Management Consultancy has caught the attention of Management professionals: MBAs from management institutions as well as seasoned practising Managers. While, for the former, it is an opportunity for entry into the ranks of high profile career management consultants, with global consulting firms; the latter visualise it as a coveted post mid-career avocation or vocation of choice and dignity. Perception that the vocation brings in respect, autonomy, opportunities, networking and earnings, and get noticed; overshadows the challenging elements of reality in the ‘management consultancy’ profession.
To stand up and perform to own satisfaction while exceeding client expectations is the dream of every professional. Management Consultants are no exception. To realise the above, it is imperative that the individual is armed with insights into the nuances of the profession in addition to technical skills. Insights / practical knowledge is tacit in nature, buried in the mind of the practitioner; whose value is rarely derived by those in the early stages of their consulting career.
While technical knowledge is acquired through formal training in professional institutions, there is no choice for the informal tacit knowledge gained from experience. The closest substitute to knowledge from own experience is learning from (access to) experience of others; enriched with variety in depth, context, vintage and client diversity to mimic a holistic view.
This book is an attempt to deliver the less documented tacit knowledge to the reader as explicit knowledge from experience. ‘Management Consultancy Through an Academic and Practitioner Perspective’ is designed to bridge this experiential gap.
The three co-authors to the edited book are a judicious amalgam of academe and practitioner, of long standing. Contributors to chapters bring in the diversity in geography, domain, vintage and scale.
The book has nine chapters each addressing a topical issue. The chapters bridge the academic camp’s precision orientation with the practitioner expediency to deliver value. The chapters help bridge the perception – reality gap, build awareness, competence and confidence for a new entrant, give wider exposure to those in the profession and a ring side view to clients of ‘management consultancy’ to help them manage consultants effectively and productively. The authors take the readers through the ‘past’ and ‘present’ to the ‘future’. The diversity of authors provides a holistic and global view.
The complexity of ‘Management Consultancy’ space is well brought out. Need for composure, maturity, communication skills, risk management and individual traits of a high order are illustrated through examples and case studies. The dimension of ethics in ‘consultancy management’ and cultural sensitivity are highlighted and discussed with illustrative diagrams. Case studies for each topic provide the real life material for analysis and group discussions, making the reading valuable.
The book is an effective and holistic aid for aspiring Management Consultants to bridge the knowledge – experience gap. It will be of immense value to institutions offering courses in Business Management, executive development as well as short term refresher courses in management. The book is available online https://notionpress.com/read/management-consultancy-through-an-academic-and-practitioner-perspective, https://www.flipkart.com/, https://www.infibeam.com and https://www.amazon.in
The book provides a perspective on how management consultancy firms need to stay relevant to compete effectively; and seeks to bridge the gap between the practitioner and academic camps and an appreciation of reality to the management consultancy landscape. It is particularly relevant for undergraduate, postgraduate and MBA students interested in the ‘management consulting’ profession; who may study this subject as a core module or as an elective, or who may use it for further reading to supplement their strategy and international business modules. Aspiring and practicing management consultants will find it helpful to deliver quality outcomes to clients and sustainable.
