Management consulting began to develop in the early 50s of the last century. It is from this time international organization labor began to pay considerable attention to the development of services management consulting and dissemination of experience in participating countries. In Russia, the starting point for the development of consulting is considered to be the 90s, when the emergence and development of private business began.
Fundamentals of Management Consulting
According to the European Federation of Economics and Management Consultants, management consulting is the provision of independent advice and assistance on management issues, which may include identifying and assessing problems and opportunities, developing recommendations for taking appropriate measures and assisting in their implementation. The main goal of management consulting is to increase the efficiency of the company and identify factors that prevent this. The quality of the solution to the problem should be as high as possible, subject to time and financial constraints. It is necessary not only to develop ways to improve the current situation, but also to show possible ways to independently solve similar problems in the future, that is, to develop the client's skills of analysis, evaluation and effective action.
The degree of involvement of the client in the process depends on the type of service, but if the client does not take any part at all, the effectiveness of the consultant's work will be minimal.
In the process of achieving the main goal, a number of tasks can be solved in various directions, respectively, according to the types of tasks, management consulting can be conditionally divided into four main groups.
- Strategic consulting. Develop strategies to achieve long-term and short-term goals and detailed plans for their implementation. Strategic consulting helps build an effective business model.
- Marketing consulting. Research and Development marketing strategy companies.
- HR consulting. Analysis of the activities of managerial personnel, including certification and development of recommendations based on the results of its implementation. Development of personnel motivation systems and their implementation.
- Building a management system in a company- analysis and optimization of systems management accounting: distribution of powers, functions, responsibilities, creation of a system of business processes and a system of forecasting and information exchange, building an optimal structural and functional scheme of an organization.
The main principles of management consulting as a service are competence, specificity, consistency, creativity and efficiency.
Main normative documents in the field of management consulting are:
- the Constitution of the Russian Federation (Articles 8 and 74);
- Civil Code of the Russian Federation (Article 128 and Chapter 39);
- Federal Law of the Russian Federation of July 27, 2006 No. 149-FZ “On Information, information technology and on the protection of information”;
- Federal Law of the Russian Federation of July 27, 2006 No. 152-FZ "On Personal Data";
- Federal Law of the Russian Federation of December 30, 2008 No. 307-FZ "On Auditing".
On a note
Unfortunately, in Russia there is still no separate law that defines the concepts, essence, principles of consulting and the responsibility of consultants.
Reasons for ordering management consulting services
Most often, managers of companies turn to management consulting specialists for help in crisis situations, when not only a successful future, but also the existence of the company as a whole depends on the further development strategy. According to the consultants themselves, two categories of companies need management consulting services the most:
- Stable companies reforming. This may be an expansion, a change in the type of activity or form of ownership, a merger with another company. In order for changes to occur without harm to the company, consultation with specialists will be required. For example, the services of a consultant are often used by firms moving from the status of "family" to the category of medium and large, with the number of employees from 500 to 1000 people.
- Large companies whose owners want to receive objective information about the state of affairs in order to move from current operational management to strategy management. The task of the consultant is to make this process as transparent and painless as possible, completely eliminating the possibility of losing business.
However, there are other situations where management consulting can bring tangible benefits:
- The need to automate business processes. Usually in this situation, a preliminary survey of the enterprise and the identification of the need for reorganization are always carried out.
- Finding new ways to compete by building a new marketing policy.
- The desire to ensure the reliability and security of the company's development and strengthening its reputation in the eyes of partners and customers.
The results that the company receives from management consulting can be divided into several groups: direct and indirect, quantitative and qualitative. (see Table 1).
Table 1. Results of management consulting
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RESULTS |
Direct |
Indirect |
|
quantitative |
|
|
|
quality |
|
|
As an example, we can cite a situation from the practice of the KSK group company.
young construction company working on major project worth 30 million rubles, ordered a management consulting service. During the implementation of this project, problems constantly arose, resulting in the risk of missed deadlines and receiving a large fine from the customer. During the consulting process, it was revealed that the company lacks a well-defined organizational structure.
The operational and control functions were separated, which allowed the owner to get an objective opinion on the state of affairs and make the right decision. managerial decision. The main departments of the company were also identified and the areas of responsibility of each of them were formulated. A step-by-step plan for the implementation of all changes was prepared for the client. This solution helped implement an important project for the client, avoided a contract fine of 2.4 million rubles, and provided the company with the opportunity to develop and increase the scope of work. The cost of implementing the project of KSK groups amounted to 1 million rubles, ROI (Return On Investment, "return on investment") - 140%.
Management consulting technologies
In modern management consulting, three main approaches are usually distinguished:
- Expert approach. It consists in studying the existing company management structure, identifying its features and problem areas, developing expert recommendations and putting them into practice. At the same time, the expert's opinion is practically not discussed, he independently makes all decisions, and the client's duty is only to provide the necessary conditions for the consultant's work. Expert advice can be carried out in several forms - advice (recommendation), a client's question - the consultant's answer, a written report (draft, analytical note), express analysis, in-depth analysis. At the same time, the effectiveness of expert advice directly depends on the level of competence of the expert himself, his professionalism and understanding by the client of the proposed recommendations, combined with the willingness and ability to implement them. An expert approach is advisable to apply in cases where the problem is not related to specific circumstances in the client's company, there is no need for in-depth diagnostics. In this case, the client needs the help of an expert offering a ready-made standard solution or gaining knowledge on standard procedures, norms and regulations.
On a note
There are no experts who are objective and 100% competent. Each of the specialists will bring to the conclusion their personal experience, attitude towards the client, their understanding of the task and vision of the situation.
- Project approach. This approach is targeted and represents the creation and development of specific projects in a particular area of the company. It allows you to focus all resources on solving problems in one direction, carry out targeted consulting, plan the desired results and ensure their achievement. Stages of project consulting:
- drawing up a task for the project;
- stage-by-stage preparation of the project with the participation of the client's specialists and stage-by-stage delivery;
- providing consultations necessary for the implementation of the project;
- participation of the consultant in the implementation of the project to the extent determined by the client.
- Process approach does not imply ready solution Problems. The consultant in this case helps the client to develop his own way of solving the problem, using various techniques. The process method requires the active participation of the client, and the consultation itself is seen as a process consisting of certain actions, using certain technologies, tools and methods. Consulting takes into account the specifics of the company as much as possible and is aimed at carrying out systemic changes in it. During process consulting, methods aimed at maximizing interaction with the client are used: organizational diagnostics and organizational intervention. Diagnostics is aimed at collecting information about the state of the company by monitoring the activities from the inside, conducting individual and group surveys, and studying documents. The result of the diagnostics is a report. Organizational interventions are associated with the impact on the company, in order to make the necessary changes in its activities and consolidate them. The most important condition for effective process consulting is the willingness of the people participating in it to actively interact with the consultant, analyzing problems and developing solutions.
In some cases, management consulting requires a combination of all three approaches to achieve the desired result.
Consulting Methods
There are a great many methods of management consulting, the most popular (if not traditional) of which in Russia are SWOT analysis and business coaching.
The abbreviation SWOT fully reflects the very essence of the analysis (see Fig.):
S- force ( strength);
W- weakness ( weakness);
O- possibilities ( opportunites);
T- Problems ( troubles).
Rice. SWOT analysis model
SWOT analysis helps answer the following questions:
- Does the company use in its strategy strengths or distinctive advantages? If the company does not have such advantages, then what of its strengths could be?
- Are the company's weaknesses its most vulnerable points in competition? It is they who do not allow the use of any favorable circumstances? What are the weaknesses in without fail require adjustments in terms of strategy?
- What favorable opportunities can give the company a chance to successful development using its current access to resources and current skill levels of staff?
There are three methods of SWOT analysis:
- Express SWOT- the most common type that helps to identify the strengths of the company. It is these parties indicated in the analysis, in combination with external capabilities, that are able to counteract threats. In addition, SWOT analysis also reveals weaknesses.
- Consolidated SWOT-analysis makes it possible to obtain information on the quantitative assessment of factors identified using other methods, as well as to develop a strategy and activities to achieve strategic goals.
- Mixed SWOT Analysis is a combination of the two previous types.
SWOT analysis can be used to analyze the factors of the competitive environment, plan and implement company strategies, and competitive intelligence. Its advantages include ease of implementation and efficiency of use, identification of links between the company's capabilities and real problems, between strong and weaknesses, no need for extensive information for calculations, determination of further prospects for the company's activities, the ability to evaluate profitability indicators.
The shortcomings of the SWOT analysis include the lack of temporal dynamics and quantitative and evaluative indicators in it.
Business coaching
The word coaching comes from in English like "training" or "training". Business coaching is a technique individual work with clients, aimed at jointly finding ways to solve a problem, developing the ability to see these ways, make informed decisions and be responsible for them. With the help of coaching, the customer gets the opportunity to reach a new level of understanding of business processes in his company, formulate a development strategy and ways to achieve strategic goals.
As part of business coaching, several methods can be used:
- Methods of testing, training and conducting business games . According to experts, the information received remains in memory for a long time if all channels of information transmission are used and practical lessons, allowing in a game situation to check various options for solving client problems and choose the most optimal one.
- Methods for activating creative thinking. These include brainstorming, the Delphi method (used if the group gathering is not possible and consists in the anonymous collection of individual opinions), the method expert assessments, the goal tree method, and scenarios, which are logical descriptions of possible events, taking into account various factors.
- Neuro Linguistic Programming Method.
- Nominal groups method. It is used in cases where it is necessary to identify and compare several individual opinions in order to get a decision that one person cannot make in a short time.
- Methods of organizational self-diagnosis. With their help, employees of the company can independently establish signs that characterize the state of the organization. Self-diagnosis leads to self-analysis of the participants and contributes to their self-development.
Business coaching professionals can use a combination of several methods to produce the most effective results. Coaching brings positive results if it is used for those employees of the company who, by their nature of activity, are required to make independent decisions, but at the same time have teamwork skills.
Service delivery stages
The management consulting process includes several stages (see Table 2). The very first step towards the implementation of a consulting project is the realization by the client that he has a problem that he would like to solve with the help of consultants.
Table 2. Stages and stages of the counseling process
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Stages and stages |
Procedures |
|
|
|
Preparation |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Completion |
|
The implementation of a project within the framework of management consulting can last from several days to several months - depending on the size of the company and the complexity of the task.
