REFLECTING ON THE CONSULTANCY PROCESS
Introduction
The management process entails many aspects that leaders of organizations do to ensure that they meet their objectives. One of the critical elements of business management is the consultancy process or business consultation as a way of improving the business processes and the effectiveness of business strategies as well as operational processes (Czerniawska, F., 2016). The idea of business consulting has dominated the market in recent year as more managers opt for it. It has different roles to play, depending on how the management uses it, and the implementation of a consultancy process determines the direction the organization takes in terms of success.
The paper, in this case, offers an insight into the place of management consultancy in business organizations and states how different companies use it. The author says that many people confuse the position of management consultancy in the overall business management process. He argues that some businesses overstate the place of consultancy while others understate it. In the process of identifying the role of management and consultancy, he carries out research. This essay reviews the research article as a critical appraisal by identifying its strengths and weaknesses. It will draw comparisons from various literature sources for a detailed review. It will identify the main argument of the research paper to critically analyze the underlying argument and study how the author uses theories to state his case. It will then conclude the author’s arguments and relate the theories presented to practice in the context of management consultancy.
Paper outline
The paper presents an analysis of the state of consultancy in organizations and the role it plays in the business environments. It argues that the idea of consultancy has met mixed reactions from different quarters. Some groups of people believe in the concept of consultancy, while others think it is an expensive concept that takes much investment but gives no extraordinary results (Sturdy, 2010). According to Sturdy (2011), the concept of consultancy is exaggerated in terms of its geographical coverage and highly confused with management. His main argument is that the spread and role of consultancy are both overstated and understated, and it does not have a distinct part to play in an organization.
To support his argument, Sturdy brings in the idea of management as a consultancy and consultancy as a management practice to show that organizations confuse the role of the process. The paper argues that consultancy has become a scapegoat for management as managers use it as an excuse for poor performance as they leave essential decisions to external consultants (Sturdy, A., 2011). On the other hand, many changes have occurred in the status and nature of management processes. Consequently, the consultancy has made the traditional distinctions on boundaries less sustainable. For this reason, the place and extent of consultancy may be more significant than assumed.
Sturdy uses Thrift’s account of capitalism and the managerialist model to explain the situation of consultancy in the business management process. He employs the methodology of qualitative and quantitative research to investigate the research question. In his findings, Sturdy states that consultancy has a significant role to play in the management process especially in parts such as R&D and promotion. He, however, notes that organizations should proceed cautiously because some essential doubts arise over the usefulness of consultancy to management (Sturdy, A., 2011)
Sturdy concludes that the concept of management consultancy remains an incomplete affair and that better research is necessary to make it fit better for the process of managing an organization. He adds that there is no basis to determine the impact of management consultancy and takes. From this, we can form a research question like, is management consultancy an effective tool for an organization?
Literature review
Role of Organizational Uncertainty and Management consultancy
The aspect of uncertainty is a crucial element in understanding the concept of management consultancy. According to research by Sturdy, Wylie, and Wright, (2013), organizations can reduce organizational uncertainty by involving consultants in the management process. However, they argue that t is still difficult to judge the outcomes of a consultancy process because of the ambiguity and uncertainty in judging the product. In most cases, organizations hire the services of consultants to assist in reviewing processes and make recommendations based on their observations. In these cases, the organizations act as clients to the consultants and they pay for the services. Considering the dynamic management environment, most clients act as managers in the organizations and therefore, they have adequate knowledge of various forms of business processes (Sturdy, A., 2018). The clients in this case have the same expertise as the consultants and as they work together, they get to the same point. Clients co-produce the results with the clients and for this reason, it is difficult to assess and isolate the impacts of the consultation process. This point implies that it is difficult to isolate the impacts and responsibility of the consultant.
The other point lies in the difficulty in assessing the quality of the process before starting the engagement process. The aspect of institutional uncertainty that defines a lack of clear boundaries within the market and agreed quality standards, lines of service as well as qualifications work against the consultant to undermine the trust of the client. The problem of the traditional agency problems characterized by uncertainty as to whether the agent ill act in the best interest of the principal gets support from the fact that consultants might confirm the uncertainties of clients (Sturdy, A., Wylie, N. and Wright, C., 2013). These factors make it difficult to determine the role of consultancy in management. The uncertainties might push clients into making decisions like carrying out professionalized purchases.
