Scott Hicks

Director, Strategic and Business Planning, Vale Inco
B.A.Sc.  Mining Engineering, Queen’s University

On going from engineering to strategy consulting:
Mentorship was one of the greatest rewards of joining Oliver Wyman right out of my undergraduate program.  I found that the best way to learn business strategy was to work alongside experienced and capable professionals.  From them, I learned crucial skills such as time management, organization under pressure, all the way through to complex business concepts.  By generating client alignment and creating professional presentations, I learned to develop and sell my ideas with Oliver Wyman, earning the respect of colleagues and senior leaders wherever I now go.

On exploring new sectors, new firms and new places:
While at Oliver Wyman, I had the opportunity to work with various team sizes to tackle a wide spectrum of interesting corporate problems in a variety of locations.  Learning new industries and new skills simultaneously was exciting, especially because I was working directly with clients, not in a back office.

Fortunately, travel was not all work!  Case team highlights included skiing at Whistler, visiting British Columbia and rock-climbing in California.  Exploration options – whether places, corporate cultures or case subjects – were virtually endless.

On linking diverse concepts in far-off places:
One of the benefits of working across different industries and with various clients was being able to lend a fresh perspective.  Solutions found to work in one place can often unlock value in others, often where it might not have been expected.  Consultants are some of the few unique professionals who are empowered to develop ideas for such a wide variety of sectors and corporate cultures.

Now back in mining, the industry I originally studied, I have called on approaches developed while working with Oliver Wyman on diverse cases in aviation, textiles and technology, to solve profitability and long-term planning challenges facing operations.

On Oliver Wyman’s strong alumni network and where it can lead:
During my final year with Oliver Wyman, I faced an exciting decision: attend a prestigious MBA program or tackle an exciting new challenge back on familiar terrain.  A former Oliver Wyman Partner trusted me for a stretch position in Corporate Development at Inco Ltd and it was an excellent experience in M&A and strategy.  Following that, I facilitated strategic and financial planning for a subsidiary while living with my family overseas, and have had the opportunity to travel around the world. 

Based largely on the core strengths developed at Oliver Wyman, I have enjoyed working with cross-discipline teams in positions of increasing responsibility within industry and enjoy keeping in touch with many current Oliver Wyman professionals and Alumni.