How to choose a consulting company?
With this question, we turned to Denis Predein, head of the Management Consulting practice at KSK Group:
"If there is a need to involve consulting agency pay attention to several important factors. Of course, this is the experience of the company, the staff of experts, the presence of publications in the professional press, the list of clients ... But the most important criterion choice in attracting business consultants is their ability to succinctly and clearly express their thoughts, awaken in the client fresh ideas identify viable goals and justify ways to achieve them.
Many managers and some consultants are unable to answer a simple question: "What is strategic consulting?". Often, this service means multi-page files filed into a folder. analytical reports, endless SWOT analyses, alternative business strategies... At the same time, strategic consulting is expert assistance to management in finding answers to two questions:
- What is the goal for the business?
- How to reach this goal?
The answers to them allow us to get out of the "fog" into which managers often wander in crisis situations, being under the yoke of solving tactical problems. The answers to them allow you to abstract from everyday business fuss and see what is called the light at the end of the tunnel - clearly articulated, achievable, measurable in time and in financial indicators target. Answers to them allow you to focus on specific means and stages of achieving the goal. The approved action plan, depending on the specific task, can be “titled” as “Increasing the value of the company by 2 times in three years”, “Reducing production costs by 15% in 3 years” or “Growth net profit by 5% annually for 5 years. To solve such problems, there are KSK groups.
For more than 20 years of management consulting, we have hundreds of successfully completed projects of varying complexity and industry focus, being one of the leaders in Russia in strategic, tax and legal consulting (according to the Expert RA rating agency for 2015). And by the way, with us you can get an initial consultation absolutely free of charge.
P.S. is a reputable, dynamically developing consulting company, consistently ranked in the top 10 major agencies Russia by destinations strategic planning, organizational development and personnel management (according to the rating agency "Expert RA" for 2015). Company staff for currently has 350 industry professionals. The client pool is about 1000 firms.
Editorial opinion
The services of professional consultants are vital for an enterprise, not only in crisis situations. “Outside view” allows you to assess the problems, risks and opportunities of the company from a different angle. Independent expert opinion, recommendations for taking appropriate measures and assistance in their implementation can significantly increase business efficiency.
The objectives of this discipline are to give an idea of the state, problems and prospects for the effective use of the services of professional consultants; develop practical skills in organizing and implementing management consulting, necessary for the correct orientation in the provision of consulting services, selection consulting organizations and the conclusion of consulting agreements.
Management consulting, i.e. management consulting is a special service area and an integral part of the infrastructure market economy. It is an essential professional service that helps leaders analyze and address the challenges facing their organizations. practical tasks and learn from the experience of others.
For Russia, professional management consulting is a relatively new area, although consulting as a form of independent advice has been around for as long as humanity has existed. Over the past ten years, individual counseling professional activity turns into an industry. In this regard, the study of management consulting is of great importance, turning into a necessary subject of basic theoretical and practical training, and is very relevant.
The purpose of this training manual is to help all interested parties in the study and consolidation of knowledge in management consulting.
Content
Information about discipline 4
Preface 8
1. Basic concepts and definitions 5
2. Goals, objectives, approaches to management consulting 19
3. Subject and method of management consulting 27
3.1. General provisions 30
3.2. Classification of counseling methods 32
3.3. Methods of work of consultants during the implementation of a consulting project 36
4. Subjects and objects of counseling. Types and forms of counseling 43
4.1. Subjects and objects of counseling 46
4.2. Expert advice 54
4.3. Process consulting (process consulting) 55
4.4. Educational consulting 60
4.5. Typology of management consulting 62
5. Areas of management consulting. Management consulting market 65
5.1. History of management consulting 67
5.2. Management consulting in Russia 72
5.2.1. The formation of the consulting market in Russia 72
5.2.2. Specifics of consulting activity in Russia 74
5.3. Classification of consulting services 91
6. The role-based nature of counseling 107
7. Choosing a consultant 117
8. Consultation process 138
8.1. Counseling approaches 139
8.2. Stages, stages, phases of the counseling process 145
9. Evaluation of the results of counseling 153
Annex 1. a brief description of business services 165
Annex 2. Results of the pilot study of the market for consulting services 174
Workshop 180
Bank of tests by discipline 189
Questions for the test 226
Glossary 228
List of recommended reading 237
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Introduction 3
1 Theoretical foundations of management consulting 5
Characteristics and principles of consulting 5
Purpose, tasks and stages of counseling 7
Reasons for contacting consulting firms 9
Criteria for the professionalism of a consultant. 13
1.5 Tasks performed by consultants 15
1.6 Features of Russian consulting 19
1.7 Problems solved by Russian consultants 26
1.8 Effectiveness and effectiveness of counseling 29
2 Management consulting methodology 31
3 Management consulting on the example of ZAO Kuppo 36
3.1 Portrait of the organization 36
3.2 Example of management consulting in ZAO Kuppo 36
3.2.1 Statement of the problem, objects and tasks of counseling. 36
3.2.2 Choice of research methodology 36
3.3 Analysis of ways out of a problem situation 38
Conclusion 39
List of sources used 40
Introduction
The choice of a promising direction for improving the production management process at a particular enterprise does not in itself guarantee success in this matter.
In the current situation, the work of the manager has become extremely complicated, who will not only have to revise his management activities, but also help society, represented by its labor collectives, quickly master new life values, new economic relations. The role and importance of the manager's work, in this regard, increases significantly, but his real ability to effectively solve the practical innovative tasks that arise before him is limited, mainly, by the lack of time.
The leader produces a specific product - managerial decisions, some of which can be fixed in the form of norms and rules, creating an organizational order, and some will simply be reproduced many times in various interpretations. A change in the management paradigm means the creation of a new management algorithm, which should be based on new management decisions. These decisions have a leading role in management, their leader takes, assuming full responsibility for their effectiveness. Increasing physical and psychological stress on the manager in the period of transition to market relations, associated with increased uncertainty and risk, shortages of resources, information, time, significantly increase the relevance of this type of activity as management consulting.
One of the most important factors for the effective functioning of a market economy is the formation of an adequate economic environment, the most important element of which is the market infrastructure. Such an infrastructure is an interconnected system of enterprises and organizations that serve the flow of goods, services, money, valuable papers, work force and provide a significant acceleration of their turnover.
Particular attention should be paid to the management infrastructure as one of the components of the infrastructure complex. Management infrastructure creates the necessary conditions for the high-quality and efficient functioning of the serviced areas of the national economy and contributes to the formation and close interaction of all elements of the infrastructure complex. Management infrastructure facilities must develop faster than other elements of the infrastructure complex in order to actively influence its formation as an integral system.
In the context of the integration of the Russian economy into the world economy, issues related to business services are of great importance for business leaders. All of them are faced with the transformation of forms of ownership based on the denationalization and corporatization of enterprises, with rising prices, foreign investment and the interweaving of Russian and foreign capital, as well as a change in their internal structure, bringing it closer to those proportions that are characteristic of the world economy as a whole. Only after this can the country begin to move towards the world level of economic efficiency, which is the main goal of the transformations.
1. Theoretical foundations of management consulting
Characteristics and principles of consulting
Organizations and management consulting firms, or consulting firms, form the backbone of the management infrastructure.
In the broadest sense of the word, counseling as a form of giving independent advice has been in everyday practice for as long as humanity has existed. However, as a type of professional activity, it originated relatively recently.
Other types of professional services in business predate consulting. Historically, the first type of professional external services was legal: entrepreneurs have not been able to do without the services of lawyers and notaries for several hundred years. Later, at the end of the 19th century, as the economy became more complex and the corresponding development of economic sciences, a new area of professional services began to form - consulting in economics and management, that is, management consulting in the proper sense of the word.
There are many definitions of management consulting. There are two main approaches to counseling.
In the first case, a broad functional view of counseling is used. Fritz Steele defines it this way: “By consulting process I mean any form of assistance with regard to the content, process, or structure of a task or series of tasks, in which the consultant is not himself responsible for completing the task, but helps those who are responsible for it.”
The second approach considers counseling as a special professional service and highlights a number of characteristics that it should have. According to Larry Grainer and Robert Metzger, “Management consulting is a contracted advisory service that provides services to organizations through specially trained and qualified individuals who help the client organization identify managerial problems analyze them, make recommendations for solving these problems and contribute, if necessary, to the implementation of decisions”.
Both of these approaches complement each other quite well. The European Federation of Associations of Economic and Management Consultants (FEACO) defines management consulting as providing independent advice and assistance on management issues, including identifying and assessing problems and opportunities, recommending appropriate measures and assisting in their implementation.
The American Association of Economics and Management Consultants (ACME) and the Institute of Management Consultants (IMC) adhere to the same definition.
If you try to bring all these definitions to a common denominator, you get something like this: consulting is a type of intellectual professional activity in which a qualified consultant provides objective and independent advice that contributes to the successful management of a client organization.
Like any other professional activity, consulting has its own special principles, according to which any activity in this area should take place. This:
competence;
reputation;
compliance ethical standards;
observance of the interests of the client;
orientation to broad public interests;
system change;
staff involvement;
scientific character;
flexibility;
creativity;
concreteness and objectivity;
efficiency;
maintaining relationships at the right level.
Western theorists of management consulting distinguish the following characteristic features of management consulting.
First, consultants provide professional assistance to executives. Experienced consultants go through many organizations and learn how to use their experience to help new and old clients in a variety of situations. Hence, they are able to recognize general trends and common causes of problems. Moreover, professional consultants constantly monitor the literature on management issues and the development of theories of methods and management systems, as well as the situation in the market. Thus, they act as a link between management theory and practice. 1
Secondly, consultants mostly give advice. This means that they are only advisors and do not have direct power to make decisions about change and implement it. Consultants are responsible for the quality and completeness of the advice. Clients bear all responsibility that stems from the acceptance of advice. 2
And thirdly, counseling is an independent service. The consultant evaluates any situation, offers objective recommendations on what to do to the client, without thinking about how this could affect his own interests. The consultant should have the following types of independence:
financial;
administrative;
political;
emotional.
Purpose, tasks and stages of counseling
The ultimate goal of counseling is to help the client make progressive changes in his or her organization. The consultant helps to identify and solve specific technical problems, while addressing human problems and aspects of organizational change.
