Business Consulting: A Guide to How It Works and How to Make It Work

by Gilbert Toppin, Fiona Czerniawska

In the last three decades of the twentieth century, the management consultancy industry grew at a cracking pace, but increased scepticism about the value that consultants genuinely add, combined with the economic slowdown, has made life much tougher for the consulting industry. As firms cut back on consulting services and begin to review the way they use consultants, consulting firms themselves are looking at how they need to change. People are now talking about business consulting rather than management consulting. Using real examples from a range of private sector firms, public sector organisations, and from the consultants themselves, this book explores the new business consulting world and looks at every element of it with the aim of both helping firms make better use of consultants and showing consultants how they need to adapt and provide their clients a better service.

Genres: Business

264 pages, Hardcover

First published May 26, 2005

Reviews

[Supratim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Before I begin my review, I would like to mention that the book was published in 2005, and therefore, it is a bit dated. After all, a lot should have changed in the intervening 18 years. However, in my humble opinion, there is still merit in reading the book.
The authors, Fiona Czerniawska and Gilbert Toppin, have a good job explaining the business consulting industry. They have touched upon important topics such as

• The problems facing the industry
o The perception that consultants are over-priced and rarely add real value to the project
o Lack of trust in consulting firms due to scandals involving some famous firms
• Different types of consultancy projects and firm-consultant relationships
• How consultants can really add value
• How to ensure that the consultancy project is a success
• Skills required to be a successful consultant

I am not going to elaborate on the topics discussed in the book, but would only mention one point raised by the authors that one day competing consultancy firms might have to collaborate with their rivals while executing a complex project. I wonder how the project manager(s) would handle the team dynamics in such a scenario!

[Jennifer Brandt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good intro to consulting

The book provides a good introductory overview of the management consulting industry. Some of the consulting trends referenced in the book are slightly outdated (this book was written pre-financial crisis). Overall this book is a good intro to the industry and a good read for anyone considering consulting as a career path.

[sbs transit · Rating 4 out of 5]

#nsreads 27

NYC rubbish bin

[K · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read what I was interested in = about 150 pages. And it was as what expected.

The book is neither academic nor practical, but it is more to academia as The Economist series.