A volume in both Research in Management Consulting, Series Editor Anthony F. Buono, Bentley University and Contemporary Trends in Organization Development and Change, Series Editors Peter Sorensen, Benedictine University and Therese Yaeger, Benedictine University This volume is a joint publication in the Research in Management Consulting and Contemporary Trends in Organizational Change and Development series. This dual focus reflects the reality that consulting for organizational change is a special type of management consultation, a complex field of endeavor that requires a broad range of skills and competencies. To be truly effective, change-related consulting requires a unique client-consultant relationship, a special set of consulting skills, an expertise in human and organizational systems, and significant personal qualities. It is in high demand in a world full of change. Yet, we still know relatively little theoretically about this type of consulting and have relatively little empirical evidence about what actually works and why. As the contributors amply illustrate, the Organization Development (OD) field has a well developed set of frameworks, technologies, and models of change. Still we need to focus on and learn more about the role of the OD consultant as a special kind of change agent. A goal of this joint volume is to increase that specific body of knowledge and provide an illustration of much needed collaboration in bringing all possible resources to bear on our understanding of an increasingly critical and essential form of consulting.

This casebook complements the text Management Consulting Today and Tomorrow. The book consists of 20 cases, including those from Harvard and Stanford and the University of Southern California. The cases cover a broad range of topics and practice areas that are pertinent to current management consulting. The six parts parallel the six parts in the text, including an introduction to the cases by the editors, delineating topics and issues that are critical for today's consultants. Several cases offer new insights into the practice areas of Strategy, IT, Operations Management, Change Management and more on Data Gathering and the Future of Consulting. This casebook, together with the text, will help to increase awareness among consultants and students about skill requirements, as well as make clients sensitive to what is demanded of them in a highly competitive consulting environment.

CLIENT, CLARIFY, CREATE, CHANGE, CONFIRM, CONTINUE, CLOSE = THE SEVEN SECRETS OF CONSULTANCY

""Most change methods are effective. For the most part, each one is theoretically sound, well-researched, and clearly articulated. But when they're put in organizations, they fail-at least 70 to 80% of the time.""

George Smart, Managing Partner, Strategic Development Incorporated

The definition of a consultant is someone who facilitates organisational change and provides expertise on technical, functional and business topics during development or implementation. In other words a consultant is someone who helps others to change.

However, change isn't such an easy target to achieve. Research shows that the vast majority of change programmes fail. On a daily basis we hear about projects that are delayed, cancelled, over budget or boycotted by the end user. The problem is that we can never force people to change - remember the backlash against Jamie Oliver's healthy school meals campaign where parents handed junk food to their children through school fences. The key to successful change is to engage with the end user and help them want to change.

"The Seven Cs of Consulting "offers a consistent and collaborative language that helps both consultant and client deliver value through sustainable change. Based around the author's highly successful 7Cs model (Client, Clarify, Create, Change, Confirm, Continue, Close) this approach is simple and accessible but firmly grounded in research and real life experience.

The 7Cs approach opens up the complexity of sustainable change to the consultant and client and helps them explore- and then avoid - the real issues that cause change to fail within a more professional and trusting relationship.

This casebook complements the text Management Consulting Today and Tomorrow. The book consists of 20 cases, including those from Harvard and Stanford and the University of Southern California. The cases cover a broad range of topics and practice areas that are pertinent to current management consulting. The six parts parallel the six parts in the text, including an introduction to the cases by the editors, delineating topics and issues that are critical for todaya (TM)s consultants. Several cases offer new insights into the practice areas of Strategy, IT, Operations Management, Change Management and more on Data Gathering and the Future of Consulting. This casebook, together with the text, will help to increase awareness among consultants and students about skill requirements, as well as make clients sensitive to what is demanded of them in a highly competitive consulting environment.