The main task of consulting is to identify and find ways to solve existing problems. Consulting services are carried out both in the form of one-time consultations and in the form of consulting projects. There are many divisions of the consulting process into stages. Any consulting project includes the following main stages:
diagnostics (problem identification);
development of solutions;
implementation of solutions.
A.P. Posadsky notes that the consulting process, in addition to the design stage, includes pre-project and post-project stages.
The initial step of the pre-project stage is the recognition by the client that he has such a problem, the solution of which he would like to implement with the help of consultants. This recognition is the result of a two-way process: on the one hand, the client's awareness of the existence of a problem as such. On the other hand, the formation of the manager's desire to entrust the development of a solution to the problem to consultants. Typically, the client selects on a competitive basis from several proposals the one that best suits him in terms of quality and price, after which he concludes a contract with the consultant of his choice.
The post-project stage is to analyze the changes that have taken place in the client organization. This is followed by the solution of issues related to the possible expansion of the project, in connection with new problems - either identified during the implementation of the project, or arising as a result of the organization reaching a new state as a result of the project. As part of this stage, the final financial settlements of the client with the consultant and self-analysis of the consultant's activities are also carried out in order to comprehend the experience gained for use in other projects.
To achieve maximum efficiency in the implementation of consulting projects, a project team is created, which includes experts in various subject areas and managers who manage the project. When making decisions, diagnosing problems and developing recommendations, methods of organizing the collective work of the project team are widely used.
The main task of the consulting project is to achieve the highest possible quality of solving the problem while observing financial and time constraints.
The degree of client involvement in a consulting project varies depending on the types of consulting services. By comparing the time spent by the client's staff and the results of the consultant's work, it is possible to determine the required degree of staff involvement in the consultant's activities.
The effectiveness of the consultant's work will be minimal if the client does not participate in it at all. Further, this efficiency grows as the client's involvement increases, and after reaching the optimal point, the efficiency begins to fall, therefore, the client begins to do his work for the consultant. Of course, this ratio will vary depending on the type of problems being solved, on the stage or phase of the consulting project, and, of course, on the type itself. consulting services.
The work of the consultant begins with the fact that some condition is recognized as unsatisfactory and there is an opportunity to correct it. Such work ends when there has been a change in this condition that can be considered an improvement. The work of a consultant includes the interaction of various types of business activity, affects the technological, economic, financial, legal, psycho-social, political and other aspects of the organization's activities. All changes, conceived and implemented with the help of a consultant, should improve the quality of management and increase the efficiency of the organization. These are the main purposes of using consultants, although "management improvement" and "organizational performance" are relative terms and their exact meaning should be determined in the context of each individual organization and specific consulting project. 3
There are several typical consulting assignments depending on the quality or level of the situation faced by the client organization:
The task of correcting a situation that has worsened;
The task of improving a situation that already exists;
The task is to create a completely new situation.
Two aspects of possible changes in the client organization should also be noted:
A technical aspect relating to the nature of the managerial or commercial problem the client is facing. The consultant finds ways to analyze and solve it;
The human side, i.e. the relationship between the consultant and the client, the reaction of people in the client's organization to change. The consultant helps in planning these relationships and their implementation.
Effective counseling shows how to deal with these two aspects of organizational change. These issues are interrelated and the consultant must understand this.
Reasons for contacting consulting firms
So, who and why turns to consulting companies for help?
Clients - consumers of consulting services can be divided into two large groups. The first includes companies that prefer to build their business on the basis of calculation, analysis and independent expert opinion, which are characterized by the presence of plans for the strategic development of activities. The second group includes companies that turn to consultants being at the pre-crisis stage, when the thunder has already struck. In the latter case, consultants often have to act as an "ambulance", "reanimating" the victims.
As a result, the attitude towards consultants is beginning to change in the business environment. A number of other reasons also affect the positive awareness of the role of consultants: the heads of enterprises receive modern business education, the development of modern information and communication technologies. The invitation of consultants and auditors for some of the leaders is now becoming, if not an urgent need, then at least an element of prestige and high position. Consulting is beginning to be perceived by business leaders as a real investment in the future.
Two major crises - "Black Tuesday" in 1994 and "Black Thursday" in 1998, in fact, proved the demand for consulting companies. The period of accumulation of primary capital has passed, now the heads of enterprises are faced with the task of learning how to increase the value of the business and attract investments by optimizing internal resources. A decade is also a sufficient period for the range of consulting problems to be identified. Problems that are closely intertwined and partly due to external factors.
The quality of services is one of the main problems of consulting. It is the question of quality that still remains unsettled at the legislative level. In the audit and consulting market sector, there are many small, unprofessional companies, often consisting of a secretary and a director. Such firms are actually engaged in dumping, provide low-quality services and disappear after six months or a year of work. This damages both the entire professional community and the business as a whole.
Business executives turn to consultants often simply to confirm their point of view. Of course, most managers have an idea of what exactly their business problem is and what types of solutions could be chosen. However, nothing happens. The fact is that leaders are lonely by nature, and therefore it is important for them to be able to receive additional confirmation of their ideas, to have additional arguments when making important management decisions. Consultants help to see new aspects of the problem, significantly reduce the area of uncertainty. Consultants are invited when the company:
there is a problem or task;
the management of the company is aware that it exists;
The management of the company is interested in solving this problem.
The company's management understands that they cannot solve this problem on their own. Or maybe, but he doesn’t have time for her decision, he “has no time, his hands don’t reach, the turnover gets stuck ...” Or he doubts that the decision made is optimal.
It often happens that a manager can solve a problem that has arisen and he has enough competence to solve this problem. He simply does not have enough time to solve it and the "blurred look" interferes. It is difficult for him to see the problem from the outside. And an objective and impartial "outside view" (of course, in comparison with the client's view, absolute objectivity and impartiality is an unattainable thing, like an ideal), is one of the undoubted advantages of consultants. Because often the head of the company sees what he wants to see, and not what is actually there. Interest and subjectivity make it hard to make the right decisions, and many leaders understand this.
Inviting consultants will bring maximum effect if:
The problem that consultants have to solve is global and requires complex changes in the structure or strategy of your company. In this situation, the critical factor is work time a qualified specialist, and the consultant is exactly that. The head of the company can solve this problem himself, but then he will have no time to deal with solving others, no less important tasks. Here the consultant is an additional qualified resource.
The problem is “one-time” and requires a prompt solution. Here, the company also receives a qualified resource, and in this case, hiring consultants is cheaper for it than keeping a specialist who will not be constantly loaded.
Between managers or owners there are differences in views on the problem and methods for solving it. In this situation, the consultant acts more as an arbitrator, mediator, judge, helping the parties to agree and come to a consensus. This is the case when "the master will come and judge us."
The problem is important for the company and the "price of a mistake" is high. Here the consultant acts as an additional insurance, a certain guarantee of the correctness of the decision made.
The problem requires the allocation of specialists who will deal only with its solution. Often companies simply do not have full-time employees who can be “teared off” from their daily duties and involved in solving the problem. All employees are busy with current activities
When the problem is new for the client and he needs additional resources - knowledge and experience to solve it.
In all these cases, and in many others, the company's management is ready for changes, strives for them, realizes their necessity and inevitability, and is able to assess the consequences of an unresolved problem for the company. And, most importantly, he understands exactly what benefits and advantages the company will receive when the problem is solved.
The decision to turn to consultants for help occurs when the head of the company has realized the problem and realized that he cannot solve it on his own. Either he does not want to solve it on his own, or considers it inappropriate. 4
We can say this: the consultant, performing a significant amount of work on a specific task, also performs another, even more important, function. It essentially moves the organization forward, helping management to decide on the necessary actions, when they are detailed. The manager acquires an ally whose arguments have a significant impact on the final management decision to continue the project or abandon it with minimal cost. This approach is especially effective if the consultant's arguments are based on knowledge of the specifics of the specific area of activity of this particular company.
Consultants are involved in cases where it is necessary to remove the uncertainty that arises at different stages of the process of preparation, adoption and implementation of responsible management decisions.
Of course, when inviting consultants, there is rarely a “clean situation” when there is exactly one reason for this. There is usually some combination various factors, For example:
Experience with similar businesses or issues. The client quite often believes, and not unreasonably, that if a consultant has experience in this area, this will help him better navigate the problems of a particular firm.
Availability of special technologies and knowledge . Domestic businessmen gradually realized that humanity has come a long way of specialization. Therefore, consultants may have technologies for collecting, organizing and analyzing information that are not available to the staff of the client's firm. All over the world, a situation is considered completely normal when problems arise in optimizing existing business areas, and the competent solution of all issues is beyond the strength of the company's staff. Even large and powerful companies in the West use the services of consultants. The most advanced Russian businessmen have already realized the need for this. Consultants are brought in when some top managers are seriously concerned about improving the firm's performance and painstaking and very specific work is needed on its real problems. Difficulties here may be related to the impatience of domestic customers. Therefore, the most effective cooperation occurs when a certain element is present, depending on the following main reasons for inviting consultants.
The learning process. Cooperation with a consultant in this case is seen not only as a means of solving a specific issue, but also as an opportunity to learn certain methods of analysis and problem solving. A client who invites a consultant for his own training understands that the result of interaction with a consultant can be manifested in an improved and deeper understanding of the nature of the real problems that exist in the enterprise.
Stereoscopic view of the problem. The consultant must have important quality as a broad vision of the situation. A true professional is able to evaluate the results of the contradictory impact of various factors on the company's business. Having a sufficient outlook, certain knowledge and mastering the technology, the consultant is able to identify the main factors in any situation and give competent recommendations on further actions that are much more adequate to the prevailing realities than the proposals of the firm's staff.
Intensive help on a specific issue. Sometimes a company has very specific legal, accounting or management problems that require a specific solution. In these cases, often invited relatively narrow specialists for a relatively short time.
A fresh look at the company. Even the most professional and competent people can be greatly influenced by existing traditions and values. This can greatly hinder the decision-making required at the new stages of the company's development. Of course, a fresh look at the activities of the company is useful when it contains not only abstractly correct recommendations, but also realistic step by step procedures their implementation.
