Management consulting is Concept, definition, types, directions and stages of development

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

Management consulting is a confident business step towards achievements and victories. Not a single significant decision, regardless of the size of the company, is implemented without the advice of a specialist, especially in the West. At the same time, the heads of such firms usually have extensive managerial experience and higher education. Despite this, a lot of money is spent on getting advice from a competent specialist. This is due to the desire to occupy a high position in the market and keep up with competitors.

During the crisis, almost all owners and managers of companies think about how to reduce costs and minimize potential dangers, how to properly allocate resources and set up internal business processes. These and other questions can be answered by independent professionals focused on management consulting.

Concept

Management consulting is a service that performs a huge number of functions, including:

• development and improvement of managerial powers of company managers;
• establishing their cooperation;
• assessment of firm profitability;
• develop opportunities for revenue growth and cost optimization;
• development and strengthening of the competitive advantages of the firm and its product;
• increasing the number of repeat customers.

The main principles of quality management consulting are the following qualities: literacy, concreteness, consistency, creativity and productivity. Consulting services are regulated by the regulatory and legislative framework, which consists of a huge number of laws, including Art. 8 and 74 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, Art. 128 and ch. 39 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, also the Law of the Russian Federation "On the Protection of Consumer Rights".

Management consulting organization forms include the following options:

• application of scientific achievements;
• exploring innovative options that arise in the management of other companies, and the possibilities of their application.

Sometimes it is possible to intertwine several areas of consulting at once, which gives maximum effect and effectiveness.

Management consulting. Consultant as a profession

International markets can be characterized by tough competitive conditions. That is why it is necessary to frequently update organizational structures, methods and management systems. At the same time, you need to keep in mind the understanding that the wrong change can have fatal results for the company. Wrong decision can lead to deathbusiness, and the old ideas of management and organizational methods will not allow it to develop.

To be successful, danger must be minimized through the use of competent and professional advice. A trained and experienced consultant examines the practice of international companies. In this case, the emphasis is not only on successful companies, but also on losing players.

Management consultant has knowledge of modern methods of organizational design, management consulting methods for making operational and long-term strategic decisions. That is why in management consulting the techniques of psychology and economics are intertwined with each other. With the help of them, the specialist offers the company's management an impartial look at the state of affairs of the company and talks about ways to increase the productivity of company management.

It is important to keep in mind the fact that management consulting is not a one-time procedure. It implies long-term interaction and support of the company's management throughout the process of management transformation.

In the domestic consulting market, the division of professionals is similar to Western models. It implies the functioning of training, process and expert consultants. In any case, the object of consulting is the processes taking place in the business, and only managerial issues that are related to finances, personnel and social difficulties in the organization are solved. Expert consultants are top-level professionals whose qualifications are notraises doubts. Their advice actually works one hundred percent.

They are masters in many fields and therefore offer extremely valuable techniques. Consultants are hired by managers in order to correctly create tactics, determine the tasks and goals of the company, the main directions for successful business development. This category often includes technology consultants, whose knowledge of certain technological activities can increase the productivity and operation of the company. Often such consultants are top managers of well-known firms. They share knowledge on how to organize the work of the administrative body.

Process specialists assist the company's management in finding solutions to urgent problems. In other words, they give advice on the ways and methods of management consulting in solving various issues. Most of the consultants in the modern consulting market are process consultants. They are interested in issues of management accounting, optimal financial management, development of advertising policy.

There are specialists on the consulting market who can cover the area of process and expert consulting. They have the knowledge and ability to set goals for certain business units and make plans to achieve them.

Training consultants are not highly qualified. Usually these are teachers of higher educational institutions of financial faculties. Their knowledge is purely theoretical. The consulting market is extremely broadly represented by companies specializing in narrow topics. However, in this case the firmit needs to attract additional analysts that are consistent with its strategic goals, operational management and the creation of an effective information system.

Goals and objectives

During the years of financial crisis in the economy, owners and managers of companies are faced with the task of expanding and prospering business. Management consulting is a set of measures aimed at solving this difficulty. This service is aimed at increasing the productivity of the company, as well as identifying and eliminating external and internal causes that hinder it.

