scholarly journals Management Consulting: The Road Ahead

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-4
Author(s):  
Simon Haslam
Keyword(s):  
Business Models ◽  
Management Consulting ◽  
Global Management ◽  
The Road ◽  
Management Consultants ◽  
Management Consultancy

Abstract This is a view of the $150bn global management consultancy industry, abridged from a masterclass presentation given to the Institute of Management Consultants and Advisers in Ireland in November 2020. The paper looks forward and explores the implications of current sector dynamics. It is structured into two sections: the global management consulting market, and the implications for consulting business models.

scholarly journals Aristotle and the Management Consultants: Shooting for Ethical Practice

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-44
Author(s):  
David Shaw
Keyword(s):  
Management Consulting ◽  
Virtuous Person ◽  
Ethical Behaviour ◽  
Ethical Practice ◽  
Human Flourishing ◽  
Management Consultants ◽  
Socially Constructed ◽  
Management Consultant ◽  
Management Consultancy ◽  
Positive Target

AbstractThe academic literature on management consulting raises many questions about the ethics of management consulting. The uncertain, emergent, and often socially constructed nature of management consultancy knowledge limits the scope both for regulating the industry in the manner of the established professions, and for evaluating management consultants’ work objectively. The character of management consultants is therefore a central issue in how far clients and other stakeholders can trust them. This paper considers three questions, using Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics as a guide. These are, first, ‘What is the function of a management consultant?’, second, ‘How should a management consultant act in order to be a good management consultant?’, and third, ‘Where does the boundary lie between the ethical responsibilities of the management consultant and those of the client and other stakeholders?’ Aristotelian virtue ethics are valuable in answering these questions. Their focus on character is well suited to the distinct ethical problems of management consulting. Aristotle’s overarching concern with human flourishing, and an ethically balanced approach towards benefiting from the good things to which a virtuous person may aspire, has more promise as an influence on consultants’ behaviour than the lists of prohibitions that typify codes of ethical practice in the industry. Aristotle’s call for leaders to habituate their people to ethical behaviour should be heard by the leaders of management consultancy firms. In accordance with Aristotle’s philosophy, this paper proposes a positive target at which management consultants can aim in shooting for ethical practice.

Case study 3

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ewan Ferlie ◽  
Sue Dopson ◽  
Chris Bennett ◽  
Michael D. Fischer ◽  
Jean Ledger ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Public Services ◽  
Management Consulting ◽  
Organizational Redesign ◽  
Management Consultants ◽  
Management Knowledge ◽  
Problems And Solutions ◽  
Financial Interests ◽  
The Way

The chapter discusses management consultants and consulting knowledge in health care, highlighting significant expenditure on consultancy and how consultants have shaped thinking in public services, which some critics suggest has served consultants’ own (financial) interests. The chapter then discusses the way consultants mobilize management knowledge and frame clients’ problems and solutions. It discusses an empirical case study of a consultancy project to redesign NHS organizations to make substantial ‘efficiency savings’. Here, consultants framed the NHS’s problem and solution, and then imposed an organizational redesign. Local NHS managers and clinicians framed the NHS’s problem differently, doubting the consultants’ framing and proposing redesign, but feeling unable to engage in dialogue about these concerns. Consequently, they engaged with the project in a calculated and defensive way, superficially accepting the redesign while waiting for its implementation to fail. Thus, the chapter demonstrates framing politics surrounding management consulting knowledge.

scholarly journals Fragmented fields: Professionalisms and work settings in Italian management consultancy

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lara Maestripieri
Keyword(s):  
Professional Service ◽  
Specific Work ◽  
Service Firms ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Professional Service Firms ◽  
Work Settings ◽  
Management Consultants ◽  
Self Employment ◽  
Management Consultancy ◽  
Professional Service Firm

Abstract Management consultancy has long been a contested terrain in the sociology of the professions. Although the professionalism of management consultants has always been emphasized by practitioners themselves, the lack of a strong community of peers has been an impediment to their professionalization. In this article, I argue that professionalism is not the outcome of a process of regulation and institutionalization but that it has to be conceived a discourse comprising norms, worldviews, and values that define what is appropriate for an individual to be considered a competent and recognized member of this community. Given the diversity characterizing the field, there are multiple discourses surrounding professionalism of management consultants, and these discourses are shaped by work settings. Work settings are a combination of the type of organization professional partnership or professional service firm and the employment status (employee or self-employed). Drawing on the empirical evidence from various work settings (professional service firms, professional partnership, and self-employment), I investigate four clusters of practitioners identified in 55 biographical and semi-structured interviews conducted with management consultants in Italy. Four types of professionalism emerge from the clusters. Organizing professionalism is the sole professionalism that appears in all work settings. Other discourses (corporate, commercialized, and hybrid professionalism) are context-dependent and more likely to be found in specific work settings.

How to Monetize Data

2021 ◽  
pp. 95-104
Author(s):  
Lokke Moerel
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Governance ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Ethical Dilemmas ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Digital Transformation ◽  
The Road

This chapter is a continuation of the preceding chapter, where the author discussed the obstacles encountered by established companies when wishing to transform their business models and provides suggestions for improvement of their corporate governance to better navigate the digital transformation. In this chapter, the author provides practical rules of the road for how established companies can monetize their data including some pitfalls for established companies and discusses a number of ethical dilemmas that companies have encountered in practice when implementing new digital technologies and services.

scholarly journals New Operating Strategies for an On-the-Road Modular, Electric and Autonomous Vehicle Concept in Urban Transportation