Curiosity . Often, when inviting consultants, some managers, even for themselves, do not very clearly define why they are doing this. In many cases, they are driven by ordinary human curiosity. They are aroused by snippets of information received. The image of the consultants, the success of someone who seems to have used their services, etc. Why not give it a try? In Russia, foreigners are especially often invited this way. Then, domestic managers, having spent a tidy sum for a beautiful retelling of reasonable textbooks adapted for them, are disappointed in management consulting as such for a long time. Therefore, this reason for inviting consultants, although present as such, is not worthy of attention.
A tool in external and internal corporate intrigues. To defend its interests in the outside world, a firm needs some kind of solid research. Other options for using consultants as a tool in intrigue are related to situations where one manager or group of managers needs an additional channel to influence the situation within the firm. I would like to justify the ongoing changes with references to the recommendations of independent consultants.
Obtaining an abstract alibi. One manager or group top managers confirmation that they are correct is required. In this case, the client does not need changes, he only wants a beautiful report signed by a reputable firm. The report should show that respectable management consultants were invited, and they confirmed the correctness of the chosen path. Western specialists are very effective in such situations, because they like to retell textbooks in their reports. The main problem here is to what extent the wishes of the top managers of the client coincide with what is written in reasonable Western textbooks.
Shifting responsibility. This motif occurs when inviting financial and tax consultants. Tormented by endless claims tax authorities top managers want to buy "indulgences". In this case, consultants are needed so that there is someone to lay responsibility for any (even arbitrary) actions of the tax authorities.
Criteria for the professionalism of a consultant.
For the most effective use of consulting services, consultants as professionals must meet the general criteria of professionalism in terms of knowledge and skills, ethical standards and personal qualities.
Requirements for the personality of the consultant are expressed in the fact that he must show:
Creative thinking;
Developed business communication skills;
psychological maturity;
Good health;
Stability in behavior, self-confidence
Ability to self-improvement, self-discipline, self-organization
Self-criticism
Professional ethics 5
He must also have knowledge of the problems of theory and practice of management, management methods, reporting procedures, information processing systems, basics of computer technology, organizational foundations of consulting, factors affecting performance.
The functions of a consultant include:
Identify and solve problems
Make non-standard managerial decisions
Teach, transfer knowledge
Encourage employees to be creative
Form and develop effective working groups
Apply past counseling experience
V various fields in solving various problems
Continuously expand and update knowledge
Participate in the development and implementation of the strategy of the consulting organization
In accordance with the listed knowledge, skills and experience, generalist consultants and specialist consultants are distinguished. Generalists have a broad education and a wide range of interests. Their responsibilities include the preparation and coordination of global tasks, the implementation of preliminary diagnostics, and the presentation of proposals for solving problems to the client.
Specialists have knowledge and experience in a particular industry or area of work. A wide variety of types of consulting services implies a variety of specializations of consultants. According to their basic education, they can be managers, economists, lawyers, mathematicians, psychologists, sociologists, engineers.
Special attention should be paid to the internal consultant. The appearance of the position of an internal consultant is due to the need to protect state and commercial secrets, competition, confidentiality of information received and the lack of clear legislative regulation of these issues. Specialists for the position of internal consultants are selected in accordance with the criteria of professionalism (Table 1). They are able to provide services on a wide range of issues.
However, in a number of cases, it is effective to use both internal and external consultants: the scale of the project, the complexity of the problems being solved; limited terms for solving problems, the need for special knowledge and skills that are not available in the client organization, the inappropriateness of having an internal consultant of a certain specialization in the staff.
If it is necessary to work jointly on the project of external and internal consultants, internal consultants:
evaluate the validity of inviting external consultants;
coordinate the work on the project;
determine the scope and nature of work required from external consultants;
perform tasks within their competence;
The use of the principle of complementarity of external and internal consultants allows to improve the quality of problem solving, reduce project costs and improve the qualifications of internal consultants.
1.5 Tasks performed by consultants
There are two main types of classification of consulting services:
in terms of the subject of counseling - subject classification;
from the point of view of the method of counseling - methodological classification.
Subject classification is more common because it is more understandable to consumers of consulting services. In accordance with it, consulting services are qualified depending on those sections (elements) of management to which they are directed: general management, financial management, production management, etc.
As for the methodological classification, it is professionally focused on the consultants themselves, as it qualifies them depending on the methods of work. In accordance with this classification, expert, process and training consulting is distinguished. 6
It should be noted that the classifications published by national and international associations of consultants often combine the subject and methodological approaches, focusing, however, more on the subject. In addition, they include in the list of consulting services and other professional services. An example of such a "synthetic" approach can be the classification of the European directory of consultants in economics and management, published under the auspices of FEACO. This classification includes, on the one hand, such services as provision of information technology, industrial engineering, management training (training), public relations, etc., which constitute professional services, and on the other hand, such types of consulting as training consulting, which is a counseling method.
Types of consulting in the narrow sense of the word (as help in the form of advice and recommendations) can be classified as follows:
a) General management consulting.
This is assistance in solving problems related to the very existence of the object of counseling and the prospects for its development. Consultants deal with such issues as assessing the state of the organization as a whole and characterizing the external environment for it, determining the goals and value system of the organization, developing a development strategy, forecasting, organizing branches and new firms, changing the form of ownership or ownership, acquiring property, shares or shares , improvement of organizational structures, etc.
There are three main cases where consultants consider general management problems:
First, during the studies of managerial activity. It is a common practice among most management consultants that before proposing possible solutions to any specialized problem, a brief overview and study of the organization as a whole should be made.
Secondly, during the research of specific functional areas of management, when it turns out that certain changes are needed in the overall management structure, i.e., the consultant must resolve the general management problems that underlie the solution of particular problems.
Thirdly, while solving problems related to one or more issues of general management. The resolution of these issues may take the form of extensive investigations rather than brief reports as in diagnostics, especially if these are top-level management issues related to the overall course of the organization's management. The implementation of such projects may require a large amount of time (for example, to develop a development strategy new company may take six to nine months).
b) Administrative management consulting.
Specialists in this field deal with issues such as the formation and registration of companies, office organization, data processing, administrative control system, etc. Their main task is to optimize the management of the organization. They make recommendations on the following issues:
distribution of functions between departments and divisions;
optimization of the number of management levels;
establishing labor discipline;
compliance with the degree of importance of the functions performed by a particular department for the organization as a whole, and its role in decision-making;
record keeping;
planning of offices and their equipment.
c) Financial management consulting.
Here, assistance is provided in solving the following main tasks:
search for sources of financial resources;
assessment and improvement of the current financial efficiency of the organization;
strengthening financial position organizations for the future.
They deal with issues of financial planning and control, taxation, accounting, placement of shares and units on the market, credit, insurance, profit and cost, insolvency, etc.
By its very nature, finance is an integral part of many types of consulting services. Financial due diligence, for example, is an essential part of diagnostic business studies. During project execution, financial consultants may work closely with consultants in other areas, especially in production and marketing, to assess the financial implications of their proposals.
In practice, the financial management consultant deals with three research subjects. The first is the expansion of the company, which includes the opening of new enterprises, the introduction of new production lines, the installation of new equipment, the conquest of a new market, etc. In each of these areas, the consultant evaluates the measures required for this and the costs that they entail, i.e. e. determines whether the profit justifies the investment. The second is money management. In this case, the consultant studies the capital structure of his client, analyzes the prospects for obtaining venture or debt capital and the cost of various sources of financing, both in the short and long term. The third is the accounting system, including its development and improvement. Before starting to develop an accounting system, the consultant must understand what kind of help the managers expect from him, for what purpose this system is being created, and know who will receive the information and how it will be used.
d) HR management consulting.
Deals with issues of recruitment, personnel control, remuneration system, advanced training, personnel management, labor protection and psychological climate in the team.
Their main task is to assist managers in optimizing the attraction and use of such a key factor for any organization as human resources.
In this regard, HR consultants should consider the following questions.
The first of these is the principle of recruitment. In this case, the consultants try to prepare a description of the "ideal" performer, who has certain professional training, qualifications, experience that are required to perform this work.
Based on this, methods for assessing, selecting and placing personnel are being developed. The main recruitment methods are testing and interviews.
The second issue is the planning of recruitment and staff development. In this direction, the consultant usually solves the following problems:
determination of the basic requirements for various categories of performers;
analysis of the difficulties associated with education, culture and social issues which employees must overcome in the performance of their work;
determination of the organization's policy in the field of staff development, its professional growth.
e) Marketing consulting.
Provides managers with assistance in solving a vital task for any enterprise operating in a market economy: ensuring its functioning in such a way that effective demand is presented for the goods and services it produces. They deal with market research and provide decision-making in the field of marketing, pricing, advertising, new product development, after-sales service, etc. Since in a market economy the most difficult problem for an enterprise is not production, but sales of products, marketing is one of the most important areas of business consulting.
Marketing is the area in which the firm carries out its contacts with external economic entities (customers and competitors), so the firm's survival depends on how well it manages to adapt to market conditions.
Typically, the firm tries to find new potential markets, new products for existing customers, new customers to sell existing products and to study the activities of potential competitors.
f) Consulting in the field of organization of production.
This area combines knowledge of economics, management and engineering, assisting managers in solving problems such as the choice of production process technology, promotion of labor productivity, evaluation and control of product quality, production cost analysis, production planning, use of equipment and materials, design and improvement. products, work evaluation, etc.
The production process requires decision making on the part of the manager in order to obtain products of the right quality, in the right quantity, on time and at minimal cost. Thus, the task of the consultant is to help find the best ways to achieve these goals.
g) Information technology consulting.
Engaged in the development of recommendations for the implementation of computer-aided design systems (CAD) and automated systems management (ACS), information retrieval systems, the use of computers in accounting and other quantitative methods for assessing the activities of an enterprise.
Information technology is essential for modern organizations. But the changes that accompany the use of new information technologies are associated with the very organizational foundations of the enterprise, such as the principles of building its structure.
A management consultant is not just a computer technician. It should help the client understand the capabilities and shortcomings of computers, provide information and bridge the gap between technical staff and the end user of computer programs. Information systems often cause complaints from the administration due to the lack of relevant information or delays in obtaining it. Therefore, the consultant should carefully examine the nature of the relationship between information and various types management actions and try to increase the usefulness and availability of information, consider in detail the decision-making system.