Process and Operations of Management consultancy in the public sector
The use of management consultants has been on the increase as a significant change driver in the public. The public sector has provided a different style of engagement to consultants from the private sector. It has combined system of proactive strategies and cultural aspects that have created a to-way relationship between the sector and consultancy. The sector has focused on traceability, transparency and accountability in the process or procuring and implementing projects (Clegg, B., MacBryde, J., Dey, P., Radnor, Z. and O’Mahoney, J., 2013). Players in the sector have focused on a thorough process the procurement aspects to find and use the services of consultancies. There have been criticisms on the way the UK industry players over the huge amounts of money they spend on consultancies. Public administration players and governments have engaged the services of management consultants for some reasons. One reason according to studies is the issue of shortages in personal specifically the lack of expertise in the internal component of organizations. Government agencies have reluctance towards the use existing knowledge and instead, use external experts. The need for smaller administrations has meant that employees have lost their jobs in the process.
The concept of management consultancy implies in the public sector helps in solving problems that might arise from internal business processes. This factor implies that is plays a significant role in the management process and hence, it occupies a significant place in business (Kirkpatrick, I., Muzio, D., Kipping, M. and Hinings, C.R., 2019). This component of the presentation shows that the concept has a place in the management process. However, the fact that it leads to loss of jobs means that it is not a popular practice among the workforce. Just like in the internal management process where top executives reject the idea because of the high costs involved, management consultancy is not a welcome idea in some quarters. This factor means that again, we cannot connect management consultancy to studies that clearly state its role in improving organizations.
Application of Management consultancy in the Public and Private sectors
An analysis of the application of the changing situation of management consultancy reveals a distinction between the public and private sectors. The researchers sought the insight of management consultants on the possibility of offering their services in both sectors. When asked to compare their experiences on the application of management consultancy in public and private sectors, the consultants revealed that some difficulties arise when implementing the process in the public sectors. The interesting part is that the challenges arise from the basic components of operational management since they entail the process of design, plan and control as well as the processes of improvement. Other factors that relate to the tensions include the cultural differences in terms of pace, the ability of managers and their ability to keep track of the effects (Gandhi, M. and Sachdeva, T., 2018). The public sector has a down-stream effect on the consultant-client relationships and the process of developing operations management services. The finding here applies to the process of managing knowledge literature.
The component here focuses on the effects of the consultant on the client but not the client on the consultant. According to the research, developing and creating better understanding of the factors that circulate around the implementation of operations management would help in addressing the tensions around implementing management consultancy in the public sector (Williams, C., 2019). The result of this research further proves that the place of management consultancy in improving efficiency of organizations and further research is necessary. For a process to be useful, it should be successfully applicable to the public and private sectors in almost the same way.
In practice
The source by Sturdy offers an in-depth analysis of the situation of management consultancy in the general business environment. The researcher draws from various sources that give the source some credibility of a thorough research process. Sturdy argues that the place of management consultancy remains an ambiguous one because of the way different groups receive the concept. He argues that the whole idea is both overstated and understated to the extent that it is necessary to carry out additional research to determine the way forward (Sturdy, 2011). The paper has significant strengths in the way it uses many sources to back its claims. The fact that Sturdy performs a comprehensive review of literature means that the result is highly credible. The other strength of the study lies in the fact that it combines both qualitative and quantitative research methods to draw conclusions and this makes the result well-though out. The review of literature review I have done above gives the study strength because my research showed similar results to the study.
Looking at these concepts, I can relate to a few of my experiences as an individual having been involved in small organizations. I once worked as a salesperson for a small business where the manager took up most of the decision- making roles. In this case, I would say he acted as a consult manager-consultant because he performed more than a managerial role. From this experience, I learned that every organization needs a management consultant whether it is an internal or external one. This is necessary because it would be difficult for the management to take up both roles in a big organization with different complexes as Lonsdale, C., Hoque, K., Kirkpatrick, I. and Sanderson, J (2017) reveal in their research.
