Learning outcomes
After completing this chapter you will be able to:
● understand the overall process of, and steps in, conducting management con-sultancy research,
● understand how management consultancy research projects can be identi-fied and initiated,
● appreciate the importance of planning and agreeing upon the consultancy research brief,
● appreciate the importance of designing and agreeing the research plan.
Introduction
As with any complex, and potentially costly activity, it is essential to plan and design how the activity will be completed. In this chapter we shall identify and discuss the key steps and considerations in initiating, planning, designing and conducting a management consultancy research project. During this process, alternatives with regard to the purpose and objectives of the consultancy research must be determined and important decisions made with regard to, for example, the overall direction and focus of the consultancy research, the methods of research and data collection, and alternative methods of data analysis and presentation.
In addition, we shall be looking at the important activities of scheduling, resourcing and controlling the research project. Finally, we shall be looking at aspects such as responsibilities for conducting the project, and where appropriate, for implementing and follow-up action programmes.
5.1 Management consultancy and research: an overview
As we have seen, there are many different types of management consultancy and research projects involving and encompassing very different types of man-agement consultancy activities and roles. It is difficult, therefore, and perhaps potentially dangerous to propose an overall framework of the key steps in the management and consultancy research process that can broadly apply irre-spective of the type, nature and context of the management consultancy and research being considered. However, so long as we are aware of this problem, it is possible and indeed useful to consider a model of the overall process of management consultancy and research in order that we can consider the key steps and stages in this process.
A generalized model of the process of management consultancy research is shown in Figure 5.1. This model is based on what are suggested as the key steps in most consulting cycles or projects.
It is important that you familiarize yourself with this model as it forms the basis of the content of the majority of the following chapters of the book. In this chapter, in addition to introducing you to an overview of the process shown in
Initiation of the consultancy research project – meeting/
identifying the client
Planning and agreeing upon the consultancy/research brief to include:
• research/consultancy objectives
• constraints and restrictions
• reporting requirements
• responsibilities and duties
• timing and funding
Designing and agreeing the research plan to include:
Data collection
Data analysis, interpretation and diagnosis Recommendations, implementation, and actions Control, evaluation and monitoring
Disengaging from client/project
• research/consultancy objectives
• methods of data analysis and presentation
• methods of data collection
• data and information requirements
Identifying, selecting and agreeing upon the consultancy project/
topic
Figure 5.1 The consultancy process: steps in the consulting cycle
this model, we shall be concentrating particularly on the first stages in the processes in our consulting cycle encompassing: initiating the consultancy research process, meeting and identifying the client, identifying and agreeing the consultancy project/topic, planning and agreeing the consultancy research brief, and designing and agreeing the research plan. I shall also in this chapter be introducing you to the steps to be covered in more detail in later chapters, encompassing: data collection methods, methods of data analysis interpreta-tion and diagnosis, recommendainterpreta-tions implementainterpreta-tion and acinterpreta-tions, control eval-uation and monitoring, and finally disengaging/ongoing activities.
5.2 Initiating the consultancy/research process: meeting/identifying the client
Consultancy projects can be initiated for all sorts of reasons and in all sorts of ways. How and why consultancy projects are initiated can have major effects on how the consultancy project is conducted including, for example, methods of data collection, methods of analysis and presentation, implementation and control issues. It is important to consider therefore, the different ways in which consultancy projects can be, and are, initiated.
● Client initiates project: Many consultancy projects are initiated by the client.
The ‘client’ is normally taken to mean the person(s) for whom the consul-tancy is being undertaken and who will often, though not inevitably, be paying for the consultancy. In most circumstances this will mean the organization for which the consultancy project is being commissioned, but of course this will be effected through the management of the organization, and of course may be a specific named individual. The client, therefore, is often taken to mean a specific manager or management team for whom the consultancy is being performed. In fact, very often, identifying the ‘client’ is not always as straightforward as you might think, and is certainly very often not simply the person or party who has commissioned the project. We shall consider the issue of client identification later in this section.
● Consultant initiates project: Often management consultancy projects are initi-ated by the consultant. This might be the case, for example, where a con-sultant or consultancy company contacts a potential client and offers their services with regard to some area or aspect of business and business performance. For example, a company might be contacted by, say, an infor-mation technology consultancy company offering to look at ways in which IT systems could be introduced and/or improved.
● Third party initiates project: Third, we have those consultancy projects that are initiated by a third party. This third party could comprise a manager or func-tion within the organizafunc-tion or could be an outside party. For example, the consultancy project may be initiated at the behest of the board of directors who use either an inside or an outside consultancy team to conduct the con-sultancy project. In the case of an outside third party, the concon-sultancy here
may be initiated by, say, a government initiative that is aimed at improving industrial effectiveness in certain areas.
How the consultation process is initiated and whether the consultant or con-sulting team being used is internal or external to the organization will have an influence on the nature of the initial contact between consultant and client.
However, irrespective of how the consultation was initiated, there is no doubt that this initial meeting or contact between consultant and client is crucial to the effec-tiveness of the whole process of consultancy. Consultants often refer to this initial contact stage as gaining entry. It is probably not overstating the case to suggest that the effectiveness or otherwise of this initial contact and meeting between client and consultant is probably one of the most crucial steps in the consultancy process.
Activity 5.1. List three key objectives that you feel the consultant should be aiming to achieve with regard to the relationship between the consultant and client during the consultant’s first meeting with the client.
The first meeting between client and consultant is extremely important since the consultant, whether internal or external may not be known personally to the client. The consultant can establish an immediate climate of openness and trust, and good communication by taking the following steps.