1.6 Features of Russian consulting
Management consulting, like any other concept related to business area, has its own specifics in Russia. It differs from the Western version in its relative youth. Tips on how to manage a business, based on foreign templates and methods, need to be significantly revised. 7 The implementation of this process falls primarily on the shoulders of Russian consulting agencies, which have to solve two problems at once: adjust foreign methods or develop original products and bring them to the mass consumer.
It should be noted that consulting in Russia also existed in the conditions of a centrally planned economy, but in a different form from that accepted in world practice. The fact is that consulting is the work of providing advice and recommendations by independent experts on market conditions and in a market economy. But during the Soviet period there was no market economy, no independent consultants.
A certain degree of independence and "market character" of the provision of consulting services was ensured only within the framework of the so-called economic contract work, in which the consultant and the client acted as equal and relatively independent parties from the state. Under the conditions of pre-reform Russia, this form of activity was the only one possible for organizing consulting services on a market basis. Economic contracts accounted for (estimated) no more than 3% of the scope of work in this area, and 97% of the work was carried out on the basis of state budget financing. In this case, state or party bodies acted as customers (but not necessarily consumers). 8
In the late 80s - early 90s. the situation began to change. On the one hand, more and more customers were not state, but private or mixed structures. On the other hand, independent (private) consulting firms began to emerge. The latter is of fundamental importance, since the independence of consultants is one of the necessary professional qualities of these specialists.
Currently in Russia there is what can be called a two-sector model of the economy of consulting services.
The 1st sector consists of private independent consulting and other professional (audit, training, legal, etc.) firms.
The 2nd sector is the remaining state-funded research structures (included in the system of the Academy of Sciences, sectoral and functional ministries, etc.).
The 1st sector tends to accelerate growth and operates on a market basis, the 2nd sector tends to shrink, serving mainly government bodies and operating on a "centrally planned" basis.
Individual consultants typically began their careers in research institutes or educational institutions. When they felt competent enough, they left their former place of work and began to work independently. They specialize mainly in training, process counseling, psychological counseling. They try to maintain more or less formal relations with other independent consultants (mainly for the purpose of joint implementation of projects that are "too tough" for an individual consultant, or "protection" in front of potential clients).
Small firms focused on process consulting. The leaders (they are most often the owners) of small consulting firms of this profile began their careers as experts in some areas (economics and finance, psychology, sociology, less often the exact sciences), but now they specialize more in strategic planning , personnel management, organizational development. As a rule, firms employ 4-6 consultants, and they do not plan to expand their staff. There are few such firms in Russia.
Process-oriented medium-sized firms differ from the previous category mainly only in the number of staff - both core (consultants) and support. They are even less common.
Small expert-oriented firms. Such firms operate in various narrow areas of expertise (finance, legislation, taxation, marketing of certain industries, investment design or regional development). Only in some cases their clients are actually heads of enterprises. Basically, these firms work for local governments, banks or other investors interested in efficient capital investment. The advisory services offered by such experts mainly consist of financial audits and the preparation of business plans or investment programs. Most of the consulting work in Russia is carried out by this category of firms. Some of them are still part of academic structures or maintain the closest ties with them. Typically, the number of experts in such firms is 2-3 people.
Large expert-oriented firms. There are very few such firms in Russia. Usually these are corporations that specialize in the creation of new information technologies and automated control systems or are involved in the development and support of complex investment projects.
Large state scientific centers. Exists a large number of such structures are research institutes, academies, universities, etc. Traditionally, they are state property and are financed by it (the state). Since there are not enough budget funds even for survival, and even more so for development, these structures are gradually forced to enter the free market and learn to “sell” their expert knowledge. The quality of the services they can offer is high, but the experience of "selling" them is severely lacking. Often such centers (or their employees) become founders of small consulting firms and, in addition to expert advice, they organize various kinds of trainings.
Firms engaged in other activities besides consulting. In Russia, the number of firms that are characterized by a combination of consulting and other activities (trade in various goods, services, exchange business, etc.) is large. The main clients for the consulting division in such firms is another "production" division, and only a small part of the clients come from outside. Consulting in these firms is more of a "collateral" product and is of interest if it brings additional income or helps to solve the problems of the parent company.
A special category among such mixed firms are audit and consulting firms. Audit, as already mentioned, is a service based on knowledge in the field of economics and management, but not in the form of advice and recommendations. Auditing firms around the world are trying to develop their own consulting services, realizing that they can bring additional income, but do not always have sufficient creative potential.
Branches of foreign firms operating in the Russian market. In the late 80s - early 90s. A number of major Western consulting and auditing firms started their operations in Russia with very few staff and mainly engaged in expert consulting and auditing. Now their Russian affiliates, as a rule, have more than 50 specialists (2/3 of them are Russian citizens), have powerful divisions specializing in management consulting, and subsidiaries throughout the former USSR. In the field of auditing, these firms have no problem finding clients (often Russian clients are willing to pay for a single prestigious name) and do not see Russian consulting firms as real competitors. As for management consulting as such, the situation for Western firms in Russia is more complicated. The main source of orders for them in this area are international technical assistance programs (for details, see Chapter 3 of this manual), the volume of which tends to be reduced. Private clients operating in Russia increasingly prefer to turn to Russian consultants.
Small Russian consulting firms collaborating with large Western firms. The owners (they are also managers) of these firms began their careers in Western companies and, after working for several years, organized their own business. Most of the staff studied abroad or at one time worked in foreign companies. Such firms generally adhere to the Western style in working with clients and international standards for the quality of consulting services. If large foreign firms need a Russian partner, then they give preference to just such firms.
Management consulting in a purely process form is widespread in Russia on a rather limited scale. The subjects involved in "pure" consulting include small process-oriented firms and individual consultants (the number of both the former and the latter is quite limited). In most cases, consulting in Russia is a combination of specific expertise (in finance, automation, management, marketing, etc.) and process or training consulting. Most firms are very young (1-5 years old) and are in the first phase of development. Their main task at the moment is to find customers and get money from them in time for the work done. The second priority is the survival of these firms in the next few months. Consultants feel dependent on the political and economic situation in the country, which is almost impossible to predict. Tax regulations and the solvency of enterprises affect not only clients, but also, accordingly, the capabilities and professional orientation of consulting firms. Strategic planning in such conditions for them is carried out quite rarely.
Russian clients expect from Western consulting firms high level the quality of the services provided. It is determined by the high level of payment of consultants, which depends on the number of hours spent on work, and not on the result obtained. Sometimes it looks like using a reputable consulting firm is more important than getting real results. On the other hand, Russian managers are often distrustful of foreign consultants, since in the early years of its existence the profession itself was discredited by non-professionals who did not have experience in consulting work in Russia and special education (the effect of a “spoiled field” was created). In addition, often in Russia consultants are faced with completely unrealistic, inflated expectations of clients (for example, not just increase the profitability of the enterprise, but double it).
In fact, we can talk about the following two types of quality.
Large Western firms fully follow the high quality standards adopted in the West (ISO-9001, etc.), use methods that comply with these standards, a high level of professional control that has already become traditional, intensive staff training, complex project teams, including specialists in various areas. They form teams of Western and Russian consultants, use a network of experts in various fields, Newest technologies and have clients in almost all developed regions of Russia.
Small Russian consulting firms, in which several people earn money, have a narrow specialization in one or two areas and have been consultants for only a few years, as a rule, do not have information about Western methodology and procedures that ensure the quality of the services provided. The main goals for them at the moment are finding clients and surviving in the next few months.
The bulk of consulting services in Russia are provided by small firms or individual consultants. There are few medium or major firms. The latter (mostly Western firms) started working on the Russian market with a team of 2-3 people. The workforce has grown significantly in recent years, but these firms are still managed by skilled and experienced managers who are well aware of the problems of professional organizations.
Individual consultants naturally have no problem managing an organization, as they don't have an organization (it's a one-person "firm"). However, many of them form professional networks with other consultants and try to coordinate their work with colleagues. However, they do not consider this activity as managerial.
Small firms, which are the majority in Russia, are headed by leaders of a charismatic or autocratic type. They were kind of pioneers who changed their careers in some professional field to a career in a consultant. Neither they nor their subordinates experienced problems with management.
The market where Russian consultants operate is complex and ambiguous. They are forced to operate in a state of uncertainty, which is present even where security and trust are absolutely necessary conditions for doing business.
Thus, in particular, tax regulation is completely unpredictable, and many areas of business are controlled by illegal structures. Due to geographical features (sometimes huge distances between objects), consultants are forced to work in a small local market or travel a lot.
Thus, the state of consulting in Russia is characterized by signs of a "transitional period". There are significant differences between the strategies of Western companies and Russian companies, which are determined by the following features.
While not only client organizations but also consulting firms themselves should have a business plan, Russian consultants generally do not.
In Russia, unlike in developed countries, there are clear distinctions between an offer and a contract. The consulting contract describes in general terms the various stages of the consulting process (diagnosis, report, etc.) and the payment terms. A contract is a formal document that can be used in disputes or disagreements about the flow and effectiveness of a process or payment for a project. The process of submitting a proposal precedes the signing of the contract and, as a rule, is not fixed on paper, but only spoken out. A systematic procedure for writing a proposal - especially when it comes to ISO standards - can only be found in Western companies operating in Russia.
The same happens with the final evaluation of the project by the client. Each project ends with the signing of a document in which the client officially declares that the project has been completed in accordance with the stipulated terms of the contract. This document is drawn up mainly in order to comply with the legality of the transaction. This cannot be called a written assessment of the client, accepted in the West. Of course, during the project, the client and the consultant repeatedly discuss the progress of the project, but there is no formal procedure for the final assessment yet.
Russian consultants are more focused on their knowledge and services than on client problems, i.e. on the delivery of services, rather than on the needs for services. Thus, many consultants see their work as delivering expertise to clients, rather than as a service to meet a particular need of the client. This is the classic difference between focusing on delivering expertise and focusing on customer needs.
In general, Russian clients are characterized by the following contradictory parameters that prevent them from forming a qualified demand for consulting services:
“feeling” of the need to receive help, but a weak idea of its content, methods and sources;
need for development modern type management, but under the pressure of traditional management stereotypes of the "command economy";
lack of information with simultaneous interest in obtaining data on the internal situation and external conditions;
the desire for independence and social restrictions (the maintenance of social facilities, the preservation of employment, support for public utilities, etc.);
attempts to make independent serious decisions in the conditions of dispersion of own capital among numerous shareholders;
the lack of a well-established rule to pay for "intangible advice";
fear of criticism from the outside;
fear of loss of privacy;
no guarantee of concrete results;
inability to assess the capabilities of consultants;
confidence in the completeness of knowledge about the enterprise.
