|
Management consulting is the process of helping companies to improve or transform themselves. This may involve the identification and cross-fertilization of best practices, analytical techniques, change management and coaching skills, technology implementations, strategy development or even the simple advantage of an outsider's perspective. They generally bring formal frameworks or methodologies to identify problems or suggest more effective or efficient ways of performing business tasks.
Management consulting grew with the rise of Management as a unique profession. In the US, management consulting was often an outgrowth of the accounting profession. During the course of an audit, the accountant would find a business problem and propose the solution. During the latter half of the twentieth century, as business problems and audits both became more complex, the large auditing firms segregated their audit and consulting arms into separate business units. Management consulting bloomed during the era of reengineering and ERP implementations. In the early twenty-first century, a series of accounting scandals and allegations of a loss of independence drove US regulators to insist on the formal separation of audit and consulting service providers. An auditor can disclose a problem which he/she found but can no longer propose to fix it.
Management consulting is the butt of many business-related jokes. Management consultants are often criticized for overuse of buzzwords, reliance on management fads and an emphasis on form over function. On the other hand, successful management consulting engagements bring resources and/or expertise which the company's internal management team did not have in order to create real changes in the way the company runs its business.
In research arena, we found many expert reports for both public and business were announced by leading consulting firms after a series of independent researches over years.
Qualifications for management consultant:
- In general, a MBA and or faculty members of graduate schools of business. Refer acticles, say Fortune for how top MBAs were recruited by leading consulting firms in U.S.A. Leading business schools also announced on regular intervals how their graduates are hired by leading consulting.
- In professional, Institute of Management Consultants (IMA) [1] (http://www.imcusa.org/index.html) offers Certified Management Consultant (CMC) [2] (http://www.imcusa.org/cmc.acgi)and various grades of membership for competencies. In European hub, effective 2000, all board room advisors are required to qualify as CMC. At almost the same time in U.S.A., media reported a potential global merger of IMA, AICPA and CICA etc. to become a global body. However, it was eventually voted down.
In consulting projects, we easily found the close-relationship of former Big 4, consulting firms, accountants and professors for producing influencial reports for management's decision making. A professional career path which attracts entry-level MBAs and experts at various stages of their academic, professional and business development.
To reduce the cost of consulting, some companies are joining groups such as Corporate Executive Board that provide a broad range of management services for a flat fee. These organizations operate by leveraging the information gathered from member companies to provide customized research requested by individual members. They can be seen as a middle ground between relying on in-house support and contracting for a consulting engagement.
See also
|