As part of this goal, management consulting copes with the following tasks:

• increasing the quality characteristics of work processes in the control apparatus;
• correlation between the interests of the company and society in order to find common ground;
• development of new ways of management;
• developing strategies and tactics for future business development.

Main clients

The object of consultations is a person (a client of management consulting), or rather, an organization as a target form of association of an active labor resource. The object of management consulting coincides with the object of management. This means that the work of a specialist and the work of a manager as a representative of an organization are unidirectional, and in the process of management consulting, a special form of labor interaction appears between them: partnership. This type of laborinteraction is based on certain principles and on the division of labor between the subject and the representative of the object of management consulting in the implementation of tasks to improve management.

The nature of cooperation between the client of management consulting and the consultant in the labor process, their duties and rights, especially decision-making are reflected in one form or another of the organization of the division of labor - a certain model of management services.

The choice of model depends on the following reasons:

• specificity of the object (industry affiliation, size of the object, motivation for teamwork with a consultant and changes, qualifications and experience in personnel management);
• properties of the subject (professional and personal qualities, qualifications and experience of the management consultant);
• nature of the difficulty and problem being solved, expectations from the result of the interaction.

Basic Services

Consulting is relevant during the unstable situation in the economy of the state and the world as a whole. In a time of diversified international situations and the resulting fluctuations in oil prices and exchange rates, management consulting can help companies keep their revenues and market positions. In addition, this service can be useful in a situation where the vector of the company's activities changes or when the tactical policy is adjusted.

This kind of consulting is useful when a company plans to capture new customers or enter the market with a newproduct. In addition, this service can help in solving the internal difficulties of managerial personnel, resolve conflicts between business owners and top managers.

The results that the company achieves through consulting can be divided into direct and indirect, quantitative and high-quality, as shown in the table below.

Management consulting services:

	Quantitative	Quality
Straight	· cost reduction; · increase in efficiency; · capital turnover growth; · growth of the production cycle.	· new technologies; Innovation in production; new competencies; · analysis and problem solving.
Indirect	· raising investment capital; · influx of new partners; Growth in company value.	· forming relationships with counterparties; professional development of employees; · growth of business contacts.

Basic types

Today there are two types of management consulting: project and process. They have their own individual properties, advantages and disadvantages. The advantages of this approach to classification are that it is operational and definite (there is a request - there is a solution). Among the minuses, it is necessary to note the probable elimination of consequencesproblems, but not their prerequisites, as well as the difficulty in implementing solutions without a pre-prepared platform on the part of the client.

Project consulting is best for solving local one-time problems. Providing advice by process type does not imply providing a turnkey solution.

Counselors help employees develop their own way of coping with a problem in a variety of ways, similar to coaching. This type of consultation requires more time and great effort on the part of the client; its main drawback is the uncertainty of the outcome. Positive aspects: the solution of the deepest issues, the easy adaptation of the methods of management in the company. This approach to consulting is ideal for addressing systemic issues, in crisis and transition situations, and in situations where the source of the problem is hidden.

There are a certain number of types of management consulting:

• strategic consulting:
• study of local and global market;
• assessment of the company's position among competitors;
• building a viable business model;
• risk calculation;
• advertising consulting;
• development of company development tactics;
• research of target consumer groups and the ability to manage it;
• consultations in the field of personnel management;
• shaping organizational culture;
• management development;
• allocation of responsibility and classification of the decision scheme.

There are other systematizations of management consulting:feature-rich and professional approaches, advisory and procedural types, and so on.

Possible destinations

In any case, the main goal of management consulting is met. It lies in the fact that the productivity of the company increases.

Today, the following areas of management consulting are often found:

• improving the organizational structure of the firm;
• formation of a system of motivation and incentives for employees;
• creating criteria for independent work of staff and company management;
• coaching - finding solutions together with the client by combining training and consulting.

