| Why should any business, association, non-profit | | | | - Management consultants work from the |
| or other organization, regardless of size, engage | | | | perspective of best practices and use these as a |
| and utilize a management consultant? Most | | | | benchmark for evaluation and recommendations. |
| owners of small business believe no one knows | | | | Regardless of how much companies and |
| more about their business than they do. Most | | | | non-profit organizations know about their industry, |
| non-profit organizations, with the exception of the | | | | their competitors and marketplace, they rarely |
| very largest ones, believe they cannot afford a | | | | have the time, resources or the inclination to |
| consultant - it's just not in the budget. | | | | benchmark against others. Best practices - a term |
| CEOs of mid-sized companies often believe that | | | | that has been greatly overused - is a area where |
| the kinds of activities performed by management | | | | consultants can identify who does various |
| consultants can and should be carried out by their | | | | functions and activities with excellence and |
| own management on top of their day-to-day | | | | compare (or benchmark) that against any client. |
| responsibilities. And CEOs and senior executives of | | | | While best practices change from field to field and |
| large global corporations, while generally more | | | | year to year, the concept continues to reap |
| open to management consultants that their | | | | dividends for those who utilize it either internally |
| counterparts with small and mid-sized companies | | | | or through a consultant. |
| often resist engaging management consultants | | | | - They can provide additional resource in |
| either due to their corporate ego or in view of | | | | specialized areas for a limited period of time to |
| cost controls. | | | | support a project, initiative or change such as an |
| So what should a company engagement a | | | | acquisition or divestiture. |
| management consultant? | | | | Let's face it, even in good times, businesses and |
| - Management consultants bring an independent | | | | non-profit organizations do not have the |
| perspective. | | | | resources - meaning staff - to do all the things |
| They value of having a new and different | | | | they need to do. They need to generate revenue |
| perspective for a business or non-profit | | | | or raise funds. They need to delight their |
| organization is invaluable. Most organizations, | | | | customers or members. They need to deliver on |
| regardless or turnover and bringing in "new talent", | | | | the core activities as defined in their mission |
| are caught up in the day-to-day of how they | | | | statement. As such, there is a need for additional |
| perform any function or activity. | | | | resources for everything from fine-tuning to a |
| - They often have specialized skills in areas such | | | | complete re-engineering of processes. Consultants |
| as strategy, finance, operations, human resources | | | | - who are brought in for a set period of time and |
| or marketing. | | | | for a given amount of money can fill the gap for |
| With the exception of the very largest companies | | | | even the most budget constrained business or |
| and corporations, most companies and non-profit | | | | non-profit organization. |
| organizations have members of their staff wear | | | | While the reasons to engage management |
| multiple hats and perform a variety of functions. | | | | consultants are numerous, more often than not, |
| As such they end up not being experts in any | | | | these four are key to the decision-making of |
| one of those functions or roles. Consultants often | | | | businesses, associations, non-profits and other |
| specialize in a function or type of activity. | | | | organizations of all sizes. |