management consulting

a service industry that provides advice to those in charge of running a business

Management consulting (sometimes also called strategy consulting) refers to both the practice of helping companies to improve performance through analysis of existing business problems and development of future plans, as well as to the firms that specialize in this sort of consulting. Management consulting may involve the identification and cross-fertilization of best practices, analytical techniques, change management and coaching skills, technology implementations, strategy development or even the simple advantage of an outsider's perspective. Management consultants generally bring formal frameworks or methodologymethodologies to identify problems or suggest more effective or efficiencyefficient ways of performing business tasks.There is a relatively unclear line between management consulting and other consulting practices, such as IT consulting.

History - Management consulting grew with the rise of management as a unique field of study. The first management consulting firm was Arthur D. Little, founded in the late 1890s by the MIT professor of the same name. Though Arthur D. Little later became a general management consultancy, it originally specialized in technical research. The first pure management and strategy consulting company was McKinsey & Company, still considered a leader in the field. McKinsey was founded in Chicago during 1926 by James O. McKinsey, but the modern McKinsey was shaped by Marvin Bower, who believed that management consultancies should adhere to the same high professional standards as lawyers and doctors. Andrew T. Kearney, an original McKinsey partner broke off and started A.T. Kearney in 1937.After World War II, a number of new management consulting firms formed, most notably Boston Consulting Group, founded in 1963, which brought a vigorous analytical approach to the study of management and strategy. Work done at McKinsey, BCG, and Harvard Business School during the 1960s and 70s developed the tools and approaches that would define the new field of strategic management, setting the groundwork for many consulting firms to follow. Also significant was the development of consulting arms by both accounting firms (such as Arthur Andersen) and global IT services companies (such as IBM).

Current state of the industry - Management consulting has grown rapidly, with growth rates of the industry exceeding 20% in the 1980s and 1990s. As a business service, consulting remains highly cyclical and linked to overall economic conditions. The consulting industry shrank during the 2001-2003 period, but had been experiencing slowly increasing growth since. In 2004, revenues were up 3% over the previous year, yielding a market size of just under $125 billion consultingcentral.com.Currently, there are three main types of consulting firms. First, there are large, diversified organizations, such as IBM's Global Services and Deloitte Consulting offer a range of services, including IT consulting, in addition to a management consulting practice. Second are the large management and strategic consulting specialists, like the venerable McKinsey, that offer purely management consulting, but are not specialized in any one industry. Finally, there are boutique firms, often quite small, that have extremely focused areas of consulting expertise, such as canback-dangel.com - Canback Dangel in predictive analytics or fmcg.com - First Manhattan in banking.

Approaches - Management consulting has become the primary source for innovation in the practice of management, forming a bridge between academia, firms, and thought leaders in other fields. As a result, management consulting firms use a variety of tools and techniques to approach business problems. See strategic management for more information.

Criticism - Management consultantconsultants are often criticized for overuse of buzzwordbuzzwords, reliance on management fadfads and a failure to develop executable plans that can be followed through. A number of highly critical books about management consulting argue that the mismatch between management consulting advice and the ability of business executives to actually create the change suggested results in substantial damages to existing businesses, see, for example Dangerous Company by James O'Shea.Not surprisingly, management consulting is also the butt of many business-related jokes, such as: "Question: What’s the difference between a management consultant and a used-car salesman. Answer: A used car salesman knows when he is lying."

Leading Firms - Each year, The Vault ranks the 50 most prestigious consulting firms. The top 10 firms for 2006 werevault.com:#McKinsey and Company#Boston Consulting Group#Bain and Company#Booz Allen Hamilton#Monitor Group#Mercer Management Consulting#Mercer Oliver Wyman#Mercer Human Resource Consulting#The Parthenon Group#Marakon Associates

Other management consultancies - # APT Associates# AT Kearney# Braun Consulting# LEK

Other consultancies with strategy practices - # Accenture# Deloitte# IBM Business Consulting Services# PWCPrice Waterhouse Cooper

Books about management consulting -

Managing the Professional Services Firm, by David Maister

Guerrilla Marketing for Consulting, Jay Conrad Levinson and Michael W. McLaughlin

