Wilkinson (1995; 04) defines the task of management consultancy as “An independent and objective advisory service provided by qualified persons to clients in order to help them identify and analyze management problems or opportunities. Management consultants also recommend solutions or suggested actions with respect to these issues and help, when requested, in their implementation. In essence, management consultants help to effect constructive change in organisations through the sound application of substantive and process skills.” (Kumar et al. 2002, Management Decision)
In my consultancy work, the consultant always uses some ideas based on a model system. An experienced and a professional consultant would choose certain models to meet the requirements of the client and also identifying the strengths and weaknesses of the models. There are four models that are popular in the consulting industry – the doctor model, detective model, salesperson model and the travel agent. I will define the four models and relate it to Eagle Technology Consultants work.
The doctor model is the most popular model used by many consultants, and is based around a medical analogy. The assumption here is that the client is suffering from some sort of an illness that needs to be cured. Consultants who use this model presume that either the client or the organisation is need of some sort of treatment. Therefore the consultant will start by trying to find out what the problem or the illness is, and then look for a medication or a solution. (Margerison, 1995; 104)
The detective model is based upon the principle that something is wrong, therefore they need to find the person or people that are responsible so that it can be changed or removed. When this model is used it is assumed that there is an implication of a criminal conspiracy, and that is why the problems have occurred. If this does happen, then there is a tendency to have some sort of a cultural surrounding the consultancy work that is associated with the blame. An example could be where an accident has happened within the workforce and the client wants to know why it has happened, and how to resolve it. This model looks at the clues that are associated with the breaking of the law. (Margerison, 1995; 104)
The salesperson model brings upon the assumption that the consultant has a product or service that will be appropriate to the client, and will be of benefit to the organisation. With this model comes a problem of where the client gets the assumption that the consultant has a bag full of tricks ready to produce the right product to solve the issues. Therefore you will not see many consultants using this model. (Margerison, 1995; 105)
The travel agent model brings upon the assumption that the client wants to go on a journey. Where the client does not know specifically where they want to go or how to get there. Therefore the consultant has to go through the objectives with the client in order to determine what vision the client has. By doing this the consultant can then build up a vision of what their client wishes to achieve. (Margerison, 1995; 106)
Analysing Eagle Consultants article, I can conclude they have used three models. These are the doctor model, detective model and the travel agent. Coca-Cola Foundation was faced with a problem of upgrading the Sales Force Automation Toolkit. In a typical medical doctor style, Eagle Consultants assessed the Sales Force Automation Toolkit programme and began work with Coca-Cola employees to fully customise the product. This is similar to a doctor assessing a patient’s symptom and thus issuing a diagnosis of the illness. Also, Eagle Consultants have demonstrated using the officer model. Tiffany Decker, Principal Certified Lotus Professional at Eagle Technology Consultants stated, "Highly specialized and detailed reporting was necessary to fulfil the sales team's needs. This consisted of integrating the SFA application with EssBase, Microsoft Excel and Lotus Notes reporting system. Our current initiative is to move away from the client-server based system and will soon take the application to the Intranet and Internet via Domino, Java and other web applications." http://www.eagletc.com/Article5.aspx
This showed that there were structural changes made with the appropriate research carried out. The final model applied was the travel agent. Initially Coca-Cola Foundation was not sure which marketing tool software to develop but due to the intervention of Eagle Consultants guiding them to their objective target, Coca-Coal Foundation chose the Toolkit. This is an example of one visiting a travel agent and looking at the different travel brochures, and thus with the help of a travel agent having the ability to choose a holiday destination.
The main conclusion can be drawn form the fact that the Coca-Cola Foundation improved their profit margin, increased over all efficiency and further effective communications between the Account Executive and their management since the implementation of this system. http://www.eagletc.com/Article5.aspx
The second example is of an organisation that is Europe's largest drinks retailer, Thresher (formerly First Quench), based in the UK. The company, whose brands also include Victoria Wine, Wine Rack, Bottoms Up, Haddows, Huttons and Drinks Cabin. They choose Astech as their consultant to guide them through the implementation of the JDA merchandise management system and to enhance their business performance. Consequently to achieve this objective Thresher had to get the consultants to guide and advise employees. The first phase was to achieve central stock visibility, real time stock value and expenditure precision. Secondly to improve the replenishment of stock to each of its outlets, thereby increasing availability and reducing total stock holding. Rojer Acton, director of Thresher believed the progress was being demonstrated and he was totally convinced in the consultant team as it was proving to be successful. Interaction with clients shows a high degree of positive people-directed behaviour, especially ‘showing agreement’. http://www.astech.uk.com/news0103-thresher.html
O'Driscoll and Eubanks (1993; 325) described one of the competencies of effective consultants as "listening to all issues, preventing or downgrading any of them". As a result, playing a role in maintaining a positive relationship with clients. One of the observed consultants said: "The most important thing in the work of a management consultant is building and maintaining a relation with your client. On that basis you get the trust you need". The most dominant intervention strategy is the catalytic strategy, in which the consultant adds something to the problem solving process of the client, by giving information, sharing an opinion, doing procedural proposals. This is where the added value of the management consultant appears to be recognized: accelerating the process and getting it buoyant in case clients get stuck. This observation happens to be in keeping with the process oriented philosophy of this particular consultancy firm. This was also the case with Hampton packaging where they had an issue whereby stock control was not accountable for, decisions were being delegated, so it was fairly obvious that a consultant was acquired. The consultant’s job was not to rectify the problem for the employees but to show them the way. Consultants built a relationship with the clients as mentioned before; ‘it’s the key role for success. The director of Hampton packaging was pleased with his decision of best practice as he felt that precision was met.