The fast-emerging sustainability consulting firms are nipping at the heels of the established consultancy giants who are scrambling to find their way in the emergent field of sustainability. The upstarts are challenging many of the established notions of how to add value to their clients' operations. By looking at the business world through what the sustainability expert Stuart Hart calls "new sustainability lenses", sustainability consultants are able to make sense of challenges that are baffling their clients. Moreover, they are also beginning to help their clients uncover new and sustainable value streams, the ultimate goal of good consulting practice. In Consulting for Business Sustainability sustainability consultants from around the world offer some of their perspectives and lessons on how to truly create sustainable value for their clients. Packed with new tools, advice and approaches, the book comprises a unique collection of wisdom from some of the leading lights in sustainability consulting practice. The areas covered include: developing best-in-class environmental management systems; sustainable design; supporting organisational change agents; working with key stakeholders; social impact assessments; human rights; and regulatory risk. The book will be essential reading for practitioners in business searching for advice and toolkits on how to make their sustainability initiatives bear fruit, for consultants looking for advice on how others have provided value to clients, and for students of sustainability looking for best-practice examples and exploring future careers in this burgeoning field.

Skyrocket Your Business helps readers create a gateway to the change they want to make by showing them how not to waste another moment investing their money and effort in the wrong direction. There are several good reasons to donate to a cause. However, very few people have been able to leverage the hidden business potentials in a donation. Understanding how to make a donation to impact one's cause, business, and life will help create the next big steps and gain the competition and recognition needed to stand out. Over the past seven years, Dr. Francis N Mbunya has helped donors identify and leverage the potentials hidden in their donations in order to create massive value for themselves and their businesses. In Skyrocket Your Business at Zero Cost, Dr. Mbunya uses simple and straightforward steps to explain to donors how to: Pick their interest in the cause they donate to Pitch their interest in a donation Enable their donation to give back to themselves and their business Duplicate the impact of a donation in order to better benefit their business

A classic revised and updated for the twenty-first-century consultant
Revised and updated for consulting in the twenty-first century, this new edition is for anyone who wants to know what consulting is really like as a career, as a living, and as a life. Geoffrey Bellman reveals how to make the job rewarding both financially and personally as he examines the practical issues of managing time, clients, and money as well as such broader concerns as how to balance work with family life. At once practical and personal, this book is for all types of consultants, all those who work with consultants, and all those who dream of being consultants.
Geoffrey M. Bellman (Seattle, WA) has consulted to organizations of all sizes, from the inside and outside, including numerous Fortune 500 companies. He is the author of several well-received books, including Getting Things Done When You’re Not in Charge the bestselling book that has sold more than 80,000 copies.

"40 Unbreakable Laws Of Money "reveals Wayne Wakefield's "Hidden" secrets to the money and business world that only the few wealthy know. Through almost 30-years of business and finance, Wayne discovered Laws that must be followed that secure success. He breaks the money world down with humor and a very common sense approach that brings major revelation to those who dare to take the time to read and invest in themselves.
"Wealth has very little to do with money, it is about 'applied knowledge' and 'your mindset."
Who told you, you had to go to a bank or a lender with your hat in your hand to qualify for a loan?
Who told you, you had to pay for your home, car, boat and plane? Get someone else to pay for them
Where did you learn that you must have a good job to become financially independent?
Make almost everything owned legally tax deductable; including this book
Where did you learn that it took a college education, good credit and a savings account to become wealthy and financially independent?
"40 Unbreakable Laws of Money" teaches why you should always be a "Wealthy-Poor Person "
Wayne opens the world of money and the secrets to the free enterprise system to create a mindset that challenges and changes everything you were taught. You will not have to memorize the "40 Unbreakable Laws "because they will become part of you as you complete each chapter. You will immediately recognize and start changing what you do financially through a revelatory new mindset.
"You will never be able to go back and you will never think the same way again "

This title was first published in 2002. How do you add value to your clients? Is it the process you use, or the technical skills you deploy? Or perhaps it's your ability to adjust the way you sell and deliver your services based upon your tacit understanding of your client's culture - the way we do things round here. Such chameleon-like behaviour is fundamental to successful consulting, and yet it is neither widely understood nor practised within the profession. Until now. This book describes a powerful way to improve the consultancy process, from selling the service to delivering the engagement, through a concept called cultural intelligence - the missing dimension of effective consultancy. By revisiting the consultancy process using a simple model of organizational culture, this text creates a potent technique for tailoring the principal consultancy processes of selling, relationship management, account management and engagement management. Such tailoring that ensures the consultant and consultancy firm can blend into their clients' organizations more effectively and as a result add immediate and lasting value.

