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Management consulting in practice; award-winning international case studies. - page 5


Foreword

How many management consultancy projects can claim to have made significant improvements to the lives of millions of people? The case studies in this book contain practical solutions to monstrously complicated problems requiring not only clever, innovative thinking and broad international experience, but tact and diplomacy qualities which would challenge the UN.

Claims are often made for the impact of consultancy projects, but all too often this is at best piecemeal and at worst anecdotal. The majority of projects described in this book employed rigorous and extensive measurement techniques to assess the effectiveness of the initiatives and policies undertaken.

Management consultants - or at least the benefits they bring - are regarded with a good deal of scepticism by big business (as measured in MORI's Captains of Industry surveys for example), and the media delight in telling us of big government project failures. This book does a great job of redressing the balance.

Professor Robert Worcester
Chairman
MORI

Acknowledgements

Books such as this are never possible without the help and cooperation of a large number of people. The authors would particularly like to thank Sarah Taylor and Joy Hewgill at the Management Consultancies Association, and the team at Kogan Page, for their energy and commitment to the project. We are also grateful to the numerous individuals in the PR and marketing departments of the firms included in this book for their help in pulling together the case study material.

Chapter 1 makes use of some material first published in the MCA report ‘The UK Consulting Industry 2003/2004'; this material is reprinted here with kind permission of the MCA. All other trademarks that appear in the text are recognized as the property of their owners .



Introduction

What is ‘best practice' in management consulting? Can it be recognized, measured, and replicated?

The Management Consultancies Association's Awards for Best Management Practice are designed to highlight the very best standards in all areas of management consulting, from business strategy, through operational performance improvement to outsourcing. Consulting firms entering for an award have to present case studies of their work with clients for evaluation by a distinguished panel drawn from industry and academia. The awards are given for real projects that make a genuine difference to clients' businesses.

This book collects case studies from the most recent MCA award winners to show just how these firms and their clients succeeded in ensuring high-quality consulting. Each case study explores a unique business situation and the way it was tackled by the team. The case studies also examine how teams responded to the challenges that arose during their projects and the sometimes unexpected lessons they learned.

The first part of the book introduces the themes that occur repeatedly throughout the book. Using data gathered from clients and consultants as part of the MCA's awards process, Chapter 1 argues that, in a world where project-based work is increasingly the norm, collaboration is the key to success. The key obstacle to genuine collaboration - as opposed to lip-service about working in partnership - is obtaining the buy-in from stakeholders on all sides of the relationship. Effective relationships are characterized by openness, honesty and trust. Trust can only be built up by individuals working together over a period of time; it's not something that can be transmitted by a consulting brand. Chapter 2 introduces three overall winning entries from the MCA Awards: the International Olympic Committee's work with Atos Origin; PA Consulting Group's work with Westminster City Council; and Edengene's work with BT Business.

The remaining case studies are divided into seven sections, reflecting the original award categories:

  • change management;

  • human resources;

  • operational performance;

  • business strategy;

  • technology exploitation;

  • outsourcing;

  • electronic trading.

Management consulting is a broad and mature industry that plays an integral role in the development of successful businesses. The MCA is dedicated to articulating the professionalism , diversity and value-add of management consulting organizations. Its annual awards are a key part of that mission. We hope this book will form a powerful and unique resource for consultants, managers and business students looking for real-world insights into the sharp end of contemporary management consulting.