Now, in this section I will try to identify clients who use consultants completely irrelevant to their real problems. A good example is the recent war with Iraq. The present government under the leadership of Tony Blair had a dilemma how to get rid of Sadaam Hussein. Going back two years ago, two countries decided to commission a report on weapons of mass destruction gathered in Iraq. The two countries choose the International Nuclear Agency as their consultants. Though, the two countries had other motives to get rid of Sadaam Hussein, they wanted these consultants to prove that Iraq had gathered weapons of mass destruction. Due to breakdown in communication and government bureaucracy in Iraq, a confused picture was given to the world. Eventually, war broke out and Sadaam was ousted. Despite Sadaam being ousted, there was no stability established in the country. This proves the consultants were used for the wrong reasons and the government advisors who advised Tony Blair were ignored. Thus, the Hutton inquiry was created. The lesson learned from this example is that consultancy does not work if the client has other motives or the consultancy work is irrelevant to the clients’ intentions.
http://www.bbc.co.uk
Communication also played a key part. There were many communication problems between the Iraqi government, International Nuclear Consultants, the United Nations and the UK Government. Perhaps the single most important skill a consultant should have is good communication skills. Communication can be defined in several ways. In a broader sense, it means securing the involvement of people in which they live or work so that they become willing participants in its activities. It is concerned with finding a common ground on which people can meet and with the creation of relationships (Markham, 1977).
To a consultant, this includes the need to communicate with all levels and especially senior management within a client company (Frankenhuis, 1977). A successful consultant, firstly, must be able to identify the appropriate medium based on the circumstance. There are occasions when it is better to speak than it is to write; at other times the written word is preferable. According to Rasberry and Lindsay (1994), 'communication defeats its own purpose if its contents are confused by excessive quantity'. This basically means overwhelming clients with notices; documents and meetings will result in communication, which ultimately lacks clarity and effectiveness. Good communication needs the cooperation of the person at the receiving end (Wofford et al., 1977), as for it is at this point that communication either takes place or fails. As Frankenhuis (1977) puts it as well, the successful consultant has highest regard for the value of two-way feedback at the end of a project.
However, this also depends on the size of the client company as obviously, the smaller the organisation, and the greater the chance of a two-way communication. To ensure effective communication and feedback, a consultant must also be good at listening. Listening is an essential skill for the consultant. Nichols (1957) estimates that at least 40% of the white-collar worker's day, involves listening. Active listening includes the processes of hearing, assigning meaning and verifying our interpretations (Mackay, 1984). Skill in effective listening supports effective communication by increasing the accuracy of message reception. Accurate message reception, in turn, enables better responses-response based on what was said, not on what one thinks might have been said (Rasberry and Lindsay, 1994). In order to actively listen, the consultant must identify with their attitude about their role in the communication process. This includes empathy for others and a willingness to control our emotions to facilitate mutual understanding (Webb, 1990). Successful consultants control neutral arguments, avoid jumping to conclusions and assumptions and are careful not to stereotype others (Arroba and James, 1992). Active listeners stop talking long enough to hear what others have to say. When others have finished talking, active listeners summarise main points and evaluate facts and evidence before responding.
The knowledge I have gained is that consultancy is a useful tool to change a company’s weaknesses into strengths as was in the case of Coca-Cola Foundation who used Eagle Consultants. On the other hand, there were occasions where consulting work does not give positive results. The famous case is the war in Iraq, where initially the government approved to use International Nuclear Agency to give them advice on weapons of mass destruction gathered by Iraq. Due to Tony Blair’s individual motives and breakdown of communication from the consultants, the result was a war. Despite the consultant’s interventions, its views were ignored and a country inverted by UK focus that got rid of the leader.
The most important factor I have learned from the example of First Quench case study is it demonstrates two people adopting a positive directed behaviour. For example, people are prepared to listen to all issues rather than downgrading them, then a positive outcome is achieved. This is a valuable lesson to learn whether the issue is in consulting work or in a social role.
Bibliography
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Internet:
http://www.astech.uk.com/news0103-thresher.html
http://www.eagletc.com/Article5.aspx
http://www.bbc.co.uk
http://www.prtm.com/insight/one.asp?insight_id=5666
http://www.twi.co.uk/j32k/unprotected/band_1/consult_failure.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/3421345.stm
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Bloch, B. (1999) How they put the "con" in consulting. Managerial Auditing Journal,
Volume 14, Number 3.
Soriano, D.R. (2001) Quality in the consulting service - evaluation and impact. Journal: Managing Service Quality, Volume 11, Number 1.
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Whether or not the UK government ignored the consultant’s advice in any way what begs to be asked is “Is there stability in Iraq?”
