Using Management Consulting Services
Using Management Consulting Services
Services Effectively
This checklist is for prospective users of consultants and suggests some of the
questions they should ask themselves before approaching a consultant to
undertake an assignment. There is little doubt that calling on the service of a
management consultant can often prove to be a valuable investment provided:
you allow enough time for the whole exercise
the problem area has been carefully defined
you know what you want the consultant to do, having identified all the
necessary steps for the task in hand
care is exercised in selecting the right consultant
you measure progress towards a solution.
Definition
"Management consulting is an advisory service contracted for and provided to
organizations by specially trained and qualified persons who assist, in an
objective and independent manner, the client organization to identify
management problems, analyze such problems, recommend solutions to these
problems, and help, when requested, in the implementation of solutions."
Consulting to management by Larry E Greiner and Robert O Metzger, Prentice
Hall 1983.
Useful reading
Books
Directory of management consultants in the UK 1998 13th ed.
Alex Kaminsky, ed.
London: AP Information Services, 1997
Getting the most from consultants: a manager's guide to choosing and
using consultants
Martin Wilson and the Institute of Management Foundation
London: Pitman, 1996
Journal articles
Using management consultants
IRS Employment Review, no 620, November 1996, pp7-12 purple
The ten best ways of using management consultants
Geoff Kitts
Human Resources UK, no 15, Autumn 1994, pp19-20, 22, 24, 26
How to select an external consultant
Alan Fowler
Personnel Management Plus, vol 5 no 2, February 1994, pp26-27
Useful addresses
British Consultants Bureau
1 Westminster Palace Gardens, 1-7 Artillery Row, London SW1P 1RJ
Tel: 0171 222 3651
Institute of Management Consultants
5th Floor, 32-33 Hatton Garden, London EC1N 8DL
Tel: 0171 242 2140; 0800 318030 (Client support service)
Management Consultancies Association Ltd
11 West Halkin Street, London SW1X 8JL
Tel: 0171 235 3897
Management Consultancy Information Service
38 Blenheim Avenue, Gants Hill, Ilford, Essex IG2 6JQ
Tel: 0181 554 4695
All Business Links will provide help for those considering using a consultancy.
Thought starters
Can you define clearly the problem or issue that needs to be tackled?
Are you sure the expertise needed is not available internally?
Have you worked with a consultant before? What was the outcome?
bu library
The bu library stocks a range of materials which will provide further information
on this subject. Tel: 01483 704757 or Clearway 2159 4757.