As with any other business, a management consultancy has to be managed and, if only in the long term, the quality of management will influence the performance of the business. It is not the purpose of this book to rehearse the general principles of management; it is useful, however, to consider the critical elements that need to be managed. A useful general model of key elements in a consultancy practice is illustrated in Figure 2.1.
Figure 2.1: A model of a consultancy practice
The tasks and skills involved in consultants engaging effectively with clients are dealt with in the following chapters, while leadership and intellectual property are dealt with in the following sections in this chapter.