EBOOK: Managing Consultants

EBOOK: Managing Consultants
Author: Timothy Clark
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Education (UK)
Total Pages: 162
Release: 1995-11-16
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 033523108X

Managers are increasingly being convinced from all sides that traditional structures, systems and cultures are no longer appropriate to today's competitive conditions; and that organizations must change fundamentally. It is in the context of these pressures that managers feel it increasingly necessary to seek external support by turning to those who offer some solution to these dilemmas - the management consultants. This book argues that the initial selection of a management consultancy and the subsequent evaluation of the quality of service they deliver are inherently problematic. Two root causes are identified: the structure and dynamics of the management consultancy industry; and the characteristics of the management consultancy service. Timothy Clark examines how these problems are overcome by revealing the foundations of a successful and long-term client-consultant relationship. In a departure from previous analyses of management consultancy he argues that the key to understanding consultancy and its success is to appreciate that successful consultancy, in it methods at least, emphasizes the active management of the client-consultant relationship. At the core of successful consultancy is the art of impression management. A consultant seeks to create a reality which persuades the client that they have purchased a high-quality service. The work of consultants is analysed and understood in terms of the theatrical analogy or dramaturgical metaphor. A consultancy intervention is therefore conceived of as a dramatic event. This is illustrated with reference to two types of consultancy work - executive search (i.e. headhunting) and the work of management gurus.

House of Lies

House of Lies
Author: Martin Kihn
Publisher: Hachette+ORM
Total Pages: 222
Release: 2009-05-01
Genre: Humor
ISBN: 0446562467

In the bestselling tradition of Liar's Poker comes a devastatingly accurate and darkly hilarious behind-the-scenes look at the wonderful world of management consulting. Once upon a time in Corporate America there was a group of men and women who were paid huge fees to tell organizations what they were doing wrong and how to improve themselves. These men and women promised everything and delivered nothing, said they were experts when they were not, sometimes ruined careers, and at best, only wasted time, energy, and huge sums of money. They called themselves Management Consultants…. Welcome to the world of Martin Kihn, a former standup comic and Emmy® Award-nominated television writer who decided to “go straight” and earn his MBA at a prestigious Ivy League university. In HOUSE OF LIES, he brazenly chronicles his first two years as a newly-minted management consultant: featuring his struggles with erroneous advice, absurd arrogance, and bloody power struggles. Hey, it’s all in a day’s work— and it pays really well!

Essential Tools for Management Consulting

Essential Tools for Management Consulting
Author: Simon Burtonshaw-Gunn
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 180
Release: 2010-03-01
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0470745932

The second book in the Essential Tools For series... on the topic of Management Consulting Based on Simon Burtonshaw-Gunn's successful The Essential Management Toolbox, this book focuses in greater depth on the topic of Management Consulting. This second book looks at how a management consultant needs to think, view and analyse the workings of an existing organisation in order to efficiently and effectively work to improve the issues facing a business. Check out the new series website featuring sample chapters, tool of the month and solve your management problems by talking direct to the author www.essentialtoolsseries.com Second title in a new series that expands on the information in Simon Burtonshaw-Gunn’s The Essential Toolbox This volume includes 30% new material in the form of new tools and techniques for guiding consultants Covers: Development of Management Consultancy; Problem resolution and Decision Making; Top 10 Tools for Consultancy Interventions; Consultancy delivery and Facilitation; Consultancy Governance and Ethics Active author, Simon Burtonshaw-Gunn speaks regularly Easy to use practical tools and techniques guiding the consultant and business person through their organisational conflicts About the Author: Simon Burtonshaw-Gunn is a practising management consultant with over 30 years experience in both the public and private sectors and covering a range of organizations and industries. He holds two Master's degrees and a PhD in various Strategic Management topics. This second book includes a forward by Malik Salameh.

Task, Firm Size, and 0rganizational Structure in Management Consulting

Task, Firm Size, and 0rganizational Structure in Management Consulting
Author: Michael Graubner
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 328
Release: 2007-11-06
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 3835093363

Michael Graubner investigates consultancies' organizational structure in terms of structural differentiation, specialization, centralization, and formalization. He analyzes extensive qualitative and quantitative data obtained during a series of personal interviews in consulting firms with offices in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. The results show that organizational size and to a lesser degree task uncertainty are closely associated with organizational structure.

The Management Consultant

The Management Consultant
Author: Richard Newton
Publisher: Pearson Education
Total Pages: 324
Release: 2010
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9780273730873

Guide for professional management consultants showing how to develop skills and attributes for client-centric consulting.

