Management Consulting in Practice

Publisher's note

Every possible effort has been made to ensure that the information contained in this book is accurate at the time of going to press, and the publishers and authors cannot accept responsibility for any errors or omissions, however caused. No responsibility for loss or damage occasioned to any person acting, or refraining from action, as a result of the material in this publication can be accepted by the editor, the publisher or any of the authors.

First published in Great Britain and the United States in 2004 by Kogan Page Limited

Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms and licences issued by the CLA. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside these terms should be sent to the publishers at the undermentioned addresses:

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© Management Consultancies Association, 2004

The right of Management Consultancies Association to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

ISBN 0 7494 4281 6

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Czerniawska, Fiona.

Management consulting in practice: case studies in international best practice/ Fiona Czerniawska & Pual May.
p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-7494-4281-6
1. Business consultants--Case studies. I. May, Paul, 1963-II. Title. HD69.C6C9235 2004
001'.068--dc22

2004013741

Typeset by Datamatics Technologies Ltd, Mumbai, India Printed and bound in Great Britain by Thanet Press Ltd, Margate

About the Management Consultancies Association

The Management Consultancies Association (MCA) was formed in 1956 to represent the consultancy industry to clients, the media and government. Today, the Association's members employ around 60 per cent of the UK consulting sector, which is worth approximately £10 billion, contributing £1 billion to the balance of payments. MCA members work with FTSE 100 companies and all government departments.

A principal objective of the MCA is to maintain high standards within the UK management consultancy sector by ensuring that member firms meet stringent entry criteria and adhere to a code of professional conduct. MCA members must also comply with professional and ethical standards, which provide reassurance to purchasers of consultancy.

As well as setting and maintaining standards in the consulting industry, the MCA supports its member firms with a range of services including events, publications, interest groups and PR. The MCA works with its members to recruit and retain the top talent, provides advice to purchasers of consultancy on the selection and use of management consultants and is the main source of data on the UK market.

Management consultancy is the creation of value for organizations, through the application of knowledge, techniques and assets, to improve performance. This is achieved through the rendering of objective advice and/or the implementation of business solutions.

About the authors

Fiona Czerniawska is one of the world's leading commentators on the consulting industry. Since publishing her first book on consulting five years ago, she has become an internationally regarded authority on future trends in the industry whose ideas have shaped the boardroom agenda of major consulting firms. Fiona is the Director of the UK Management Consultancies Association's Think Tank and the founder and managing director of Arkimeda (www.arkimeda.com), a firm that specializes in researching and consulting on strategic issues in the consulting industry. Fiona speaks and writes extensively on the consulting industry and related issues. Recent books include Management Consulting: What Next? (Macmillan, 2002), Value-based Consulting (Macmillan, 2002) and The Intelligent Client (Hodder & Stoughton, 2002). Fiona is also the author of many commercial reports on consulting including White Space: Who are the Real Thought Leaders in Management Consulting? (Arkimeda, 2004).

Paul May is a business technology author, consultant, systems architect and business development executive. In October 1998, he formed the independent e-commerce consulting practice Verista (www.verista.com), and has since undertaken strategy and implementation projects with well-known global companies such as BP and Siemens, and with business-to-consumer and business-to-business e-commerce startups in the UK and USA. He is a co-founder of the software development company Avenida (www.avenida.co.uk), and of RioBrand (www.riobrand.com), the global brand information repository. Paul is also the author of Mobile Commerce: Opportunities, Applications and Technologies of Wireless Business (Cambridge University Press, 2001) and The Business of Ecommerce: from Corporate Strategy to Technology (Cambridge University Press, 2000).