Dangerous Company
Author: James E. O'Shea
Publisher:
Published: 1998
Total Pages: 0
ISBN-13: 9780812926347
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Managing Consultants
Author: Clark, Timothy
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Education (UK)
Published: 1995-11-01
Total Pages: 162
ISBN-13: 033519219X
DOWNLOAD EBOOKManagers 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.
Managing Consultants
Author: Leo Dobes
Publisher: ANU Press
Published: 2016-07-05
Total Pages: 117
ISBN-13: 1760460478
DOWNLOAD EBOOKPublic service cutbacks have increased reliance on consultants. But new legislation and rules governing the procurement of services from consultants are scattered over different legislative instruments. The first edition of this book attracted a record number of online hits. Busy public sector managers now have available to them an updated version that integrates an easy-to-follow, step-by-step guide that incorporates the many practical tips needed for successful procurement activity.
Consulting Start-Up and Management
Author: Gail V. Barrington
Publisher: SAGE
Published: 2011-10-31
Total Pages: 321
ISBN-13: 1412987091
DOWNLOAD EBOOKLooking to start up your own research and evaluation consultancy? For almost 20 years, Gail V. Barrington has run popular workshops to help professional researchers and evaluators determine if they have what it takes to succeed as consultants. This book makes that helpful guidance, and more, available to a wider audience. Barrington shows readers how to get started, set fees, find work, manage time and money, set up an ownership structure and business systems, manage contracts, and work with subcontractors and staff. With Barrington's advice and encouragement, independent practitioners have the roadmap to success!"I would highly recommend it to anyone starting a consulting career. The author has truly singled out the most important lessons to be passed on, both of the practical type and of those related to consultancy."-George Grob, Center for Public Program Evaluation"This book addresses a big and important gap in the evaluation literature. It provides a clear and concise account of what evaluators and applied researchers need to know in order to succeed in independent consulting practice." -Stewart Donaldson, Claremont Graduate University
House of Lies
Author: Martin Kihn
Publisher:
Published: 2014-07-03
Total Pages: 245
ISBN-13: 9781599952895
DOWNLOAD EBOOKIn 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.
Managing NHS Hospital Consultants
Author: Great Britain: National Audit Office
Publisher: The Stationery Office
Published: 2013-02-06
Total Pages: 56
ISBN-13: 9780102980608
DOWNLOAD EBOOKA new contract for hospital consultants, introduced in October 2003, delivered many of the expected benefits. This was in exchange for a significant increase in consultants' pay. By 2011-12, there were around 40,000 hospital consultants employed at a cost to the NHS of £5.6 billion, 97 per cent of whom were on the 2003 contract. Of the expected benefits that could be measured, all have been either fully or partly achieved. More could be done, however, to achieve better value for money by fully realising the benefits set out in the Department's business case. Despite, for example, the contract providing a clear structure for paying for additional work at contractual rates, most trusts still use locally agreed rates of pay for additional work outside job plans, which ranges from £48 to £200 per hour. Pay progression is also the norm and not linked to consultant performance. According to an NAO survey, only 41 per cent of consultants thought that their trust motivated them to achieve the trust's objectives. While most trusts monitor consultant performance, only 43 per cent of trusts (27 per cent of consultants) thought that information was good enough to assess individual consultant performance. Trusts also reported that nearly a fifth of consultants have not had an appraisal in the last 12 months. Many trusts are not implementing the good practice job planning guidance published jointly by NHS Employers and the British Medical Association in 2011.
Exploring the Professional Identity of Management Consultants
Author: Anthony F. Buono
Publisher: IAP
Published: 2013-03-01
Total Pages: 389
ISBN-13: 1623961734
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThe volume is based on the presentations and discussions from the Fifth European Conference on Management Consulting sponsored by the Management Consulting Division of the Academy of Management, which took place June, 2011 at Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The conference theme – Exploring the Professional Identity of Management Consultants – attempted to capture the highly ambiguous social status of this young and emerging profession. Management consulting does not have professional standards or accreditation criteria like those found in medicine or law, there are low barriers to entry, and a broad range of tasks are undertaken in the name of consulting. As a result, a crucial aspect of what constitutes such a loosely defined profession is the identity of its members. The professional identity of management consultants is continuously developing through the interplay of how consultants are seen and valued by clients as well as in the larger society, and how consultancy firms and consultants identify and position themselves. This theme includes a variety of topics, ranging from the interaction between consultants and their clients, consultant rhetoric and self-presentation, and the plethora of books, media and public discourse on consulting, to human resource policies and practices, knowledge development activities of consultancy firms, career and life stories of consultants and consultancies, and consulting associations, accreditation bodies, and education programs. All of these factors contribute, either directly or indirectly, to identity construction in the field of management consulting.
Essential Tools for Management Consulting
Author: Simon Burtonshaw-Gunn
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Published: 2010-03-01
Total Pages: 180
ISBN-13: 0470745932
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThe 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.
Systems Thinking for Management Consultants
Author: Rajneesh Chowdhury
Publisher: Springer
Published: 2020-08-14
Total Pages: 516
ISBN-13: 9789811385322
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThis book discusses how systems thinking and approaches can aid management consultants in navigating the complexities of client advisory in current realities. It thereby brings to the forefront aspects of holism, flexibility and responsibility - the keys to success in today’s world. Management consultants are called in to offer an independent expert view of an organisation/ a situation and are expected to address some of the most pressing problems businesses face. The client does not exist in a silo, but in a complex environment that lies at the intersection of a range of internal and external factors that are often unseen and unpredictable. The organisation itself presents an alien territory that the consultant is expected to acclimatise to within a very short period of time, and come up with solutions that “insiders” would not have been able to visualise. The book presents a range of ideas, concepts and reference cases that are relevant and topical for consultants in their daily work. It argues that systems thinking allows holism and flexibility in management consulting – while holism is about the ability to encompass the environmental and organisational complexity, flexibility is about the ability to think creatively and adopt different approaches to accommodate this complexity. With commentaries, case studies, conceptual models and perspectives that cut across multiple industries, sectors and countries, this book is a valuable resource for academics and professionals alike. The book’s inner pages and its page on Springer.com contain additional comments providing perspectives of clients, industry experts and academia.
International Guide to Management Consultancy
Author: Barry Curnow
Publisher: Kogan Page Publishers
Published: 2005-12-03
Total Pages: 558
ISBN-13: 0749446994
DOWNLOAD EBOOKNow in its second edition, this unique and authoritative guide provides a description of the management consultancy profession worldwide, together with advice on how to choose and use its services effectively. With contributions from leading practitioners, the guide is essential reading for all purchasers of management consultancy services. Part One identifies the parameters and definitions of management consultancy. It presents overviews of the industry's origins and evolution, the present status of the leading multinational management consultancies and some of the global forces shaping the development of management consultancy. Part Two is devoted to ethics and best practice in management consultancy from a number of perspectives. Central to these discussions is the international development of the Certified Management Consultant (CMC) qualification. Part Three scrutinises the life of the client-consultant relationship, focusing on what clients can do to make the consultant's role effective and their working relationship productive. Part Four comprises snapshots by leading practitioners of thirteen key consultancy fields, ranging from strategy and marketing through change management and process re-engineering to the newer disciplines of information and knowledge management, m-commerce, ERP and e-business. Part Five consists of a general account of consulting in developing countries, followed by profiles of 26 country-by-country management consultancy markets.