In addition, many potential clients have problems with paying for consulting services - even if they would like to invite a consultant, they simply have nothing to pay with. Sometimes payment is so late that the consultant chooses to terminate all business dealings with such clients.
It should be noted that the managers of Russian enterprises themselves cite too high prices for consulting services as the main reason for refusing to make a decision to engage consultants.
The situation with the demand in the market of consulting services in Russia is somewhat leveling compared to other European countries due to the fact that, in addition to domestic demand, there is a rather large external demand, which is (estimated) from 2 billion to 3 billion dollars. in year. The main source of external demand is technical assistance from international organizations, governments and private foundations of foreign countries and partly demand from foreign companies entering the Russian market. However, external demand is directed almost entirely to buying the services of foreign consulting firms operating in Russia. Russian consultants receive a small part of these funds by subcontracting to foreign consulting firms.
Thus, from the point of view of a market economy, Russian consulting is only at the initial stage of development.
1.7 Problems solved by Russian consultants
What exactly are the issues that Russian consultants face today?
Main problems Russian enterprises, which is intended to be solved by domestic consulting, in my opinion, were quite fully identified in the study of the company BKG, who interviewed the heads of a number of enterprises.
83% of top managers recognize the existence of a problem associated with the imperfection of the management system and organizational structure and call it the most important one;
78% of companies lack investment resources and need to attract new investors;
77% of companies experience a shortage of qualified personnel;
77% of managers complain about shortcomings in the system of motivation of their employees and the lack of staff orientation to strategic goals companies;
71% of managers note the need to increase the level of competitiveness of their enterprises;
66% of companies need system implementation responsible for monitoring performance indicators;
59% of executives are dissatisfied with the level of return on investment;
59% of companies with a low level of competitiveness feel the need to optimize their sales system.
Looking at this list, one can only marvel at the disorder of our enterprises. A logical question arises, or rather, even two: how did this happen, and what should we do now? In the era of undeveloped capitalism, now safely dying out, economic development was very spontaneous and unpredictable. The strongest won and survived in those conditions. Moreover, success was characterized mainly by one indicator - profit. Now the situation is entering a stable course and the business situation is such that the growth of enterprises' incomes is clearly ahead of the ability to control financial flows and their optimal distribution, the backlog in the development of the management structure becomes obvious. 9
Today, the previously unclaimed (or rather, very weakly demanded) Russian management consulting is trying to put its hands on solving such problems. The works of the above problems include the development of strategies, restructuring, the development of anti-crisis programs, the development and implementation of new systems and management procedures. Before the crisis, they ordered financial management, budgeting, diagnostics of the company's business.
Consulting is currently in its infancy. One of the most demanded functions in Russian conditions is representing the interests of the client in his dialogue with various kinds of inspection bodies. In fact, there is a "competition of papers", a dispute about the rights of the client, the interpretation of the norms of the law and the procedures for its application. Another frequently used function is to “punch through” various types of permits and licenses through the system of state bodies. Intermediaries specializing in this area are thoroughly aware of the procedures, circulation mode, ways to “accelerate” various types of papers. This group of consultants is, as it were, a "continuation" of our cumbersome management system, controlling access to scarce resources, licensing the most profitable areas of activity. Payment for the services of such consultants is the price paid by society for the imperfection of our laws and the mechanism of work of state bodies.
In total, there are more than three thousand consulting (according to their charters) companies in Russia. And only every tenth is active in the market. Participates in ratings, has author's methods, takes care of the development of the industry. However, all Russian consulting is not yet a powerful single industry of business services with a developed infrastructure. Therefore, each expert evaluates the capacity of this market based only on his own ideas.
Average clients are Russian companies that have been operating on the market for about two years. As a rule, their leaders or owners are people with a technical education who built their business on the basis of common sense, and sometimes intuition, and now they are at an impasse. Increasingly, they are thinking about how to make their business more efficient. Typically, these companies are engaged in manufacturing, retail or wholesale trade, in other words, the private sector with "live" money. Among the clients there are also computer firms, but they are few. They order mainly trainings for staff.
More and more people are beginning to understand what management consulting is. Services are becoming more and more professional, and the profession of management consultant is becoming prestigious. The market for consulting services is growing in monetary terms, its structure is changing, the share of Western companies is decreasing, and the share of Russian companies is increasing. There is a trend towards convergence of prices for the services of foreign and domestic consultants.
Two types of tasks were singled out, most often offered to management consulting firms: the independent solution of management problems by the consultant, and equipping the client with special problem-solving methods for obtaining results in the future.
Most often requests for construction organizational structure, motivation system and corporate culture. Today for Russian companies the issues of distribution of powers and responsibilities between the parent company and subsidiaries, the owner and manager, the first person and the team are very topical. In addition, attention is often required to improve product quality and work efficiency through motivation and shared values.
IN Lately There has been a sharp increase in demand for three areas of consulting services: management automation, financial management and, most importantly, the creation of companies. This trend continues today, and I believe that the demand for these services will gradually increase.
Financial management is increasingly developing from the need to support the implementation of budgeting in an enterprise to the development of financing schemes, entering the securities market, and the like. A significant share of services is also provided in the field of financial recovery, assistance in restructuring the accounts payable of enterprises.
And, finally, the most interesting and demanded, in my opinion, topic for consulting work is the topic of creating companies. It is clear that our enterprises are not full-fledged companies. Consolidation occurs both due to vertical integration (alignment of manufacturers along the line of one product), and due to horizontal integration (merger of manufacturers of the same type of product). This is how production holdings are formed, which assume a rather rigid control system within themselves. If the transformations go too hard and fast (for example, the closure of production, their transfer, pulling sales from factories to central structures), then there may be strong resistance from plant managers, personnel and cause big problems. If the transformation is slow and the owner is afraid to exercise power, then the creation of the company can be delayed for many years.
There is a gradual alignment of the domestic and foreign markets for consulting services, which, in my opinion, indicates a gradual recovery of Russian business.
1.8 The effectiveness and efficiency of counseling.
The effectiveness of consulting is determined by the achievement of the goals specified in the consulting agreement.
For the client, direct and indirect results of counseling can be distinguished (Table 1), and both quantitative and qualitative indicators(After all, due to the specifics of consulting activities, quantitative indicators are not always amenable to evaluation).
Table 1 – Direct and indirect results
It is advisable to indicate in the contract the areas in which management consulting can produce positive results, i.e. define a list of indicators. After the diagnostic stage, the consultants report the results to the customer and from the outside determine a specific indicator by which the effect is determined.
In general, the economic effect can be determined by formula 10:
E = P K1 K2, where E is the economic effect of management consulting; P - change: increase, decrease; K1 - the share of management consulting in the results of work; K2 - the share of participation of consultants in obtaining economic effect. One of the main indicators for assessing management consulting in production is profit growth. This is explained by the fact that this indicator synthesizes a decrease in production costs, an increase in the volume of products sold, and estimates the change in the volume of profit. En = [(A2 - A1/A1)] P1+ [(C1 - C2)/100)] A2) K1 K2, where En is the economic effect due to profit growth; A1 and A2 - the volume of sales before and after the rationalization of work in management; P1 - profit; C1 and C2 - costs per 1 rub. products sold before and after the rationalization of work in management. In some cases, management consulting has a special impact on the work to reduce conditionally variable costs, so this result can be assessed separately using the formula: Ey-p = E K1 K2, where E is the economic effect due to the reduction of conditionally variable costs in the cost; Ey-p - savings of conditionally variable costs. Evaluation of the effectiveness of management consulting can be determined by comparing the results with the costs: Ezu \u003d Otp / 3uk K1 K2, where Ezu is the cost effectiveness of management consulting; Otp - increase in gross output; 3uk - the cost of management consulting. Under the influence of a number of objective factors, negative growth rates of the main indicators can sometimes develop. In such cases, economic efficiency cannot be calculated. But it is possible to determine the inefficiency. De = (B1-B2) K, where De is the inefficiency for a specific indicator; B1 and B2 - expected and actual results for a specific indicator; K - share of consultants.
For a consultant, performance criteria are profit, output per consultant, etc. (economic indicators), repeat customer contact, growth of professionalism, as well as a variety of positive reviews, brand development, recommendations, etc.
2 Management consulting methodology
From the point of view of methods, the following forms of counseling can be distinguished: expert, process and training. The model is selected depending on the problem being solved, the characteristics of the client organization, the qualities of consultants (skills, experience, personal qualities). Each of the forms needs to be considered in more detail.
Expert advice. The client himself forms the task, the consultant-specialist acts as an expert. The disadvantage of this model is that the consultant develops a recommendation without conducting an independent analysis of the situation. Implements the changes, again, the client himself. It is advisable to use the model if it is necessary to gain knowledge on standard procedures and standards.
Educational consulting. The consultant not only collects ideas, analyzes solutions, but also prepares the ground for their emergence, providing the client with relevant theoretical and practical information in the form of lectures, trainings, business games, specific situations ("cases"), etc. The client forms a request for training, programs and forms of training, study groups.
Process consulting. Consultants at all stages of the project actively interact with the client, encouraging him to express his ideas, considerations, suggestions, critically correlate with ideas proposed from outside, conduct problem analysis and develop solutions with the help of consultants. At the same time, the role of consultants is to collect these external and internal ideas, evaluate the solutions obtained in the process of working together with the client, and bring them into a system of recommendations. This approach is the most efficient.
To determine the required degree of involvement of the client's personnel in the activities of the consultant, it is necessary to measure the time spent by the client and the results of consulting work (Figure 1 11).
Figure 1– Graph of the client's time and the results of consulting work
The effectiveness of the consultant's work is 0 if the client does not participate in it. As the client's involvement grows, the efficiency grows to the optimum point (t opt), after which it begins to fall, which means that the client begins to perform his work for the consultant.
It is clear that the minimum involvement of the client should be in the implementation of special problems, the maximum - in solving strategic problems.
