PREPARING FOR THE FUTURE
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What can management consultants do to be prepared for the future, when we know that change is the only constant and that our predictions of the future will at best be inaccurate and at worst completely wrong? How important will e-business really be? What will be the political situation and business strength of the Far East? How will international financial markets be regulated in ten years’ time? It would be useful to know the answers to these and similar questions, if not with certainty, then at least with a fair degree of probability. Consultants and other professionals alike could thus prepare for the future, with poise and without overrating passing fads, while attending to current business and doing their best to meet their clients’ current needs. This, however, is a scenario of dreams. In the economic and business reality of today, there are some broad and long-term trends that are irreversible and most consultants are aware of them. But developments can be slower or faster than expected, and can take many deviations that for some time go against the long-term trends. There will be many surprises even for those who try to be forward-looking and feel that they are well informed.
The changes that have taken place during recent decades have demonstrated amply that it is not possible to prepare for the future in any simple and conventional way, by extrapolating current trends. There is always a degree of risk in choosing among probable future scenarios. There is also risk in learning and one might well spend a lot of time and resources on developing knowledge and skills for which there will be little demand in a few years. Yet we hear again and again that the future belongs to those who are best prepared for it and who can see and take the new opportunities more quickly than others. How can we cope with this dilemma? How do consultants stay fit and avoid being bypassed by events and surpassed by competitors?
In this chapter, we have chosen not to review and comment on all plausible developments that may affect consulting in future years. Many of them have been mentioned in the previous chapters, have been reviewed in literature,1 and are regularly debated at consultants’ conferences. We prefer therefore to point
- FOREWORD
- Plan of the book
- ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS
- 1.1What is consulting?
- 1.3How are consultants used? Ten principal ways
- 1.5Evolving concepts and scope of management consulting
- THE CONSULTING INDUSTRY
- 2.1A historical perspective
- 2.2The current consulting scene
- 2.3Range of services provided
- 2.4Generalist and specialist services
- 2.6Internal consultants
- 2.7Management consulting and other professions
- 2.8Management consulting, training and research
- 3.1Defining expectations and roles
- 3.2The client and the consultant systems
- 3.4Behavioural roles of the consultant
- 3.5Further refinement of the role concept
- 3.6Methods of influencing the client system
- 3.7Counselling and coaching as tools of consulting
- CONSULTING AND CHANGE
- 4.1Understanding the nature of change
- 4.3Gaining support for change
- 4.4Managing conflict
- 4.5Structural arrangements and interventions for assisting change
- CONSULTING AND CULTURE
- 5.1Understanding and respecting culture
- 5.2Levels of culture
- 5.3Facing culture in consulting assignments
- 6.2The professional approach
- 6.3Professional associations and codes of conduct
- 6.4Certification and licensing
- 6.5Legal liability and professional responsibility
- ENTRY
- 7.1Initial contacts
- 7.2Preliminary problem diagnosis
- 7.3Terms of reference
- 7.5Proposal to the client4
- 7.6The consulting contract
- DIAGNOSIS
- 8.1Conceptual framework of diagnosis
- 8.2Diagnosing purposes and problems
- 8.3Defining necessary facts
- 8.4Sources and ways of obtaining facts
- 8.5Data analysis
- 8.6Feedback to the client
- ACTION PLANNING
- 9.1Searching for possible solutions
- 9.2Developing and evaluating alternatives
- 9.3Presenting action proposals to the client
- IMPLEMENTATION
- 10.3 Training and developing client staff
- 10.4Some tactical guidelines for introducing changes in work methods
- 10.5 Maintenance and control of the new practice
- 11.1 Time for withdrawal
- 11.3 Follow-up
- 12.1Nature and scope of consulting in corporate strategy and general management
