Performance Consulting, Research Paper Example

In the realm of business consultation, there are two essential approaches to consulting, and within each of these strategies, there is a wide variety of methods available to utilize.  On one hand, there is what is called a “prescriptive approach,” also viewed as the expert method.  With this approach, the consultant assumes the role of skilled expert whose function is to give accomplished advice or other assistance to the client.  The other approach, regarded as the facilitative method, provides less input from the consultant and more infrequent collaborations with a client.  The facilitative approach is centered more on the process of the advising itself, instead of providing technical or expert guidance.  This is also known as “process consulting,” the term that was first utilized by Edgar Schein, who is considered the original provider of this form of consultation (Schein, 1969.) This paper will describe the various roles that business consultants may play, as well as to discuss and compare the two most prominent methods of consultation and their importance to the functioning and maintenance of modern-day office standards that are provided by consultants.

The field of management consulting utilizes a wide variety of methods that are designed to help companies increase productivity as well as quality of performance.  A firm that specializes in this field assists with a company’s identification of goals, talents, and potential pitfalls.  The strategy of management consultation uses a variety of methods to study all the factors that have an impact on companies, their employees, their competition, and the goods and services that they produce.  Some of the factors involved in making decisions about management consulting include branding, targeted marketing decisions, motivation and rewards, as well as technological ability, and the profit motive.

Most management consultants are produced by business schools through their MBA programs.

There is a strong emphasis on helping employees to feel a strong loyalty to their companies.  As a result, ideally, they then feel more invested in having the company succeed, and will work harder and with more conviction.  Companies employ many motivational methods such as team-building and coaching in order to accomplish these ends.  In addition, they utilize more technical and concrete methods that include improving production line efficiency as well as developing more profitable accounting methods.  Technology can be utilized to improve data-gathering, communications as well as pointed decision-making.

There is often much criticism about management consultants, who are typically portrayed as engaging in business and  corporate talk by using inane “buzzwords”; in addition, they are frequently viewed as never having worked in any legitimate capacity in business, thereby lacking actual corporate or world experience, knowledge, or skills.

Most recently, the consultant industry has been characterized by billion-dollar scandals by accounting giants such as the Arthur Andersen firm.  The crimes involved included insider trading, fraud, money laundering, creative accounting, as well as political and military connections.  The prosecution of such giant firms as Enron and Halliburton all originated from flawed management and consultation advising, and have resulted in the consulting industry needing to take a serious look at their own practices.

What are the qualities that are essential for a business strategy consultant to possess?  It is important that if one decides to work within a specific industry, a vast knowledge base pertaining to that industry should be both accumulated and at the disposal of the consultant.  It is also helpful to have personal contacts within the industry in order for the consultant to be able to consult with others.  Research skills are also essential and should include the ability to research via the Internet and other sources, telephone skills, and face-to-face data-gathering such as interviewing.

Sales skills are also a very significant asset for a consultant, since the consultant is relying on presenting himself or selling his skills in order to self-market as a product in various business settings, the ability to analyze in careful detail the results of one’s research is also vital to the role of a consultant.  Written skills, as well as the ability to design PowerPoint presentations, will also greatly assist a consultant who is either trying to secure a contract with a company, or has already been hired to provide assistance and needs to utilize those skills in order to perform their responsibilities in a sophisticated manner.

In addition, since consulting is not always a 9 to 5 job, it is vital to convey a message that one is willing and able to provide whatever length of time is required to provide an excellent service.  This may include working long hours to ensure that the quality of the service exceeds the standards and will provide an incentive for the company to continue to work with the consultant.  Above-normal verbal skills will also increase the chances that a consultant will be hired on a continuous basis; this means both being able to speak in informal and formal settings, both with individuals as well as groups.

It is very important for a consultant to be able to have good teamwork skills, demonstrating the ability to work with a variety of people, to meet very strict deadlines and to provide a quality product in all instances.  Sound organizational skills are vital as well, indicating that the consultant is able to conform to a schedule, but also demonstrate flexibility if there are changes that arise and necessitate a change in the program.

Consultants should also be able to demonstrate an unbiased attitude and openness to working within a variety of settings as well as with a range of people and personalities.  Clearly, a consultant should be accomplished when utilizing computer skills which are an essential part of nearly every organization.

As previously stated, there are two essential approaches to consulting: the prescriptive approach is also viewed as the expert method.  With this approach, the consultant assumes the role of skilled expert whose function is to give accomplished advice or other assistance to the client.  The other approach, regarded as the facilitative method, provides less input from the consultant and less collaboration with a client.  The facilitative approach is centered more on the process of the advising itself, instead of providing technical or expert guidance.  This is also known as “process consulting,” the term that was first utilized by Edgar Schein, who is considered the original provider of this form of consultation (Schein 1969.)