The consulting process is understood as a sequential series of actions, activities carried out through the joint activities of the consultant and the client to achieve positive changes within the client organization, to resolve its problems.
The consultation process goes through 3 stages:
- Pre-contract stage. The client establishes the existence of a problem and the need to involve consultants to solve it, who, based on the results of preliminary diagnostics, make an offer to the client about the task. This stage ends with the conclusion of the contract. Its purpose is to ensure unity in understanding the essence of the consulting project by the client and the consultant.
- Contract. It consists of several stages (diagnostics, development of solutions, implementation of solutions), which in turn include procedures. The purpose of the contract stage is to determine specific results and directions of work, to ensure the development and implementation of problem solving.
- Post-contract. (Final) Departure of the consultant.
The allocation of stages in the consultation process provides a structured basis for decision-making, coordinated communications, a motivated project organization, and tangible results. All this makes it possible to reduce unpredictability, i.e. resulting in a well-managed project.
Consultants use many techniques to effectively complete a consulting assignment.
The method of consultation is understood as a general scheme (action plan) formed on the basis of the generalized experience of effective consultations of this type, which allows developing an appropriate program of action.
There is the following classification of counseling methods that helps to implement quick search, selection and effective use of the most appropriate organization and model of counseling methods:
1. Methods for solving the content of the problems.
1.1. Diagnostic methods.
1.1.1. Information collection methods: surveys, interviews, questionnaires, expert assessments.
1.1.2. Information processing methods: data classification, problem analysis, comparison.
1.2. Problem solving methods.
1.2.1. Methods for identifying problems: a tree of goals using expert assessments, methods for assessing the priorities of problems (expert and logical analysis), a method for constructing a graph of problems.
1.2.2. Methods for developing and evaluating solutions: methods for developing alternative solutions, methods for choosing alternative solutions, methods for analyzing the quality of decisions made, methods for group work.
1.3. Implementation methods.
1.3.1. Experimental verification methods: group work, business games.
1.3.2. Methods for transferring the result to real conditions: methods for forming working groups, methods for holding problem meetings.
2. Methods of working with the client.
2.1. Methods for choosing the roles of consultant and client.
2.2. Methods of cooperation and assistance to the client in the implementation of changes.
2.2.1. Methods of education and training of personnel of the client organization.
2.2.2. Methods for developing the creative potential of the leaders of the client organization.
2.2.3. Methods for increasing the motivation of staff and managers to change: methods of persuasion, methods of using feelings of tension and anxiety, methods of reward and punishment, etc.
There are several counseling methods (a set of directives that indicate the course of action and methods for achieving the goals):
– Specialized (for special conditions).
– Universal (for all types of organization, regardless of industry, form of ownership).
2. 3. Consulting project management.
Coordination of work and project management in the client organization is carried out by a specially appointed employee of the client organization, endowed with project authority.
For high-quality management of a consulting project, a dossier is formed, which includes terms of reference, materials on the procedure for choosing a consulting firm (consultant), contract, work plan; results of monitoring, interim assessments, payment schedule and copies of payment documents.
12 effective means of engaging with consultants and providing feedback include:
1) work plans and reports:
Analysis of the implementation of work plans;
Interim reports;
Brief reports on key issues;
Full report on the project (ideas, analysis, conclusions, recommendations);
CV for management, leading specialists;
Reports for publication;
2) presentations made by consultants on the results of the implementation of project stages.
The rights of consultants when working with documents and personnel of the organization must be agreed in advance, to delimit the areas of work and responsibilities of the external consultant and employees of the organization.
In order to effectively use the services of a consultant, it is necessary to hold regular meetings with consultants in order to agree on the next steps and evaluate the results, and constant monitoring is necessary. The team involved in the project should adopt the skills and knowledge of consultants in order to subsequently be able to do similar work on their own.
Having a predetermined plan facilitates the effective implementation of proposals. Allows you to reduce resistance to changes that affect some personal or group interests associated with poor project management on the part of the management of the client organization and consultants. Implementation mechanism includes:
formation (with the participation of consultants) of a team with special powers from the specialists of the client organization for the implementation of proposals agreed upon and approved by the management;
estimate of possible costs associated with the implementation of the recommendations, and identification of sources of their coverage;
using the help of consultants to implement the recommendations.
At the end of the project, the client holds a final meeting with the consultants, where the final assessment of the work done is given, the client receives an answer to questions that arose during the implementation of the proposals, and the consultants are convinced that their recommendations are correctly interpreted. The prospects for further cooperation are being determined.
Then, the project manager in the client organization finalizes the dossier, supplementing it with:
Brief report on the work done;
Evaluation of implementation costs;
Evaluation of the project and the quality of work.
The project dossier is closed after approval by the head of the client organization.
An important point in the interaction between the consultant and the client is the control of the project. It is carried out both by the client and the consultant himself during the project (monitoring) and after its completion (evaluation of results). In the course of monitoring, first of all, the compliance of the current activity of the consultant with the terms of reference reflected in the contract is determined. It is carried out, on the one hand, by the management of the consulting firm, and on the other hand, by the client.
Evaluation of the results of the work of consultants can be carried out by the following three main methods.
The first method is to compare the activities of the consultant with the requirements for his work defined in the contract, while an objective assessment of the completeness and quality of the assignment must be determined. The client should determine the extent to which the consultant adheres to the scope of the engagement. However, if it goes beyond these limits, the client can still highly appreciate the consultant's qualifications. Conversely, if the consultant sticks too closely to the scope of the assignment, the client may spend a lot of effort adapting the project to the changed situation.
The second method is to assess the consultant's contribution to improving the economic efficiency of the client organization. The impact of his work should be reflected in profits, as well as other financial indicators. The difficulty of this method of evaluating the work of consultants lies not only in the complexity of calculating the economic effect in general, but also in determining the share that arises in it precisely due to the work of consultants. In addition, in consulting projects focused on long-term goals, the effect can accumulate over a fairly long time and appear in financial results only indirectly.
The third method is to determine the real changes resulting from the use of a consultant (new capabilities of the organization's personnel, new systems, new behavior, new programs, new projects).
Since the consulting project is based on the joint actions of the client and the consultant, the unwillingness to cooperate of any of the parties leads to dissatisfaction with cooperation, and the quality of the consulting project is reduced.
Control must be continuous. At each stage of the consulting project, the client and consultants compare the result achieved with the desired one in the following areas: time, finances, information, quality, organization of the consulting process - using reporting data from the client organization, consultants' reports, etc.
3 Management consulting on the example of ZAO Kuppo
3.1 Portrait of the organization
In the practical part, I will consider the organization CJSC "Kuppo", located at 125362, Russian Federation, Moscow, Stroitelny pr-d, 7-a, room 12. The Russian production company “Kuppo” specializes in roasting and packaging of grain and ground coffee. Over 12 years of successful work, a wealth of experience in the field of coffee processing has been accumulated and a leading position in the natural coffee market in Russia has been occupied. According to international marketing agencies GFK, AC Nilsen sells 15 to 20 percent of all bean and ground coffee sales in Russia. 13
3.2 Example of management consulting in CJSC "Kuppo"
3.2.1 Statement of the problem, objects and tasks of counseling
Some time ago, the company began to experience an aggravation social relations in the team for inexplicable reasons, a significant number of problematic situations were noted. To resolve the situation, the company's management decided to invite consultants to conduct a sociological study.
It was proposed to study and analyze the ideas of "ordinary" employees of the company and its management about the causes of emotional tension in the team, which, in the opinion of the company's management, tends to grow in recent years. At the same time, the management of CJSC "Kuppo" suggested that such reasons could be not only dissatisfaction of employees with their financial situation, but also, perhaps, the lack of a clear image of the company's goals and objectives among the staff, the absence, in their opinion, of the prospects for the development of the company, etc. or other (unknown) circumstances.
The object of this study was directly the personnel of CJSC "Kuppo". Moreover, all categories of workers were studied separately. The management of the company, office employees and production team were subjected to the study separately.
The psychological state of the personnel, working microclimate, conflict situations were studied. It became clear how clearly and clearly the company's staff imagines its main goals, values, how people correlate the company and its success with themselves and their success.
The consultants set themselves the following tasks:
–– identification of problems in the corporate climate based on the analysis of the views of the company's employees;
3.2.2 Choice of research methodology
Studying the corporate climate involves conducting research in two directions. The first is related to the assessment of employees' perception of the degree of encouragement by the company of their financial situation. The second allows you to assess the degree of understanding by employees of the strategic goals and priorities of the organization.
A variety of experiences that inform employees' perceptions of how good the corporate climate is, include:
–– A way of structuring activities. How is the work structured: are the methods used in the work diverse, or is it boring and monotonous? Are the goals and principles of activity clearly defined?
–– The nature of formal and informal interpersonal relationships.
–– Procedures according to which rewards are distributed, including financial incentives.
Thus, in order to analyze the corporate climate in the team, it was necessary to study material rewards; social security; production area of activity; morale in the team.
A complete study of the corporate psychological microclimate in the company was carried out, which included:
- study of the ideas of twenty employees of the company about the causes of emotional tension in the team;
– cause-and-effect analysis of the identified representations;
–– group discussion with four leaders of the company on this issue.
Methods for obtaining initial information:
–– observation;
–– anonymous survey;
- conversation;
– group discussion.
The algorithm for obtaining information about the opinions of twenty employees directly or indirectly employed in the managerial field of activity was built according to the following scheme. All of them were anonymously surveyed using a specially designed questionnaire. Eight of them were asked to participate in individual interviews with a consultant. At the same time, the emphasis in conversations with them was placed on studying the opinions and ideas of respondents about possible problems in a corporate climate. It is important to note that all of them grouped the existing problems in the corporate climate into four blocks:
problems in the adequacy of the assessment of the material remuneration of one's labor;
issues related to the social protection of employees;
work problems that affect the effectiveness of relationships between managers and subordinates;
the state of the moral climate in the team.
In fact, these blocks of questions reflect the essential characteristics of the corporate climate and correspond to the groups of questions on the basis of which the questionnaire was compiled. The materials of the report and the conclusions (recommendations) presented in it are based on the information provided by these twenty respondents.