The Ultimate Consultant--the first book in a series written for experienced practitioners--is filled with helpful interviews and vignettes from an array of successful consultants from around the world, and offers the templates, examples, information, and tools you need to transform your business.

This essential, hands-on resource includes:

This thoroughly research-based book— written by two experts in the field Fred Massarik and Marissa Pei-Carpenter with contributions from other well-known professionals— reestablishes the connection between theory, research, and practice and affirms core OD values. They emphasize the "personhood" of the consultant and client, the relevance of "feel" and intuition combined with fact and technique, and the importance of real people doing real things in real time holistically. In addition to these core ideas, the authors outline new viewpoints that are especially relevant in today's rapidly changing world. They explain that quick-fix linear approaches are not likely to bring substantial lasting results and OD must be rooted in the vast knowledge available about the human condition-recognizing the complexity of real life. They also show how value is the essential cornerstone of organization development.

"Consulting is all about client results. If you want to help change the strategic destiny of organizations, pursue a high-impact career, and ensure continuous learning, then this book is a must read to help you identify the firm that best suits you."–Thomas J. Tierney, Director and former CEO, Bain & Company

"This is the most comprehensive overview of the consulting industry to date. It is chock-full of useful information for students and professionals considering consulting as a career."–Robert F. Bonner, Director, MBA Career Management, The Wharton School

"If graduating seniors read only one book on consulting, this should be it. Daryl and Sugata demystify the case interview and the realities of the consulting field in an easy-to-read format. Their knowledge and personal insight is invaluable to the job seeker. Many of our students have read the book and successfully landed consulting jobs–this book is a real winner!"–Sheila Curran, Director, Career Services, Brown University

"Strategic management consultants help clients perform markedly better in a world of rapid change. Consultants must constantly learn new skills, contribute to the intellectual capital of business, and build enduring relations with their clients. This book is an excellent window into the unparalleled opportunities consulting offers for personal and professional growth."–Carl W. Stern, CEO, The Boston Consulting Group

"The perfect resource to educate job seekers about the myths and realities of consulting. This user-friendly book will teach you to nail your case interviews and land a consulting job. "–Liz Michaels, Director, Career and Placement Services, University of Chicago

"This book is an excellent starting point for anyone contemplating a career in management consulting. My professional advice to you: Read this book!"–Wayne Cooper, Publisher, Consultants News, President and CEO, Kennedy Information

Visit the authors’ Web site at www.InsideConsulting.com

Obtain the Best Consulting Services for Your Business

In this chaotic age of new technologies, downsizing, and reengineering, managers and executives are relying more and more on the consultant. Hiring the right consultants for your company and making effective use of them is a vital skill, and yet there has been a lack of guidance on this topic–until now.

How to Use a Consultant in Your Company delivers expert advice and practical guidelines on how to successfully create and manage the client/consultant relationship–to your advantage. John McGonagle and Carolyn Vella provide up-to-the-minute information on:

• Defining your consulting needs
• Finding and selecting the right consultants
• Managing the paper trail–corporate policies, contracting issues
• Working with an individual consultant or an entire firm
• Handling disputes, lawsuits, and complaints
• Evaluating consultants

Including forms and other materials for help in developing formal policies, billing procedures, and more that you can adapt to fit your own situation, How to Use a Consultant in Your Company is the one-book-fits-all solution for anyone responsible for getting the most out of their company’s consultant.

Originally published in 1970. Trade associations and consultants in their many varieties are arguably the most important of our economic organisations. The people that manage those organisations are among the most influential members of modern society. The research reported in this book constitutes one of the first attempts to obtain systematic knowledge about the process of helping management. This title will be of interest to students of business, management, and economics, as well as policy-makers concerned with external aids in government, associations, and firms.

