Summary of the book Baaij, M. G. (2014). An introduction to management consultancy.
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Course
Strategy consulting
Institution
Universiteit Van Amsterdam (UvA)
Book
An Introduction to Management Consultancy
Summary of the book Baaij, M. G. (2014). An introduction to management consultancy. London: Sage. ISBN 6138. Also available as e-book at
Chapters:
1,2,5,7,8,10,12,13,14,15
Summary Strategic Management Consultancy (minor and course): An Introduction to Management Consultancy, ISBN: 9781446256138
Summary ALL readings Strategy Consulting 2020, MSc Business Administration UvA
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Summary of the book
“An introduction to management consultancy”
by Marc G. Baaij
CONTENT
PART 1: THE MANAGEMENT CONSULTANCY PHENOMENON
1. Defining management consultancy
2. Origin and development of management consultancy
3. Reasons, risks and results of management consultancy
PART 2: THE MANAGEMENT CONSULTANCY INDUSTRY
4. Overview of the management consultancy industry landscape
5. The competitive landscape of the management consultancy industry
6. Macro developments and the management consultancy industry
PART 3: THE MANAGEMENT CONSULTANCY FIRM
7. The value chain of the management consultancy firm
8. Managing the management consultancy firm
9. People and careers in management consultancy
PART 4: THE MANAGEMENT CONSULTANCY PROJECT
10. Clients and other stakeholders
11. Management of a consultancy project
12. Structured problem diagnosis
13. Structured solution development
14. Structured communications
15. Structured implementation
,Chapter 1 – Defining Management Consultancy
Central question of this chapter: what is management consultancy?
Main learning objectives
- Critically reflect upon the identity and boundaries of management consultancy
- Understand the differences between existing definitions of management consultancy
- Identify the distinctive characteristics of management consultancy
- Distinguish client problems and opportunities that may require management
consultancy
- Understand the tensions in the division of responsibilities between consultants and
clients and the tensions that exist for a consultant who is serving clients in the same
sector at the same time
- Distinguish between different types of consultancy and business services
- Identify and assess the different roles of management consultancy
- Understand the differences in terms of roles and benefits between external and
internal management consultancy
- Critically reflect upon the question of whether or not management consultancy is a
profession
Management consultants = professional helpers who create value for their clients, mostly
managers of organizations, through providing independent advice
Aka. Medical doctor: doctors cure sick patients, management consultants cure sick
organizations (but also healthy organizations)
Functionalist perspective
In contrast to functionalist perspective: critical academic literature
Management consultancy faces ambiguities over:
- The knowledge that management consultants claim
- What management consultants claim to do with that knowledge
- The claimed results of management consultants
Management consultancy’s knowledge consists of management fads and fashion that cater
the managerial need for reassurance in a world full of uncertainties
Critical academics haven’t focused on effect of management consultancy
Some critical journalists follow this perspective and state that consultants are like
witchdoctors and con men
None of these two perspectives is correct: it’s not black and white
Characteristics of management consultancy
- It’s a service
o Therefore it’s intangible service: there are no physical features that can be
displayed or communicated (only tangible outputs like reports and
PowerPoint presentations)
o In specific consultancy projects (e.g. cost reductions) impact of consultancy is
immediately measurable and therefore tangible
o Creation & consumption of management consultancy take place
simultaneously and are inseparable
, o Relationship between management consultants and clients is medium of
service delivery
o May be perceived as co-creation
o It’s highly labor-intensive, but there are opportunities for leverage and
scalability (e.g. procedures and software)
- It’s directed at managers
o Commercial vs. non-for-profit
o Small vs. large firms
o Different hierarchical levels: junior management to board level
- It’s about decisions
o Not about personal problems or personal opportunities
o Decisions about positioning and functioning of organizations
- It’s knowledge-intensive
o Identifying and solving business problems demands intellectual capability of
the consultants
- It’s based on independence
o Consultants need to be independent from their clients to give objective and
impartial advice to managers
o Refrain from equity & hierarchical relationship
- It’s a business
o It’s a business transaction between client and management consultancy
o Some cases payment depends on performance
o Also pro-bono projects
- It’s about projects
o Project basis, specified period so temporary
o Still many clients have long-term relationship: repeat business
- It can be full-time and part-time
o Can have full-time and part-time consultants
5 definitions of management consultancy based on different sources
- Recommendation and implementation
- Objectivity and independence
- Support decision making
- Change implementation
- Any form of help
, Examples of organization’s problems
2 management levels
1. Strategic level: improving long-term performance of the client organization
2. Operational level: improving performance of 1 or more organizations operational
activities over a shorter term
This book defines management consultancy = knowledge-intensive service which
independent business professionals provide to managers of client organizations and consists
of objective advice on management’s decisions regarding the solutions to the client
organization’s problems and opportunities (narrow definition) and may in some cases also
consist of assistance with the management’s tasks regarding the implementation of these
solutions (broad definition)
Another part is also implementation of this advice
3 categories of implementation tasks
1. Tasks involving the organization units as a whole (e.g. acquire an organization,
integrate an acquired organization, divest an organization)
2. Tasks involving an individual primary activity of the organization (e.g. build a logistics
system, introduce a process innovation in a plant, withdraw from a distribution
channel)
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