- 12.2 Corporate strategy
- 12.3 Processes, systems and structures
- 12.4 Corporate culture and management style
- 13.1 The developing role of information technology
- 13.3An overall model of information systems consulting
- 13.4 Quality of information systems
- 13.5 The providers of IT consulting services
- 13.6 Managing an IT consulting project
- 14.1 Creating value
- 14.3 Working capital and liquidity management
- 14.5 Mergers and acquisitions
- 14.7 Accounting systems and budgetary control
- 15.1 The marketing strategy level
- 15.2 Marketing operations
- 15.3 Consulting in commercial enterprises
- CONSULTING IN E-BUSINESS
- 16.1 The scope of e-business consulting
- 16.4 Dot.com organizations
- 17.1 Developing an operations strategy
- 17.2 The product perspective
- 17.3 The process perspective
- 17.4 The human aspects of operations
- 18.2 Policies, practices and the human resource audit
- 18.3 Human resource planning
- 18.6 Human resource development
- 18.7 Labour–management relations
- 18.8 New areas and issues
- 19.1 Managing in the knowledge economy
- 19.2 Knowledge-based value creation
- 19.3 Developing a knowledge organization
- 20.1Shifts in productivity concepts, factors and conditions
- 20.2 Productivity and performance measurement
- 20.4Designing and implementing productivity and performance improvement programmes
- 20.5Tools and techniques for productivity improvement
- 21.1 Understanding TQM
- 21.3 Principles and building-blocks of TQM
- 21.6 ISO 9000 as a vehicle to TQM
- 21.7 Pitfalls and problems of TQM
- 22.1 What is organizational transformation?
- 22.2 Preparing for transformation
- 22.3 Strategies and processes of transformation
- 22.4 Company turnarounds
- 22.5 Downsizing
- 22.8 Joint ventures for transformation
- 22.10 Networking arrangements
- 22.14 Pitfalls and errors to avoid in transformation
- 23.1 The social dimension of business
- 23.2 Current concepts and trends
- 23.3 Consulting services
- 23.5Consulting in specific functions and areas of business
- 24.1 Characteristics of small enterprises
- 24.4 Areas of special concern
- 24.6 Innovations in small-business consulting
- 25.1 What is different about micro-enterprises?
- 25.3 The special skills of micro-enterprise consultants
- 26.1 The evolving role of government
- 26.5 Some current challenges
- 27.1 The management challenge of the professions
- 27.2 Managing a professional service
- 27.3 Managing a professional business
- 27.4Achieving excellence professionally and in business
- 28.2 The scope of client services
- 28.3 The client base
- 28.5 Going international
- 28.6 Profile and image of the firm
- 28.7 Strategic management in practice
- 29.1 The marketing approach in consulting
- 29.2 A client’s perspective
- 29.3 Techniques for marketing the consulting firm
- 29.4Techniques for marketing consulting assignments
- 29.5 Marketing to existing clients
- 29.6 Managing the marketing process
- COSTS AND FEES
- 30.1 Income-generating activities
- 30.2 Costing chargeable services
- 30.5 Fair play in fee-setting and billing
- 30.8 Billing clients and collecting fees
- ASSIGNMENT MANAGEMENT
- 31.1 Structuring and scheduling an assignment
- 31.2 Preparing for an assignment
- 31.3 Managing assignment execution
- 31.4 Controlling costs and budgets
- 31.5 Assignment records and reports
- 31.6 Closing an assignment
- 32.1 What is quality management in consulting?
- Box 32.2 Responsibility for quality
- 32.2Key elements of a quality assurance programme
- 32.3 Quality certification
- 33.1 Operating workplan and budget
- 33.2 Performance monitoring
- 33.3 Bookkeeping and accounting
- 34.1Drivers for knowledge management in consulting
- 34.4 Sharing knowledge with clients
- 35.1 Legal forms of business
- 35.2 Management and operations structure
- 35.3 IT support and outsourcing
- 36.1 Personal characteristics of consultants
- 36.2 Recruitment and selection
- 36.3 Career development
- 36.4 Compensation policies and practices
- 37.1 What should consultants learn?
- 37.3 Training methods
- 37.4Further training and development of consultants
- 37.6 Learning options available to sole practitioners
- PREPARING FOR THE FUTURE
- 38.1 Your market
- 38.2 Your profession
- TERMS OF A CONSULTING CONTRACT
- CONSULTING AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
- WRITING REPORTS
- SUBJECT INDEX