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Clients
Services
Assignments
Consultants
Careers
Budget and Fees
External Communication
General Questions
What does the name CDS stand for / indicate / signify?
CDS stands for Consulting and Development Services; this signifies putting management consulting at the service of developing client organizations
For how many years has CDS been active?
CDS was created in 1994
Who are the main shareholders of CDS?
Mr. Georges Hatem is the founder and main shareholder of CDS
Is CDS affiliated to another company?
In the past few years, CDS has often been solicited to partner with some of the world’s largest consulting firms. To date, CDS remains an independent management consulting firm with no affiliations whatsoever
Where are CDS branches / offices located?
From its home base in Beirut, CDS covers the entire Arab world, and beyond
In what countries has CDS been active?
To date, CDS has been active in the following regions:
- The whole MENA region
- The GCC
- Cyprus
- Western and Eastern Europe
- West Africa
In what languages can CDS operate?
- CDS consultants work in English, Arabic, and French
- The possibility to work in any of these three languages includes client meetings as well as report preparation
What are the typical working hours at CDS?
CDS consultants are always available to meet client requirements
What is the legal status of CDS?
- CDS s.a.r.l. handles all projects in Lebanon
- CDS S.A.L. handles all projects outside Lebanon
What is the profile of a CDS Partner / Managing Director?
Refer to the section “Founding partner”
Clients
In what industries / economic sectors does CDS work?
Refer to section “Industry expertise”
Does CDS work for public sector clients?
Yes, CDS is active in the private sector, in the public sector, and with NGOs
Can CDS take assignments in industries in which it has never worked before?
- CDS has already been active in a wide variety of industries and sectors and has developed experience and functional and sectoral expertise in all of them
- CDS consultants have the right profile and skills to work in any sector
Who are CDS clients?
CDS clients are leading companies in their respective fields; they all share high standards in terms of work ethics and professionalism
Services
What are the main services offered by CDS?
CDS is primarily active in strategy [definition and deployment], and change management [restructuring programs, reorganization, quality improvement, cost reduction, and implementation]
What does Business Process Reengineering mean?
- BPR stands for “Business Process Reengineering”
- A work process is a series of tasks triggered by an input and organized in a manner to deliver an output
- BPR aims to optimize work processes in order to improve quality and decrease costs
Does CDS perform feasibility studies?
CDS helps its clients on these issues only within the context of a wider strategy or change management assignment
Does CDS offer HR training / recruiting services?
CDS may help its clients on these issues only within the context of a wider strategy or change management assignment
Does CDS perform financial audits?
No; in fact, CDS believes that there is a strong conflict of interest between management consulting and financial audit
Does CDS perform ISO certification?
No; however, the work of CDS can greatly facilitate ISO certification
Assignments
What is the typical duration of a project?
- The duration of a project is influenced by the scope of work and the degree of urgency
- In all cases, CDS always respects agreed deadlines
How does CDS deal with confidentiality issues?
- CDS has its own code of ethics; its work procedures include a number of practices to ensure that client information is properly handled and safeguarded and that conflict of interests situations are avoided
- CDS is bound by a confidentiality agreement with each of its clients
- All members of the CDS team are bound by confidentiality agreements with CDS
As a consulting professional at CDS, how frequently should I expect to travel outside Lebanon?
- Travel outside Lebanon is typically associated with client assignments; its frequency and timing is therefore driven by client and project requirements
- On average, travel outside Lebanon does not exceed 50% of consultants’ total working time
Consultants
What is the typical profile / background of CDS consultants?
Refer to the Section “Our consultants”
What is the structure of CDS?
In addition to Administration and other support staff, CDS structure is made of five levels:
- Partner
- Manager
- Associate
- Consultant
- Analyst
Within these categories, different levels of seniority exist
Careers
Could you hire my nephew? He is very bright and he has just graduated from a well-known business school in the US
The recruiting process of all candidates is handled by the Recruiting Committee, according to a standardized set of processes and criteria
As a new recruit, how much training will I receive?
Plenty, and in a variety of ways:
- On the job training from day 1 at CDS
- CDS internal training sessions
- Self learning (reading is a must)
- CDS Library
- Selected external training sessions/seminars/conferences
Budget and Fees
How does CDS compute the budget of a project?
- CDS budgets are directly related to the scope of work of a project; they are based on the mix of consultants needed, the expected workload of each consultant, and on CDS daily rates by seniority
- CDS rates are the same for all clients and cannot be modified
Is CDS paid based on success?
Payment modes and schedules are decided with each client on a case-by-case basis
External Communication
With whom should I talk if my company wishes to call upon CDS?
Please contact Mr. Georges Hatem, the Managing Director of CDS
Does CDS communicate in universities?
CDS frequently makes presentations in selected universities about management consulting and about CDS
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