Management consulting. Consulting - what is it? Types of consulting

Rapidly developing technologies do not bypass a single sphere of human activity. Innovations touched on technological processes, sales markets and, of course, the wishes and preferences of customers. That is why most organizations and companies, wishing to remain, so to speak, "in a trend", are forced to constantly improve tactics and strategy.

What is consulting?

Very often, in the face of such rapid development, many companies and organizations are acutely aware of the shortage of domestic resources. That is why they are forced to seek help from highly qualified specialists who provide a kind of services - consulting. What it is?

In the broad sense of the word, consulting is consulting. In its essence, this is a special type of intellectual services, aimed at finding the best solution in this situation. This procedure is carried out by experts, a team of specialists or even entire companies and organizations that specialize in this field.

This type of intellectual activity implies not only receiving a highly qualified consultation. Experts can offer a client organization and implement specific organizational and technical functions.

Definition of consulting

The range of problems that are solved through consulting is quite wide. In addition, the specialization of companies can be very diverse: from a narrow-profile, one-way activity (for example, audit and consulting), to the broadest, capable of covering a full range of services in this area. Proceeding from this it follows that every specialist or organization working in this field puts a special meaning in the definition of consulting, which is characterized directly by the direction of activity.

So, in the broadest sense, consulting is a specific form of intellectual activity, the most important task of which is to analyze, identify promising areas of development and use scientific and technical, as well as organizational and economic innovations, taking into account the subject area and client problems.

Consulting is able to resolve many issues related to the economic, managerial, investment activities of the company, the planning strategy, the optimization of the very operation of the organization itself, the process of doing business, the study of sales markets and its forecasting, etc. Simply put, consulting is a sort of ambulance Assistance that is provided by external experts in a given field.

The main goal of this activity is to improve the quality of management of the entire organization, increase the efficiency of the company as a whole, and increase the productivity of each employee and the whole firm.

Consulting. What it is?

Who needs the help of a consulting company? As a rule, first of all, these are enterprises or organizations that at some point were in a critical situation. However, as practice shows, this range of consultancy services is not limited. So, in what cases and who can apply to the experts?

• The first case. When an enterprise, regardless of its condition, plans to rearrange the entire system, which may be associated with expansion of activities, change in ownership, a radical change in the range of activities, or a reorientation to other areas of business.
• The second case. When an organization that has the status of reliable, in order to successfully position itself in the market and create the necessary image for its partners, turns to the services of experts in the field of consulting, audits its activities and brings its results to the attention of potential partners and customers.
• The third case. When an organization or firm is in a critical condition (or on the verge of bankruptcy) and can not independently find a way out of the existing situation (lack of experience and internal forces to get out of the situation). In this case, it is advisable to seek help from a consulting company.

Forms or types of consulting

• Analytical activity is the analysis, thorough study and assessment of the organization's in-house activities, its financial status, investment projects, analysis of competitors' activities, markets, etc.
• Forecasting - based on the results of the analysis of data, the expert, applying methods of management consulting, is the so-called forecast in the areas indicated above.
• Consultations on a variety of issues relating directly to the activities of the organization, markets, competitors, etc.
• Audit of the activities of the company-customer.
• Direct participation in the activities of the client enterprise - planning, solving problems at the private and general levels, developing and implementing innovative systems, integration, etc.

Basic directions of consulting

Different consulting companies differently define the main types of their activities, relying on their own experience and specification of the services provided. That is why in order to identify the main areas, it is worth considering the experience of the Big Six companies, and based on the information obtained, create a general classification.

The list of services provided by the company is very specific and heterogeneous. In addition, this list is not structured and poorly systematized. This is due primarily to the fact that the company's activities are designed for the end user, not the analyst who studies the consulting services. Having excluded from the general list of services the specific directions and branches of the economy (health care, utilities and energy, as well as communications and medicine), one can get a kind of general trend, and on its basis to outline the following classification of consulting services:

1. Consulting in the field of legal services and taxation.
2. Audit, auditing and accounting.
3. Management consulting.

Consulting in the field of management

Why is this type of service worth considering separately? In order to answer this question, it is necessary to return to the classification obtained. If it excludes audit activity and accounting, as well as legal services and taxation, then the spectrum of all other services is reduced to solving problems that somehow related to management activities (planning, management of personnel and business, the reorganization of business processes, and so on Etc.).

