerial types. Besides, this firm unlike other consulting firms does not have partners; the partners are called VP's and the firm is definitely not run like a partnership, with control concentrated at the CEO level. As others have noted, top management tend to focus on the energy business. The more forceful VPs negotiated transfers to the energy side, leaving the impression that the consulting business was very much a sinking ship. Staffing policies are extremely non-transparent and working hours and style are extremely variable depending on case and manager. During the recession, it was common for teams to be under-staffed, clients were given large discounts, and tremendous pressure was put on teams to deliver above what was promised. Unannounced staff-cuts were common, and these were managed poorly with very little communication from management about the future prospects/plans of the company. Poor mentoring and feedback except during formal bi-annual reviews. Training too is non-existent and analysts are often expected to learn whilst working very long hours. Representations of the company as a fun place to work and a pleasant environment during the recruiting process are outright deceitful Finally, the office is pretty dismal with faded green carpeting, plenty of windowless interior offices and jail cell-like lighting. Moreover, the building turns off the air-conditioning at 8pm, and unless you are very lucky you will often stay past 8pm.