The document discusses reasons for selecting a particular consulting firm and challenges in consulting projects. Key factors in selecting a firm include ability to deliver, specialist expertise, experience in the client's sector, and reputation. Effective client-consultant relationships are built on discipline, accountability, leadership, and flexibility. Consultants are likely to meet or exceed client expectations in increased productivity, revenue growth, and management capabilities, though outsourcing and change management clients tend to be more satisfied.

1. Reasons for Selecting a
Particular Consulting Firm
Muhammad Hamdi
!
from Management Consulting in Practice
by Fiona Czerniawska and Paul May

2. Reasons for Selecting a
Particular Consulting Firm
1. Ability to deliver
2. Experienced consulting team
3. Specialist expertise
4. Originality of approach
5. Experience of client sector/market
6. Reputation

3. Reasons for Selecting a
Particular Consulting Firm
7. Existing relationship with individual
8. Technological resources
9. Recommendation from client networks
10.Existing relationship with firm
11.Price competitiveness
12.Size of firm/team
13.Geographical representation

4. The Challenge of Consulting
Projects (Consultant view)
1. Stakeholder buy-in
2. Complexity of project
3. Time frame
4. Cultural challenges
5. Expectations of client
6. Scale of project

5. The Challenge of Consulting
Projects (Consultant view)
7. Communication with client
8. Consultancy firm's understanding of the business
9. Changing requirements
10.Budget limitations
11.Skill limitations
12.Changing deadlines
13.Changing personnel (client)

6. The Challenge of Consulting
Projects (Client view)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Cultural challenges
Time frame
Complexity of project
Scale of project
Consultancy buy-in
Resource limitations
Budget limitations
Skill limitations

7. The Challenge of Consulting
Projects (Client view)
9. Consulting firm's understanding of the client's
business
10.Expectations of consultants
11.Changing requirements
12.Changing deadlines
13.Changing personnel (client)
14.Changing personnel (consulting firm)

8. The Client-Consultant
Relationship
•
What did those involved learn about building effective relationships? The comments divide into three categories as
follows:
•
Discipline and accountability:
- ‘A good project manager is essential.'
- ‘You need a clearly understood structure: governance is vital.'
- ‘We need to ensure that the client understands how the project will operate.'
- ‘If you sell a long-term benefit, you must be ready to measure the long-term benefit, and not get sucked
into short-term meddling.’
•
Leadership:
- ‘We now appreciate the effect of a strong leader on a major initiative.'
- ‘Senior management sponsorship and decisiveness is critical.'
- ‘Keep things simple; do not try and take on too much; ensure senior management buy-in throughout the
life cycle of the project.
•
Flexibility:
- ‘Projects of this size and complexity need more, not less, flexibility.'
- ‘The solution must be owned by the client staff, as they are responsible and accountable for it. As a
consultant, you need to be able to advise and challenge where appropriate …. You also need to be able to
back off at times.’
- ‘Maintaining a flexible approach throughout this project helped us to exceed our clients' expectations.'

9. Meeting Client Expectations
•
motivational (eg improvements in staff satisfaction);
•
ability to finish a project on time;
•
greater management capability;
•
improved customer satisfaction;
•
increased productivity;
•
reduced costs;
•
changes to headcount;
•
increased revenue;
•
acquisition of new customers;
•
increased market share;
•
better share price performance.

10. Analysing client satisfaction in
different types of consulting
•
Clients of outsourcing-related consulting projects were more likely to be satisfied
across the board than clients of other types of consulting.
•
By contrast, clients of IT-related consulting are more likely to be dissatisfied. These
were the clients who, across all the different categories of expectations,
consistently rated consultants as less likely than average to exceed expectations.
•
HR consulting clients are more positive than others when it comes to cost reduction
and headcount issues - not surprisingly
•
The surprise in change management consulting lies in the extent to which projects
exceeded clients' expectations when it comes to the financial impact.
•
Strategy consulting are only two areas in which strategy clients' aims are more
likely to be met, compared to other types of consulting - headcount and cost
reduction. Those measures that reflect growth rather than retrenchment - increased
revenue and market share, improved customer acquisition rates and satisfaction

11. Summary - Key Lessons For
Managers and Consultants
•
More and more work is being done on a project, rather than
permanent, basis. Organizations are becoming portfolios of
opportunities and resources: some of those resources will come
from outside suppliers, such as consulting firms, who offer
experience and specialist knowledge
•
In this environment, collaboration - across internal divisions, with
external partners - will be key. As the case studies in this book show,
genuine collaboration is best secured at two levels: the corporate
(shared risks and rewards) and the individual (personal chemistry).
•
The most important reasons for choosing a particular consulting firm
are that firm's ability to deliver, experience and specialist
knowledge. Clients are also more interested in originality than in a
firm's size, geographical coverage, or even its reputation.

12. Summary - Key Lessons For
Managers and Consultants
•
Both clients and consultants recognize that getting buy-in from all those involved is
perhaps the most serious obstacle to effective collaboration. However, consultants
appear to underestimate the cultural challenges they face and the constraints their
clients may be operating under.
•
Effective relationships are characterized by openness, honesty and trust. Trust can only
be built up by individuals working together over a period of time; it's not something that
can be transmitted by a consulting brand
•
Clients believe relationships are forged at middle management levels, whereas
consultants tend to think in terms of building top-level relationships only.
•
The keys to building effective relationships are: focus and accountability; leadership; and
flexibility.
•
Consultants are very likely to meet or exceed client expectations in terms of increased
productivity, revenue growth and improved management capability. However,
outsourcing and change management clients appear to be more satisfied than IT and
strategy consulting clients.

13. Meeting Client Expectations
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
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motivational (eg improvements in staff satisfaction);
ability to finish a project on time;
greater management capability;
improved customer satisfaction;
increased productivity;
reduced costs;
changes to headcount;
increased revenue;
acquisition of new customers;
increased market share;
better share price performance.