3.3 Analysis of ways out of a problem situation
As a result of the analysis, information was obtained on the state of the corporate microclimate, and the psychological state of the personnel of ZAO Kuppo, in addition, hotbeds of tension and their causes were identified. 14
After the management used the consultants' report data, the level of dissatisfaction and tension in the team was significantly reduced. A clearer and clearer understanding of the company's goals and objectives by the staff led to some increase in labor productivity and had a positive effect on the corporate climate.
In this case, it is clear that the management paid attention to this problem in a timely manner. While, unfortunately, for the majority of Russian enterprises it remains open and the issue of collective relationships remains without due attention. The consulting firm fully met the client's expectations. This happened as a result of an adequate assessment of the situation and the correct selection of data collection methods - direct communication with employees.
In this case, it was beneficial for the client that even small consulting companies can consider the issue of team relations. The task does not belong to the category of difficult tasks. Because if, for example, the introduction of new technologies or the development of new large-scale projects were required, the client would be faced with the problem of limited choice of a consultant. After all, as mentioned above, in Russia there are quite big problems with the presence of consulting companies of a certain level. Although in this case the issue of funding is not affected. Because the state of the company's finances is stable.
Conclusion
Consulting provides a direct increase in the efficiency of the client company through the methodologies, business models and technologies that consultants possess. Secondly, consulting is a kind of "engine of progress", as it contributes to the development of the business environment based on comparing companies with each other. Western companies are clearly aware that, despite the high cost, the services of consulting companies really help them improve their own efficiency.
To say that there is no market for consulting services in our region is, to put it mildly, wrong. There are individuals and firms that earn money (and a lot) in the field of consulting services. But attempts at contacts, with the aim of forming a professional environment, are fragmented. People prefer to "go into the shadows."
Since our managers have a vague idea of what consulting is, the demand for consultants' services is unskilled. The problem of the consultant - client relationships - the inability of the head of the enterprise to formulate the task. That is, it is clear that there is a problem. The demand for products has decreased, it is necessary to “normalize” taxation, there are no funds for development, etc.
But all this is just a consequence of the cause, which the leader may not suspect at all, because he looks at the problem one-sidedly, using the stock of knowledge and skills that he has. Another feature of our information culture. Our managers are often excellent technologists, but have a vague understanding of the actual management disciplines. And one person cannot be an expert in accounting, psychology, marketing and information systems at the same time. That's what consultants are for. Worse another. Often there is no target designation, an enterprise development strategy. Given its own, unique, development path, our country in this situation cannot refer to and be guided by world experience. It is very difficult to make any forecasts. And it is precisely from yesterday's crises, precisely from yesterday's upheavals that the problems that today's consultants “feed on” grow. Exactly what was “underresolved” yesterday is becoming the number one problem today and requires an urgent solution. This is where the consultant comes into play.
And the tasks solved today by domestic consultants fit the definition of “post-crisis” for the most part. Restructuring, reorganization, reengineering, implementation, elimination, etc., etc.
And it is very pleasant that recently this trend has waned, that things are getting better and more and more often consultants are being asked to search, create, discover, and the like creative.
And it is precisely in such a very difficult situation that such an interesting and seething industry as management consulting is today.
List of sources used
1 Kubr M. Management consulting, - M .: "Interexpert", 1992, p.184
2 Posadsky A.P. Basics of consulting. - M.: GU HSE, 1999.
3 Aleshnikova V.I. “Using the services of professional consultants: a 17-module program for managers “Managing Organizational Development”. Module 12. - M.: INFRA-M, 2005. - page 25
4 Utkin E.A. "Consulting" textbook for universities M-1998, p. 88
6 Rumyantseva Z., Aleshnikova V. Formation of the management consulting market, j. Russian Economic Journal, No. 3, 1993.
7 Tokmakova N.O. Fundamentals of management consulting: Educational and practical guide. / M.: Moscow International Institute of Econometrics, Informatics, Finance and Law, 2002. p.98
8 Blinov A.O., Butyrin G.N., Dobrenkova E.V. "Management consulting of corporate organizations": Textbook. – M.: INFRA-M, 2003. – page 50
9 Tokmakova N.O. A course of lectures on the discipline "Fundamentals of Management Consulting".
10 Efremov V. S. Management consulting as a business, j. "Management in Russia and abroad", July-August, 1997.
11 Rumyantseva Z., Aleshnikova V. Formation of the management consulting market, j. Russian Economic Journal, No. 3, 1993.
7 Nasakin R. Consulting in Russian, w. PC Week #11, April 2004 in Russia (4) Abstract >> Economics
Volume of services sold in the industry managerial consulting in the world, excluding Russia and the USA, increased from 25 ... see how the demand for managerial consulting V Russia in recent years. At the beginning of 1990...
To solve organizational and psychological problems that arise in the process of managerial activity, the help of a professional consultant is often required. The set of joint actions of the consultant and the client is called management consulting.
BASICS OF MANAGEMENT CONSULTANCY, ITS MAIN DIRECTIONS
Consulting is a rather complex, multi-stage process that has a beginning (the first acquaintance of the consultant and the client) and an end (as a rule, the implementation of the intended change project). Between these two points, the counseling process is divided into several stages. Three to ten such stages are described in the literature, but most often the counseling process consists of five main stages:
- acquaintance - establishment of the first contacts with the client, preliminary diagnosis of the problem, planning of the consulting task, preparation of proposals to the client regarding the methodology for the implementation of the task; conclusion of a contract for consulting work;
- diagnostics - analysis of the problem that has arisen, determination of the main goal that must be achieved when solving it, collection of the necessary information, its analysis, bringing the results to the attention of the client this stage work ( Feedback);
- action planning - development of solutions and selection of the optimal one; developing proposals for the client, planning actions to implement changes;
- implementation - assisting in the implementation of changes, adjusting proposals based on the experience gained in their implementation, teaching the client how to work in the conditions of the changes;
- completion - evaluation of the effectiveness of the activities carried out, planning of the client's activities after the end of the consulting contract; completion of the project.
Of course, this universal model should be applied taking into account the specific features of individual consulting assignments, but it is necessary to understand the general content of management consulting activities. So, when solving relatively simple problems, a detailed diagnosis of the problem is not required, and then this stage is combined with planning. It also happens that at the final stage of the consulting task, it is not possible to get a positive result from the planned changes, and then you have to start all over again, with the search for some new approach to solving the problem.
It is easy to see that the entire process of management consulting is one of the options for management activities in general, since it includes moments of planning, organization and control.
- general and strategic management, including management style;
- financial management, including investment analysis;
- marketing management, including special consulting trade enterprises;
- control by human resourses, including recruitment and selection of personnel, motivation and remuneration, relations between administration and employees;
- questions universal control quality, the so-called TQM(total quality management);
- special psychological counseling.
But, since in the course of counseling on any of these problems the general model indicated above is applied, we will briefly consider the content of each of its stages.
Acquaintance - the initial stage of the consultant's work with the client, at which the first contacts are established, the problems that have arisen in the client's organization are discussed, options for helping the consultant are outlined, based on preliminary analysis problems, a consulting project plan is formed and a contract for the provision of consulting services is concluded.
Thus, this is the stage of preparation and planning. Its significance lies in the fact that at this stage the foundation is laid for all further work, its main concept is formed and certain relationships are formed between the consultant and the client, which has a decisive impact on all subsequent stages of work. Of course, a situation is possible when the contracting parties do not reach an agreement and the contract is not signed, since the client may receive offers from several competing consulting firms at once.
Problem Diagnosis is the second stage of the counseling process. After a thorough analysis of the problem, the client and the consultant jointly determine the objectives of the project. They establish what actions need to be taken, predict the possible results of the proposed changes, take into account the resources that will be required to implement the project, find out what the upcoming changes will be - technical, organizational, informational or psychological.
If the problem turns out to be complex, i.e. which includes all of the listed aspects of the organization's activities, it turns out which of them is the most important. Here, it is especially necessary, for any nature of the problems that have arisen, to foresee the psychological consequences of the proposed changes, in particular, to take into account the attitude of the staff to these changes - whether their necessity will be recognized or people will have to resort to persuasion. The result of this stage is the development of the organization of work on the preparation of proposals on ways to solve the problems under consideration. At this stage, some contours of future decisions may already arise, which are finally formed at the next, third stage.
This stage of collecting and analyzing information is one of the most important in the process of counseling. Unfortunately, often at this stage, the analysis of facts is not given due attention: on the one hand, it is impossible to allow the collection of redundant information so as not to get bogged down in it, and on the other hand, it is necessary to collect all the information that really determines the quality of future decisions. It should also be taken into account that by collecting targeted information, talking with people, the consultant thereby already influences the client's organization in a certain direction, sets some impetus for its changes.
Action planning. This stage is aimed at identifying specific ways to solve the problem; it usually involves working on several solutions, selecting the most suitable of them, carefully developing a plan of appropriate specific actions and transmitting these proposals to the client for a final decision on changes. When choosing the best solution, it is important to stop planning small or useless changes and Special attention pay attention to the feasibility, realism of the proposed course of action. In the proposed action plan, it is equally important to separate the main from the secondary, the strategic guidelines from the tactical methods of implementing the strategy.
Implementation - the fourth stage of the counseling process. This is a serious test of the viability of the developed proposals. At this stage, the consulting project becomes a reality. Here, it may reveal incorrect assumptions, errors. Actual resistance from employees may be stronger than anticipated during the diagnostic and planning phases, which may require adjustments to the original plans. Since, as noted, no management decision can be ideal, absolute, at this stage it is necessary to continuously track the ongoing changes and monitor them. At this point, most often there are disagreements between the client and the customer. Therefore, experienced, professional consultants prefer to participate in the change process. However, as the practice of professional consulting shows, many consulting projects do not provide for the participation of a consultant in the implementation process and end with a report containing a list of proposed activities.
Often the client expresses a desire to independently carry out the implementation phase without the presence of a consultant, but it often turns out that the client overestimates his capabilities. Such a position is associated with an unfounded belief that supposedly there are ideal projects that can work on their own. In reality, there is always a distance between the project and reality, which makes the implementation stage quite difficult.
Completion - the fifth and final stage of the consulting process, which involves the evaluation of the consultant's work by both the client and the consulting firm. Here their relationship is regulated. If the client shows interest, then an agreement on further cooperation is concluded. Upon completion of these actions, the consulting project is considered completed.
- See: Kubr Milan. Management consulting. - M.: Planum, 2004.
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