How Consultants Create Value

"All that management consultants do is to borrow their clients' watches and tell them the time, then send in a huge bill."

Contents

1. Introduction

2. Topic Discussions

* Do Consultants Offer Anything that Clients Cannot Do Themselves?

* When, if at All, is Bringing in Consultants a Good Idea?

* How Can Positive Outcomes be Promoted from Consulting Engagements?

3. Conclusion

Introduction

A consultant (from Latin: consultare "to discuss") is a person who provides professional or expert advice (Dictionary.com, 2012) in a particular area such as taxation, law, management, marketing, finance, accountancy, etc. The variety of areas of expertise which are covered by consultants is very wide. The most vastly used attribution is Management Consultancy but this is not accepted as an exclusive term. Thus, consultants need to have a broad feel for business and organizations. At present, however, people hold controversial views over the perception of the consultancy as a profession.

The quote which titles this paper, stating that consultants “borrow their clients' watches and tell them the time, then send in a huge bill", originates from Robert Townsend. He is a former CEO of Avis, who shared hi viewpoint on consultancy and corporation management in his book “Up the Organization” (1971). In this publication Townsend argues that consultants cost money, do not solve your problems, and on top of that waste the time of “the best people” in the organization. Although these feelings are shared by a lot of people, many hold a different belief. In the below paper analysis on the subject matter have been presented in order to logically reach reasonable conclusions. In order for such a structure to be implemented few questions have been identified that will ensure the coherent framework of the discussion is not deliberately shifted. These are:

Do consultants offer anything that clients cannot do themselves?

When, if at all, is bringing in...