Consultancy and Innovation links two important aspects of European economic development in the past thirty years: the pace of technical and management innovation, and the growing significance of technical and business consultancy. This book includes detailed studies of consultancy activities or 'knowledge intensive services' (KIS) in eight EU countries, written by national experts in the field.

eBook available with sample pages: 020311664X

This book provides a new perspective on innovation in consultancy firms. Focusing on how consultancy firms can innovate in the modern era, it exposes and discusses key drivers for innovation in the industry. These are broken down into 5 dimensions - or 'Poles' - relating to forms of capital (human capital, social capital, and three types of organizational capital) that consultancy firms can use in order to innovate, both for themselves and for their clients. Readers of this book will not only gain insight into the "innovative consultancy" from the perspective of each of these Poles. They will also discover how consultancy firms need to find the right way of connecting these Poles together in order to produce the desired innovation. Readers will learn about the dangers of misaligning the Poles, as well as implications of innovative consultancy for ethics, academic research in the field of consultancy, and for careers. In addition to the academic literature, the book draws from real-world examples, cases and practice insights from various parts of the world. This book will be of great use to those interested in pursuing a career in the consultancy industry, whether they are undergraduate and postgraduate Business & Management students, students not necessarily studying in Business Schools, or others seeking a career move into consultancy. It will also be valuable to seasoned consultants and managers of consultancy firms seeking new ideas on how to develop innovative capabilities in an increasingly competitive industry.

This volume in the Business Analysis Professional Development Series by renowned expert and best-selling author, Karl Wiegers, and a group of noteworthy contributors, provides experienced, advanced-level business analysis and project management practitioners with proven strategies and tips for making the successful transition from highly respected internal expert to a fulfilling and financially rewarding career in consulting. Key Features: Addresses how to effectively lay the foundation and structure of your consulting business; how to deal with or avoid the many pitfalls of working outside the corporate world and working remotely from home; and how to balance life, family, and work Presents a list of next steps at the end of each chapter with actions you can take immediately to begin applying the guidance and tips provided Furnishes valuable strategies and tips for such essentials as setting rates for your services, invoicing, purchasing appropriate insurance, establishing important business rules or policies, managing your finances and taxes, and other administrative aspects of your consultancy Articulates how to market your services, land both new and repeat business, negotiate deals, and craft written agreements with clients Describes how to establish multiple revenue streams, ways to leverage your work to develop sources of passive income, and some important issues of copyright, fair use, and managing and protecting your valuable intellectual property Provides sample checklists to help you keep all the activities you will be juggling as a consultant under control Identifies effective techniques for engaging clients in various situations, as well as warning signs about clients who can cause you headaches and how to deal with them Supplies solutions to a wide variety of problems and challenges of the consulting world, contributed by a group of noteworthy independent consultants with diverse experiences Discusses other common consultant activities that can generate a steady flow of revenue such as training, presenting at conferences, and other public speaking, and provides guidance and tips for delivering effective presentations with confidence Offers strategies and tips pertaining to partnering with other consultants on larger projects and how to make such arrangements work Examines the value of participating in professional associations and pursuing relevant professional certifications as a way to market your services and attract new clients and opportunities Explores the benefits of writing white papers and articles for magazines, journals, websites, and blogs as a means to simultaneously share your knowledge with the world and market your expertise to prospective clients Elaborates on the process and value of writing a book in the area in which you consult, how to get it published and distributed by a reputable publishing company that can reach your market, how to co-author a book effectively, and how a good selling book can be a powerful tool for getting clients and building your business WAV offers downloadable templates for consulting, writing, speaking, and licensing agreements, and checklists and forms to help you plan and manage your consulting business -available from the Web Added Value - Download Resource Center

Developing Organisational Consultancy provides consultants with theoretical and practical advice on how to handle typical consultancy challenges. Well-established organisational consultants from the UK and the USA offer descriptions of problems they have encountered in their work, theoretical and practical approaches that they have found helpful, cases from their actual practice, and advice about how to apply their suggested approach generally. Chapters are grouped together to address three key areas of interest to consultants: * evolving a professional stance * considering psychodynamic approaches * applying organisational theory. For both experienced and newly-practising organiszational and management consultants, this book is a valuable source of reference and the key to developing a more aware and successful practice.