Edgar Schein’s model of consultation is based on the premise of offering a helping relationship to the business involved in which the consultant is working along with the client rather than working for the client.  He introduces a definition of process consultation which “is a set of activities on the part of the consultant that help the client to perceive, understand, and act upon the process events that occur in the client’s environment.” Schein also emphasizes that the concept of process is central to understanding consultation and management. “Process refers to how things are done rather than what is done.” he continues, “Process is everywhere. In order to help, intervene, and facilitate human problem-solving, one must focus on communication and interpersonal processes.” The mutuality involved here is the key principle of Schein’s consultation method; a consultant is not present in order to give specialized and skilled instruction but rather to work alongside staff in a joint effort to achieve maximum results.  A major advantage in process consultation is that it is specifically designed to meet the needs of the individual company, rather than following a textbook procedure or formula that is meant to address all companies.  Some of the benefits of such an arrangement include:

• Forming an equal partnership between the consultant and the clients in which neither party has more power than the other; in fact the client provides the expertise regarding the organization itself, and the consultant provides the skills and expertise appropriate to apply to that specific organization.
• Mutual responsibility between client and consultant. In this aspect of problem-solving, the client is responsible both for owning the problem as well as determining the solution, with the consultant guiding the client through the process in order to highlight relevant factors and what needs to happen to resolve the issues.  The consultant does not take a specific point of view in this resolution, but rather gives the client the power to come to their own conclusions about what actions to take.
• An ability to learn lessons from the situation. This mirrors the classic Chinese proverb “Give me a fish and I eat for a day. Teach me to fish and I eat for a lifetime.” Applied to consultation strategy, this means that the consultant allows the client to sort out the factors involved in this situation and come to his/her own conclusions or solutions, rather than doing the work for them.  The latter scenario would help the clients learn the skills on their own instead of resulting in their contacting a consultant whenever they needed help rather than figuring it out on their own.
• Establishing a good fit with the specific organizational needs. In the process consultation method, the sharing of problem diagnosis and solutions leads to a mutual vision between the client and the consultant.  The consultants may have a wide range of tools to utilize that will be tailored to meet the current organizations’ needs.

Another crucial component to the concept of process consulting is the process of “active inquiry,” which is a supportive listening method that includes building up the clients’ self confidence, gathering all the facts with as much information as possible about the specific circumstances leading to the consultation, involving the client in the process of both diagnoses and active problem-solving, and creating a safe, non-judgmental environment that allows the clients to be open about their own feelings of anxiety and self consciousness.

Process consultation is likely to change and be modified as a result of entering into the 21st century, since improvement and reform is a necessary aspect of any organizational structure that needs to move forward with the times.  There are various ways to emphasize the strengths of process consultation as it moves towards the future.  These include:

• a perspective that looks to ongoing ability and learning, which will put the focus on not only problem-solving, but problem-solving ability
• More involvement and participation of the entire system, not simply one part of an organization.  Most likely, the future generation of process consultants will work with internal consultants from the company, groups, and all levels of the company.  Building up the consultation skills within an organization increases the chances that it will be able to meet the new challenges that confront it.
• A wider utilization of methods and techniques as the organization delegates responsibility throughout the company, creating more of a sense of shared ownership for the development of the organization.
• Connections to the organization’s mission and values. Increasingly, the company’s values will be instrumental in the analysis, diagnosis and solutions for the organization’s structure.

By contrast, the expert model of consultation begins from an entirely different perspective.  This strategy presumes a certain level of expertise on the part of the consultant, and that he or she knows the correct answer or solution to the problem.  In addition, there is an assumption that the client himself does not fully understand all the issues involved in his own dilemma.  This model holds that an imbalance of power, sometimes referred to as one-up, one-down contact, exists in the connection between the expert and the client.  The expert model usually provides a service for which the client pays, and which contains some information or skill set that the client is unable to provide for himself.  The client, usually an individual manager or a group of individuals within an organization, identifies some need for service or expertise which the organization is unable to provide for it (Schein.) A consultant is brought on board to address that need.

According to Schein, there are certain factors that will predict whether or not the expert model will be successful within the organization.  These variables include:

• Whether or not the manager has accurately determined his own needs for that service
• Whether or not those needs have been correctly communicated to the consultant
• Whether or not the skills of the consultant have accurately been assessed as being able to provide the needed skills for that organization
• How and whether the manager has considered the consequences of the consultant’s recommendations and their implementation

Schein warns that there is often much dissatisfaction with the results of a consultant’s performance or input.  One of the overriding factors in this phenomenon is that according to this model, the manager surrenders power to the consultant, and that is often a very uncomfortable position for a person in authority in which to find him.

When an organization determines what sort of consultation is most appropriate for that setting, it needs to consider what factors are involved in the delivery of process consultation vs. expert consultation, and how or whether each one meets the needs of that organization.  For example, a staff that is comfortable with each other in as in the habit of speaking openly in each other’s presence about their difficulties, anxieties, and needs for help in their positions, process consultation might be perfectly suitable for this group.  If, however, and organization’s need is for more didactic, technical and/or concrete input from a person from the outside who has a set of skills that are different from those of the staff, than hiring an expert as a consultant would be extremely beneficial to the job performances and the firm’s overall well-being.

References

Altman, Wilf. “What’s the point of management consultants?” 9 July 2008. The Institute of Engineering &Technology.  Retrieved 20 July 2010 from: http://kn.theiet.org/magazine/issues/0812/consultants.cfm

Russel Williams, Rulzion Rattray. “Consultobabble’s facilitatory role in process consultation.” Managerial Auditing Journal (2004): 180-190.

Schein, Edgar. Process consultation: its role in organization development. Reading, MA: Addison -Wesley Publishing Company, 1969.

“Three levels of culture.” 29 March 2010. Value based management.net.  Retrieved 20 July 2010 from: http://www.valuebasedmanagement.net/methods_schein_three_levels_culture.html