Discussion
From the literature review by Sturdy and my presentation on the review of other sources, one thing that comes out clearly is the fact that management process is a necessary process whose real place in the organization is significantly misunderstood. Managers seem to have an idea of what to do with it but there is a lack of clear role definition. The place of the concept in the modern organization comes with some controversy that makes some quarters to tend towards rejecting the whole idea. Top managers reject it because they believe it is a waste of money while junior employees are bound to be less receptive because it renders them redundant. Researches are still ongoing to determine the best ways through which organizations can eliminate the concepts that create the notion of overstatement and understatement of management consultancy.
However, one thing that stands is that management consultancy occupies as significant role in organizations and it improves their effectiveness. Consultants see the organization from an angle that few people will and this makes it necessary, a combination of the studies above shows that it is necessary for better performances but better research is necessary for more improvements. Nevertheless, different studies point to the direction of more improvements that have opened up the market for better operations. The most essential thing is that there should be a harmony within the components of the organizations without creating any aspects of collision. As it stands, managers play the role of consultants in some organizations while consultants have been taking up managerial positions. The issue of management scapegoat arises because managers take a back seat and let consultants to take charge. In the end, the same consultants have to take responsibility for any failure because of the huge amounts organizations pay them for their services.
Conclusion
Management consultancy has a significant place in the life of an organization because it proposes changes that help in making operations better. While few people recognize its place, I believe the problem lies in the failure by organizations to find a better way of integrating consultancy into their processes. The key to solving the dilemma in management consultancy lies in the ability of organizations to employ the services of consultants without letting it affect the managerial roles. Any further research should focus not on whether management consultancy is effective but on bridging this gap.
References
Clegg, B., MacBryde, J., Dey, P., Radnor, Z. and O’Mahoney, J., 2013. The role of management consultancy in implementing operations management in the public sector. International Journal of Operations & Production Management.
Czerniawska, F., 2016. Management Consultancy: what next?. Springer.
Fink, D. and Knoblach, B., 2017. What’s In The Name Of Management Consultancies? How Celebrity And Reputation Shape Intervention Effectiveness. Journal of Applied Business Research (JABR), 33(3), pp.587-604.
Gandhi, M. and Sachdeva, T., 2018. Impact of diverse values of employees on organizational effectiveness. Amity Business Journal, 7(11), pp.11-17.
Kirkpatrick, I., Muzio, D., Kipping, M. and Hinings, C.R., 2019, July. Meta Organizations and the Emergence of Corporate Professionalism: The Case of UK Consultancy. In Academy of Management Proceedings (Vol. 2019, No. 1, p. 10036). Briarcliff Manor, NY 10510: Academy of Management.
Kirkpatrick, I., Sturdy, A.J., Alvarado, N.R., Blanco-Oliver, A. and Veronesi, G., 2019. The impact of management consultants on public service efficiency. Policy & Politics, 47(1), pp.77-96.
Lonsdale, C., Hoque, K., Kirkpatrick, I. and Sanderson, J., 2017. Knowing the price of everything? Exploring the impact of increased procurement professional involvement on management consultancy purchasing. Industrial Marketing Management, 65, pp.157-167.
Radnor, Z. and O’Mahoney, J., 2010. Process Management in the Public Sector: The Role of Management Consultancies.
Sturdy, A., 2011. Consultancy’s consequences? A critical assessment of management consultancy’s impact on management. British Journal of Management, 22(3), pp.517-530.
Sturdy, A., 2018. Promoting solutions and co-constructing problems–Management consultancy and instrument constituencies. Policy and Society, 37(1), pp.74-89.
Sturdy, A., Wylie, N. and Wright, C., 2013. Management consultancy and organizational uncertainty: the case of internal consultancy. International Studies of Management & Organization, 43(3), pp.58-73.
Williams, C., 2019. Management Consultancy for Innovation. Routledge.