Management Consultancy Insights and Real Consultancy Projects

Management Consultancy Insights and Real Consultancy Projects
Author: Graham Manville
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 329
Release: 2017-10-02
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1317102061

The field of management consultancy research has grown rapidly in recent years. Fuelled by the drivers of complexity and uncertainty, a growing number of organizations – both profit and third sector alike – are looking at management consultancy to assist in their aims for development and change. Consultants have become a common feature in organizational change initiatives, involved in both providing advice and in implementing ideas and solutions. However, despite this growing recognition and influence, management consultancy is still often misunderstood or criticized for its lack of theoretical underpinning. The book seeks to address these issues by offering applied theoretical insights from academics that both teach and practice management consultancy. Written by recognized experts in their field, the contributors combine original insights with authoritative analysis. Uniquely, this book identifies emerging themes with critical discourse and provides rich empirical case study evidence to show the reader how management consultancy projects are implemented. Real-world international consultancy projects are featured as written up cases featuring organizations from multi-national corporations to the public sector. Written for graduate level managers or those who have practical leadership experience, this book will enable readers to apply management consultancy models beyond a classroom context

The Everything Start Your Own Consulting Business Book

The Everything Start Your Own Consulting Business Book
Author: Dan Ramsey
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 309
Release: 2009-10-18
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1605509914

Consultants work in all fields. They operate from offices and from home, work for investment firms and as personal trainers, or have expertise as accountants and wedding planners. The independence, flexibility, and potential income it brings make for an exciting and satisfying career. And it’s an increasingly popular one for highly skilled, motivated professionals who’ve been laid off in this unstable economy. This guide features tips and tricks to help beat the competition, including how to: Set—and keep—personal and financial goals Organize important paperwork Price and market specific services Create advertising and publicity plans Grow a business, from finding a partner to managing employees Minimize and eliminate business risks Consultants are paid well for their advice—if they know how to operate a successful business. With advice from experts in a variety of areas, this valuable guide helps you create the business of your dreams!

Data Driven

Data Driven
Author: Jeremy David Curuksu
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 197
Release: 2018-06-06
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 3319702297

This book is a “scientific” introduction to management consulting that covers elementary and more advanced concepts, such as strategy and client-relationship. It discusses the emerging role of information technologies in consulting activities and introduces the essential tools in data science, assuming no technical background. Drawing on extensive literature reviews with more than 200 peer reviewed articles, reports, books and surveys referenced, this book has at least four objectives: to be scientific, modern, complete and concise. An interactive version of some sections (industry snapshots, method toolbox) is freely accessible at econsultingdata.com.

Management Consulting Projects

Management Consulting Projects
Author: Ronald G. Cook
Publisher:
Total Pages: 160
Release: 2021
Genre: Business consultants
ISBN: 9781032005157

This textbook provides students with an easy to use, proven roadmap for completing a successful consulting project from start to finish. Primarily designed for students who work as outside consultants on solving client problems and investigating potential opportunities, the textbook's structure first explains the consulting process to students and then depicts it in a chronological flow, using real-life examples to demonstrate practical application. Each section builds upon the previous one, focusing on the development of critical thinking, problem solving, and communication skills for employability. Now in its 6th edition, this text has been fully revised to bring it up to date with the current business context and global environment, including: A major expansion of the tools and resources needed for students to conduct research on a client's situation. A new final chapter that ties the overarching consulting process together and focuses on how the student should use this experience for their own professional development. New examples of award-winning projects to provide practical guidance. Fresh material on the use of new technologies in the consulting process, ethics and data management, and remote working. This well-renowned model promotes a conceptual understanding of the consulting process and the interactions between and among students, the team, the client and the instructor. Management Consulting Projects should be essential reading for experiential Business Consulting modules, Small Business Management and Strategic Management at postgraduate and MBA level.

An Ancient Greek Philosophy of Management Consulting

An Ancient Greek Philosophy of Management Consulting
Author: David Shaw
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 193
Release: 2022-01-01
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 303090959X

Management consultancy practice is particularly concerned with helping clients implement strategic organisational change. But what exactly are organisations, and management consultancy interventions in them? Management consulting is said to be a knowledge-intensive industry. But what kind of knowledge do management consultants possess, and how far can we rely on it? Management consultants are often criticised for unethical exploitation of their clients. But how ought management consultants to behave in order to meet acceptable ethical standards? These are questions about the philosophical topics of ontology, epistemology and ethics. The ancient Greek philosophers thought deeply about these topics, and their ideas remain fresh and relevant even to so modern a subject matter as management consulting. Writing between the end of the sixth and the end of the fourth century BCE, these philosophers were drawing upon an intellectual tradition that was very different from our own, and were responding to social and economic conditions that were wholly unlike ours. Approaching these philosophical questions from a perspective that is radically different from our own, their work provides a rich resource for novel thinking about management consulting. From the speculations of the Presocratic philosophers Heraclitus, Parmenides, Leucippus and Democritus about the nature of the universe to the thought of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle about the nature of human beings, this book uses the work of these great thinkers as a lens through which to study major philosophical questions about management consulting. Examined in this way, many established assumptions and principles of management consultancy practice seem questionable, and new ways of thinking possible.