Process organization

The process of organizing management consulting consists of the following elements:

• Company diagnostics. This event allows you to assess the current state of the company, evaluate its development opportunities, innovative potential, identify important difficulties and problems that hinder the development of the company, and also develop methods to overcome them.
• Definition of the company's problem field, its consideration and description. All the difficulties that hinder the real development of the business are grouped, studied and carefully considered in order to develop a set of measures aimed at improving the financial and economic performance.
• Formation of the company's development strategy. Based on the identified and studied issues individually for eachbusiness, a list of measures is being developed that are aimed at implementing a more efficient operation of the company.

Process steps

The process under study consists of several stages of management consulting:

• Organizational diagnostics are being carried out, the task of which is to identify the main issues and shortcomings of the company. At this step, certain differences in the views of the manager and the conclusions of a third-party specialist consultant can be established. For example, a manager initially hired a consultant to change the organizational structure. As a result of the study, it was found that the company's goals, tactics and strategies were inadequately stated.
• Next, the organization is modeled in such a way that it does not have to change the type of enterprise management. This step is intermediate, as it does not solve all the difficulties existing in the organization and does not achieve the main goal - optimization of the management system.
• At the third stage, the consultant develops advice to resolve the issues identified in the first step, but with changes in the management organization. Usually several projects are under development.
• Developed projects are checked against the existing model of the company, a detailed implementation plan is formed
• At the final stage, the consultant accompanies the implementation of the decisions made. This is especially important for Russian business, where it is typical not to implement even effective solutions because of their cardinality.

Management consulting

Next, it is advisable to consider the development of management consulting. The market for consulting services in the post-Soviet space is now obviously lagging behind the Western one. However, the globalization of the world, the entry of Russian companies into the world market in the conditions of tough competition forced managers to understand that quality management is among the highest values of a company that strives to be profitable. To increase the quality of management, it is necessary to apply new information technologies, organizational structures and optimal methods of decision-making.

Methods for the implementation of services

Today there are a huge number of ways of management consulting. SWOT analysis is the most popular method. In the process of implementing procedures, consultants assess the state of affairs in the company, analyze its advantages and disadvantages. Next, they find solutions to balance the work of the company.

There are also other ways of management consulting that are aimed at staff: coaching, activation of creative thinking, testing. All these methods of working with the client's personnel allow you to unite the team, develop new professional abilities and identify problem areas of communication, as well as shortcomings in the organizational culture. Other methods of collective management consulting are also used: brainstorming methods, the Delphi method. In practice, the methods of neurolinguistic programming and organizational self-diagnosis are least in demand.

Fundamentals of management and pedagogical consulting

Management consulting is one type of professional outside support. Its productivity depends on certain factors: the degree of qualification of consultants, the attitude of managers towards them, the capabilities of the teaching staff, the degree of mutual interaction, awareness of the interaction of consultants, school managers, teachers.

The main task of the management and pedagogical consulting system is focused on increasing the degree of independence of the teacher, shaping his ability to recognize and solve difficulties, overcome obstacles that arise in professional work. The object of control should be the difficulties themselves, personal deviations in the work of the teacher. Management tasks: to create a positive self-concept, train teachers to make decisions and produce reflection.

Tasks:

• assistance in the formation and development of the educational environment, the provision of effective methods, the development of advice on their implementation;
• help identify management issues and solve educational problems;
• help improve teaching ability;
• help in defining the content of educational management culture;
• interaction with teaching staff of schools in the mode of self-development on a scientific and professional basis;
• awareness of the content and development of technology for implementation in pedagogical cooperation;
• participation in building a fruitful processinnovation and innovation.

Expected result: the transition from direct action management (consultations, dialogues) to indirect, when the administration is responsible for the process, and the teacher is responsible for plans and activities.

Conclusion

Management consulting is a special kind of professional work. It aims to provide services to the management of companies in the field of economics and management in the form of independent support and advice. The basis of management consulting is a special type of activity that has certain elements and properties, determined by the mental nature of labor. For a deeper understanding of management consulting as a profession, it is necessary to consider its specifics based on the characteristics of mental activity.