CONSULTING AND CHANGE

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Change is the raison d’être of management consulting. If diverse consulting assignments have any common characteristic, it is that they assist in planning and implementing change in client organizations. In Chapter 1, organizational change was mentioned as one of the fundamental and generic purposes of consulting. Organizational change, however, is full of difficulties and pitfalls. In managing change, consultants and clients tend to repeat the same mistakes. Often the very behaviour of those who strive to make changes generates resistance to change and brings the whole process to a standstill. The need for change is recognized, yet there is no change. To avoid this, every management consultant needs to be aware of the complex relationships involved in the change process, and must know how to approach various change situations and help people to cope with change.

This chapter is particularly important for understanding the nature and methods of consulting and of the consultant–client relationship. Throughout the chapter the consultant’s point of view and intervention methods will be emphasized. However, they will be reviewed in the wider context of changes occurring in society, in organizations and in individuals, and related to the managers’ roles in initiating and managing organizational change. The chapter provides some notions of the theory of organizational change, and also practical guidelines for planning and implementing changes.