This title was first published in 2002. How do you add value to your clients? Is it the process you use, or the technical skills you deploy? Or perhaps it's your ability to adjust the way you sell and deliver your services based upon your tacit understanding of your client's culture - the way we do things round here. Such chameleon-like behaviour is fundamental to successful consulting, and yet it is neither widely understood nor practised within the profession. Until now. This book describes a powerful way to improve the consultancy process, from selling the service to delivering the engagement, through a concept called cultural intelligence - the missing dimension of effective consultancy. By revisiting the consultancy process using a simple model of organizational culture, this text creates a potent technique for tailoring the principal consultancy processes of selling, relationship management, account management and engagement management. Such tailoring that ensures the consultant and consultancy firm can blend into their clients' organizations more effectively and as a result add immediate and lasting value.

The field of management consultancy research has grown rapidly in recent years. Fuelled by the drivers of complexity and uncertainty, a growing number of organizations - both profit and third sector alike - are looking at management consultancy to assist in their aims for development and change. Consultants have become a common feature in organizational change initiatives, involved in both providing advice and in implementing ideas and solutions. However, despite this growing recognition and influence, management consultancy is still often misunderstood or criticized for its lack of theoretical underpinning. The book seeks to address these issues by offering applied theoretical insights from academics that both teach and practice management consultancy. Written by recognized experts in their field, the contributors combine original insights with authoritative analysis. Uniquely, this book identifies emerging themes with critical discourse and provides rich empirical case study evidence to show the reader how management consultancy projects are implemented. Real-world international consultancy projects are featured as written up cases featuring organizations from multi-national corporations to the public sector. Written for graduate level managers or those who have practical leadership experience, this book will enable readers to apply management consultancy models beyond a classroom context

Reveals emerging techniques for answering the challenges senior managers face today: improving organizational quality, inspiring team performance, and creating powerful long-range strategy. Presents a proven model for understanding organizations and demonstrates how it can be used to effect positive change in organizational systems.

Explore why -- now more than ever -- the world is in a race to become data-driven, and how you can learn from examples of data-driven leadership in an Age of Disruption, Big Data, and AI In Fail Fast, Learn Faster: Lessons in Data-Driven Leadership in an Age of Disruption, Big Data, and AI, Fortune 1000 strategic advisor, noted author, and distinguished thought leader Randy Bean tells the story of the rise of Big Data and its business impact - its disruptive power, the cultural challenges to becoming data-driven, the importance of data ethics, and the future of data-driven AI. The book looks at the impact of Big Data during a period of explosive information growth, technology advancement, emergence of the Internet and social media, and challenges to accepted notions of data, science, and facts, and asks what it means to become "data-driven." Fail Fast, Learn Faster includes discussions of: The emergence of Big Data and why organizations must become data-driven to survive Why becoming data-driven forces companies to "think different" about their business The state of data in the corporate world today, and the principal challenges Why companies must develop a true "data culture" if they expect to change Examples of companies that are demonstrating data-driven leadership and what we can learn from them Why companies must learn to "fail fast and learn faster" to compete in the years ahead How the Chief Data Officer has been established as a new corporate profession Written for CEOs and Corporate Board Directors, data professional and practitioners at all organizational levels, university executive programs and students entering the data profession, and general readers seeking to understand the Information Age and why data, science, and facts matter in the world in which we live, Fail Fast, Learn Faster p;is essential reading that delivers an urgent message for the business leaders of today and of the future.

Drawing on extended ethnographic studies of management consultancies in the Oslo region of Norway, this book seeks to find a richer understanding of their role in contemporary work life and the attraction their practices exert on people. The author shows that management consultancy is an arena of meaning that should be analysed as a 'cultural space'. With a detailed investigation into consultancy as a cultural phenomenon, Henningsen argues that its services can be viewed as a 'micro-utopian' vision which can lead to a happier working environment for individuals.