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

Global financial crisis and colossal sovereign debt has resulted in the need for radical cuts in public expenditure in many countries. Against this background, the contributions in Third Sector Performance acknowledge that, as a result, more imaginative ways of delivering public services are being sought. In countries like the UK, the new concept of The Big Society envisages third sector, or not-for-profit, or charitable organizations and social enterprises stepping in to mitigate the loss of vital public services. This development also gives rise to the likelihood that third sector financial institutions such as credit unions and a possible 'Big Society Bank' will grow in importance. The performance of all these enterprises looks set to become a much more critical issue than it has been in the past. The editors have gathered in this volume, chapters reflecting the fact that third sector organizations are not the same as conventional businesses and are also subtly different from the public sector. There is currently a dearth of knowledge and a lack of research into issues around performance in the Third Sector or Civil Society. This book begins to fill a void in the knowledge base. The internationally sourced contributions represent a balanced offering of academic research findings and practitioner accounts from the Third Sector, together with a section devoted specifically to third sector finance institutions. This book will appeal, internationally, to policy makers within the third sector or involved in the management of n-f-p and voluntary organisations, as well as to those with responsibility for wider public policy, scholars teaching or researching in this area, and students of business and management preparing for roles in social enterprises.

Global financial crisis and colossal sovereign debt has resulted in the need for radical cuts in public expenditure in many countries. Against this background, the contributions in Third Sector Performance acknowledge that, as a result, more imaginative ways of delivering public services are being sought. In countries like the UK, the new concept of The Big Society envisages third sector, or not-for-profit, or charitable organizations and social enterprises stepping in to mitigate the loss of vital public services. This development also gives rise to the likelihood that third sector financial institutions such as credit unions and a possible 'Big Society Bank' will grow in importance. The performance of all these enterprises looks set to become a much more critical issue than it has been in the past. The editors have gathered in this volume, chapters reflecting the fact that third sector organizations are not the same as conventional businesses and are also subtly different from the public sector. There is currently a dearth of knowledge and a lack of research into issues around performance in the Third Sector or Civil Society. This book begins to fill a void in the knowledge base. The internationally sourced contributions represent a balanced offering of academic research findings and practitioner accounts from the Third Sector, together with a section devoted specifically to third sector finance institutions. This book will appeal, internationally, to policy makers within the third sector or involved in the management of n-f-p and voluntary organisations, as well as to those with responsibility for wider public policy, scholars teaching or researching in this area, and students of business and management preparing for roles in social enterprises.

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