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 91
Author(s):  
Christian Ulrich ◽  
Horst E. Friedrich ◽  
Jürgen Weimer ◽  
Stephan A. Schmid
Keyword(s):  
Business Model ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Autonomous Vehicle ◽  
Vehicle Concept ◽  
Drive Unit ◽  
The Road ◽  
Business Model Canvas ◽  
Operating Strategies ◽  
On The Road

Today commercial transport in urban areas faces major challenges. These include making optimal use of limited space, avoiding empty trips, meeting driver shortages as well as reducing costs and emissions such as CO2, particulate matter and noise. The mutual acceleration and reinforcement of technological trends such as electrification, digitization and automation may enable new vehicle and mobility concepts that can meet these challenges. One possible vehicle concept is presented in this article. It is based on on-the-road modularization, i.e., a vehicle that can change different transport capsules during operation. The vehicle is divided into an electrically propelled autonomous drive unit and a transport unit. Standardized interfaces between these units enable the easy design of capsules for different uses, while the drive unit can be used universally. Business models and operating strategies that allow optimal use of this vehicle concept are discussed in depth in the article. First, the current situation is analyzed followed by a detailed description of an exemplary business model using a business model canvas. The operating strategies and logistics concepts are illustrated and compared with conventional concepts.

Gurus and Indian Epistemologies

2007 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 180-192 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edwina Pio
Keyword(s):  
Management Consulting ◽  
Management Consultants ◽  
Field Report ◽  
Textile Sector

This article intertwines pedagogy and Indian epistemologies by offering the use of parables in the education of management consultants, particularly those seeking to work in India. Through the presentation of a field report in the form of parables constructed from lived-in and lived-through consultancy assignments, this article highlights the labor-intensive textile sector of India that employs approximately 35 million people. The parables are presented in a format that can be utilized to understand and unpack the complexity of India that is a far cry from the glossy images of India's expanding IT prowess. The article argues for the need to develop consultants who, in grappling with knowledge and action, can move beyond Western templates in management consulting.

Determinants of perceived success in management consulting

2016 ◽  
Vol 39 (6) ◽  
pp. 706-738 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matias Bronnenmayer ◽  
Bernd W. Wirtz ◽  
Vincent Göttel
Keyword(s):  
Structural Equation ◽  
Success Factors ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Management Consulting ◽  
Management Support ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Top Management Support ◽  
Management Consultants ◽  
Order Construct ◽  
Sorting Test

Purpose This paper aims to conceptualize perceived management consulting success, derive relevant success factors based on principal-agent theory and the resource-based view as well as investigate the particular factors’ influence. Management consulting has become important for improving the competitiveness of a variety of firms. Surprisingly, there is little empirical evidence clarifying what constitutes a successful management consulting project. Design/methodology/approach The authors conduct a survey to empirically investigate the hypotheses. They develop the survey instrument through a literature review, expert interviews, a pre-test and an item-sorting test. To analyze the data from 348 management consultants, the authors apply structural equation modeling. Additionally, they choose a triangulation approach by asking secondary informants about the originally surveyed consultants’ responses. Findings Initially, the authors develop the second-order construct perceived management consulting success, consisting of the factors compliance with budget and schedule, degree of target achievement, profitability as well as expansion and extension. Additionally, they develop an understanding of management consulting’s success factors. In this regard, five of six factors show a significant impact on perceived management consulting success. Originality/value According to the results, the factor intensity of collaboration is of highest importance for perceived management consulting success. Further, the factors common vision, consultant expertise and top management support show comparably strong significant influences. Yet, the authors have to reject the hypothesis about trust. This result conveys the complicacy of the consultant–client relationship and shows that building a trustful relationship between both parties is hard to accomplish.

scholarly journals Gamification of a Procurement Process for Professional Training of Public Servants

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 23-37 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maksims Kornevs ◽  
Jannicke Baalsrud Hauge ◽  
Sebastiaan Meijer
Keyword(s):  
Professional Training ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Road Construction ◽  
Public Servants ◽  
New Employees ◽  
Procurement Process ◽  
The Road ◽  
Traditional Training ◽  
New Business ◽  
Stakeholder Network

Implementation and training about changes in a procurement process are complex due to the complexity of the procurement process characterised by the adaptive stakeholder network and continuously changing market rules. Traditional training approaches for procurement split the process into separate steps; however, to be able to assess all training aspects, it is important to have a holistic look at procurement. This work explores how well gamification can address the complexity of the procurement process for training specialists in the road construction sector. A case study is carried out to train new business models for both experienced specialists and new employees. The steps for the development of gamification for training in procurement are shown. A comparison of results from experienced and less experienced participants is presented. The results show the relationships amongst the complexity of the real system, the gamification design and the results of gamification.

scholarly journals DEVELOPMENT OF THEORETICAL BASES OF ADMINISTRATIVE CONSULTING

2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 162-168
Author(s):  
Гузалия Клычова ◽  
Guzaliya Klychova ◽  
Алсу Закирова ◽  
Alsu Zakirova ◽  
Альфия Юсупова ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Theoretical Basis ◽  
Comprehensive Analysis ◽  
Modern Concept ◽  
Management Consulting ◽  
Highly Qualified ◽  
Management Consultancy ◽  
Complex Projects ◽  
Model Of Management ◽  
Professional Assistance ◽  
Current Stage

Management consultancy at the current stage of economic development is a factor that contributes to the efficiency and competitiveness of most enterprises through a comprehensive analysis of the management system and the solution of key problems, arising in management activities. Implementation of various innovative, anti-crisis, diversification and other complex projects proves the necessity to appeal to highly qualified consultants for professional assistance. The requests of organizations contribute to the modification of technologies and methods of management consulting. The economic essence of management consulting is considered in the article, the conceptual model of management consulting is formed, in which the elements forming the theoretical basis of the modern concept of management consulting are conceptually specified and structured.

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