WHY USE CONSULTANTS?


All organizations have suppliers - of utilities, raw materials and so on. Organizations need to decide what they should source internally and what they should buy in the 'make or buy' decision.

The structure of business has changed radically over the last 30 years: whereas large corporations would have had teams of in-house specialists to help with projects as and when required, the consequence of successive cost-cutting exercises has been that many specialist departments have closed. Specialist expertise is now externally resourced - not only in consultancy and other professions, but also in many other areas - for example, office cleaning, running canteens and security. Activities that are not vital to the core of the business are subcontracted. Charles Handy (1989), in his book The Age of Unreason, sees this trend developing and greatly affecting the nature and structure of organizations.

So, the principle of using specialist outsiders is established. The next question is: On what activities should they be engaged? The obvious areas are where organizations do not have the quantity or quality of resources to achieve the desired results. A simple analogy: you want to replace the central heating system in your house; if you do not know how to do this, you will probably engage a plumber to do it for you. Or, you may be able to do it, but have insufficient time to do so, in which case you would again subcontract the work.

There are three other factors that organizations may also take into consideration when deciding whether to subcontract:

  • Objectivity. Will insiders bring the independence and freshness of view that an outsider would bring?

  • Risk. Bringing in outside experts should mitigate the risks of the project failing (and, if you are cynical, will provide an obvious scapegoat if it does!).

  • Learning. There are two questions for clients to consider:

    • How will our organizational knowledge be increased as a result of using consultants?

    • What opportunities for learning will be lost by engaging outside consultants?

Taking the central heating analogy above, for example, you may wish to work alongside the plumber if you want to learn how to install central heating systems for yourself in future.

These factors are also relevant to the use of internal consultants. The value of establishing an internal consultancy practice is that it allows the development of a centre of excellence in an area of specialist activity that would not be economically viable if diffused throughout an organization. Moreover, leading-edge practice is not always available from external consultancies. Organizations may be able to acquire learning and capability in areas relevant to their business more easily than consultants. In many situations a joint client-consultant team therefore can be very effective.




The Top Consultant. Developing Your Skills for Greater Effectiveness
The Top Consultant: Developing your Skills for Greater Effectiveness
ISBN: 0749442530
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 89

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