● Prepare in advance: The consultant should find out as much as possible about the client’s business, problems and circumstances
● Use listening skills: One of the key skills of the consultant, and certainly a skill which is crucial in these initial stages of the consultancy process, is the skill of effective listening. The consultant should be prepared to encourage the client to open up and discuss freely with, initially at least, as few interruptions as possible. Verbal and body language signals are important here, as it is crucial to signal to the client that his or her thoughts and ideas are being assimilated.
● Be open-minded: Related to effective listening skills is the attitude on the part of the consultant of being initially as open-minded as possible with regard to the client’s problems and business situation. It is often tempting to iden-tify problems or even suggest solutions as quickly as possible. In addition, the consultant is likely to have his/her own ideas as to the client’s situation and problems. It is important not to voice these too early in the process.
● Be client-centred: It may sound obvious, but the consultant is there to help the client and not the other way around. All too often, however, relationships between client and consultant are clouded or in some cases even soured by the consultant not being sufficiently sensitive and responsive to the needs, feelings and requirements of the client. In fact, the need to be client-centred relates to the whole process of consultancy and should be evident in every stage. However, it is particularly important in this first initial stage of the consulting process and in particular it is important that the consultant starts where the clients are and not where the consultants would like them to be.
● Be confident but not cocksure: Remember that the client will only trust the consultant if they have confidence in him/her. It is important, therefore, that
the consultant tries to build this confidence as quickly as possible. Building confidence on the part of the client in turn requires that the consultant also exudes confidence. There is clearly a fine dividing line between demonstrating your confidence to the client and appearing smug or overconfident. It is a good idea at the first meeting with the client to encourage the client to find out something about the consultant so that confidence can begin to build.
Needless to say, building trust and confidence with the client is not possible until we have identified the client. Earlier, I introduced the notion that the client is often taken to mean the person(s) for whom the consultancy is being under-taken and who may be paying for the consultancy. In fact, Cockman et al. (1992) suggest that defining the client too narrowly is often one of the major mistakes made by the inexperienced consultant. They suggest it is more useful to think of a client system. The notion of a client system is that in many situations the person or party who has initiated the consultancy project and with whom there-fore the consultant initially meets, is often only a part of the system which the consultant will have to become involved with and explore. For example, the production director may have called in a consultant with a view to solving a quality control problem. In addressing this problem the consultant may find that they have to discuss the problem with employees from several different functional areas of the business, for example, the problem may lie, with the pur-chasing department. Although initially the consultancy client would appear to be the production director or at least the production department, in fact the client system includes other persons/functions in the business. Revans (1980) suggests a useful and relatively simple approach to identifying the real clients or client system which has been adapted by Cockman et al. (op. cit.). This is outlined below. He suggests that the client system can be identified by asking three questions, namely:
● Who knows? Any person or party who could potentially provide information or shed light on the consultancy problem is effectively part of the client sys-tem and should therefore be involved in the process.
● Who cares? Any person or party who has occasion to care about the consul-tancy problem and its potential solution again is part of the client system.
● Who can? Can here refers to who can do something about the solution to the problem. So, for example, if the solution involves additional resources that must be sanctioned by a third party then this party too is part of the client system.
Source: Adapted from Cockman et al. (1992) pp. 10–11.
Activity 5.2. A marketing consultant has been called in to the ACME Trading Company and asked to prepare a consultancy report with regard to the effec-tiveness of the company’s advertising and any recommendations for improve-ment. Like most organizations, ACME makes use of an outside advertising agency to help plan and execute their advertising. Advertising in the company is also linked with other marketing activities including sales promotion and
particularly sales force incentives. Budgets for advertising are determined by the accountancy function and market research is used to evaluate advertising results. Last year there was a particular problem when an otherwise very effec-tive advertising campaign was rendered ineffeceffec-tive due to problems with late delivery of the products being advertised.
Using Revans three questions, who might be part of this consultant’s real client or client system?
5.3 The consultancy research project/topic
Initiation
It is vital to identify and agree upon what the consultancy project is to encom-pass. We can think of this in a number of ways. For example, we could refer to it as the consultancy problem or, perhaps being more client-centred, as identify-ing the client’s needs. In whatever way we refer to this process, it is vital to agree to what the consultancy project/topic is to encompass and include it as early as possible in the process. Essentially, this then becomes the contract between the consultant and the client. The term contract here refers not to any legal agree-ment and docuagree-ment established between consultant and client (although obvi-ously where the consultancy arrangements do have such legal contracts encompassing and including for example terms and conditions, confidentiality, access to information, etc.) rather the term is used here in the sense of both client and consultant arriving at the point where they feel happy to work together, can proceed with reasonable trust by both parties and have agreed at least in outline as to what the consultancy project is to be about and encompass. If anything, the contract is a psychological commitment by both parties, one to the other, to pro-ceed. The contract therefore, requires that any barriers and potential problems between consultant and client with regard to conducting the consultancy have been considered and as far as possible removed or at least minimized. Both con-sultant and client must at this stage be convinced of the value of the consultancy process. For example, the client should be convinced that they need and can ben-efit from help and the consultant in turn must be convinced that they can offer the required help. Again, we should remember that very often in many consult-ing assignments, in the early stages at least, clients can sometimes be suspicious or resentful of the consultants’ presence. Unless this is overcome then, there is unlikely to be an effective contract based on mutual openness, trust and honesty.
It is impossible to be specific about how to assess when such a contract has been effectively established. The consultant must use his or her judgement, but when both client and consultant are in a position to do so, they can move to the next step of identifying and agreeing upon the consultancy project or topic.