Flawless Consulting, by Peter Block

The Professional Services Firm Bible, by John Baschab

Managing Transitions, By William Bridges

Managing at the speed of change- Daryl Conner

See also -

Strategic Management

Business philosophies and popular management theories

Management consulting service providers

External links -

consulting.about.com - The Consulting / Freelance Site on the About.com network

consulting.about.com - Consulting firm listings and articles

careerselector.com - Timeline of the history of management consulting

assoconsult.org - Overview of the Management Consulting Industry (pdf)

canback.com - The Logic of Management Consulting !(pdf)Category:Managementfr:Con seil? en !stratégienl:Adviesbureauru:&# 1050;онс 72;лтин ;г

Opus Productivty
OPUS Productivity Solutions is a management consulting company that specializes in products and services that are geared towards helping our clients make more informed, and ultimately better hiring decisions, and then assist them in maximizing the productivity of their new and existing people. Clients range in size from small, entrepreneurial led companies of less than ten people to corporations with revenues in excess of one billion dollars.
http://www.opusproductivity.com/

Executive Development Coaching
Training services, executive coaching and leadership skill development, consulting business service in Toronto Ontario
http://www.candomore.com/

ISO 9001 2000 9000 Certification consultants India Mumbai
Largest ISO 9001 9000 2000 certification consultants training consultancy in mumbai, india, vadodara, maharashtra, gujarat. Delhi, Bangalore.
http://www.lakshy.com

Vienna Consult VerkehrsberatungsgmbH
Transport consultancy and transport integrator
http://www.viennaconsult.com/

Solid Oak Consulting, LLC
Helping your acorn business grow into a solid oak. Startup and turnaround help for the owners of small businesses.
http://www.solidoakconsulting.com/

We help management build support, ensure momentum and reach workable solutions
Values guiding our work: Work with our clientsnot for them; bring the best to each assignment;take a top management perspective;establish a solid fact base; preserve confidentiality
http://www.moravecglobal.com/

The DCL Group
The DCL Group is an IT management consulting company focused on maximizing the value of our clients' IT investments. We are located in central New Jersey and serve a broad array of client organizations.
http://www.thedclgroup.com/

The Cornell Group, Inc.
The Cornell Group is a multi-disciplinary management-consulting firm providing Strategic Planning, Economic Development, Privatization, Master Planning, Institutional and Regulatory Restructuring, and Investment Planning advice to senior management in the diverse industries. Our Project Finance group provides Strategic, Transaction and Financial Advisory assistance for Infrastructure projects worldwide. Our Infrastructure Planning Group provides assistance with Master Planning and Operations Improvement for institutional, commercial and industrial facilities. The Information Technology and Business Education practice assists our clients improve productivity and enhance competitiveness through strategic development and delivery of Professional Training Programs, Higher Education Capacity Building and Information Technology.
http://www.thecornellgroup.com/

Phenix Management International
Phenix Management International is a Toronto-based management consulting company specializing in facilitating the effective management of human resource information. We assist you in the evaluation, selection, and implementation of effective solutions to support your business functions. Our professional assistance can assist you in the making the right vendor choice for your specific needs and reduce your overall project costs as well as shorten the timeline for a successful implementation.
http://www.pmihrm.com

Technology
Information Technology
http://www.update-egypt.com/

Banking Services Direct (MBSD) - Austin, Texas Consulting Services
The MBSD Group offers information on warehouse lines of credit, mortgage broker licensing and help with broker to broker operations. We specialize in selling mortgage companies or buying a new one.
http://www.mbsdgroup.com/

Mercer Management Consulting
A corporate strategy firm that focuses on sustained shareholder value and growth.
http://www.mercermc.com/

Association of Management Consulting Firms
Helps to foster an understanding of the profession's scope and purposes; provide a forum for confronting common challenges; expands the knowledge base of member firms and their clients.
http://www.amcf.org/

PricewaterhouseCoopers
Physical asset management.
http://www.pwcglobal.com/

Institute of Management Consultants
Certifies management consultants. Has over 2,900 members in 30 countries, 27 chapters, 6 special interest groups, public conferences, workshops.
http://www.imcusa.org/