What is management? First of all, this is a certain impact on the enterprise or personnel as a system in general, which serves specific goals and tasks to optimize and change the entire system. Management objectives:

• Achieving the greatest effectiveness of the current system.
• Create a new system based on existing ones.
• Elimination of the old system.

Based on the above, a logical question arises: what is management consulting? In a broad sense, this is a solution to the overall set of problems that are associated with ensuring the management of complex mechanisms by systems in a variety of spheres of activity.

Consulting in the field of company management

The need for this type of consulting arises in the event of projected changes in the activities of an enterprise, the deterioration of the results of this activity, or the uncertainty of the prospects for future operation. In this situation, management consulting company is interdisciplinary and multifunctional. In this case, the expert's work affects absolutely all aspects of the enterprise's activities, including financial, economic, technological, legal, psychological and social, as well as other areas of the entire organization.

Based on the analysis of the enterprise or firm, the consultant can recommend the best ways of division of labor between staff and functional departments, and, at the same time, form the further main tasks of work between structural divisions.

In addition, the services of an expert in the field of consulting can be used to organize decision-making and control systems, information management, and to create a specific system designed for instant response in crisis situations. The consultant's services may also be directed to the development of investment projects, the purchase of a new company or the merger of several, the coordination of certain financial systems, and the determination of the actual cost of the firm to be purchased.

Consulting in the field of information technologies

At present, the improvement of information technology is proceeding at a rapid pace and is firmly entering practically every field of activity. That is why consulting in this area, as well as the development and implementation of appropriate systems, are of paramount importance for a company or organization. Consulting, the evaluation of which directly depends on the qualification of a specialist, in the field of information technology is to conduct research in the field of new and developing innovations, trends in their development, as well as carry out complex studies in the field of computers and general software.

In addition, consulting companies in this area provide up-to-date information on the products and competitiveness of different manufacturing companies, and also conduct all sorts of activities aimed at finding the right strategy in the field of information technology.

By agreement of the client organization, the consulting company takes an active part in designing and creating an information corporate system, and also integrates software products and provides the launch, maintenance and maintenance of the entire system. In this case, the consulting company operates as a system integrator.

Consulting and its components

An important aspect in the activity of an organization is the solution of problems related to the development and implementation of marketing policy, as well as the creation and maintenance of the image of the entire enterprise as a whole. Constantly escalating competitive struggle no longer allows you to pay attention to the needs and requirements of potential customers - it becomes increasingly important to calculate the prospects for a particular product or type of activity. Simply put, now the system "create a need and satisfy it". In this case, it is worth paying attention directly to the services of management consulting.

Thus, management consulting can be represented by the following components:

• Organizational management.
• Reorganization of the business or its restructuring: from strategic planning and minor changes to the complete reorganization of the company.
• Business management.
• Crisis-consulting - consulting in the field of restoring the activities of a firm or enterprise, as well as solving problems associated with the insolvency of an organization.
• Consulting services related to the merger of several companies or the acquisition of their own new organization.
• Consulting and planning in the field of economic, financial and economic activities of enterprises, analysis of investment projects, as well as assistance in preparing financial forecasts.
• Consulting in the field of human resources management (including specialized training of employees and staff development), as well as the formation (or improvement) of corporate culture and directly the style of personnel management.
• Consulting in the field of information technology and related services, as well as the development of the corporate information system and its integration.
• Legal consulting.
• Consulting in the field of marketing, advertising campaigns and the formation of the company's image.
• In some enterprises or organizations it is appropriate to apply anti-crisis consulting.

At the same time, it should be borne in mind that this division into components is conditional, since they are all interconnected and are oriented towards solving one problem, called "management consulting of the company".

Outsourcing

This is one of the most promising areas of consulting - outsourcing. This is an absolutely innovative approach to increasing the efficiency of an enterprise or firm that does not require significant costs and is based on full or partial transfer of routine duties (accounting calculations and reports, personnel management, tax calculation, etc.) to a consulting company in order to focus Solving the main key tasks.

The client organization orders services from experts, thereby completely replacing them with the structural unit. The presented type of outsourcing is classical, it does not require in-depth training in consulting. However, the company Prise Waterhouse offered a completely different version of outsourcing, which boils down to the following: the methodology used in this one involves not only the transfer of some functions, but also the selection of highly skilled employees (specialists in a particular field) who subsequently become employees of the company Prise Waterhouse.

To fulfill its immediate tasks (the so-called routine functions), the created unit is located on the customer's premises and is engaged in its activities there.

Since the main method of management consulting is directly the process of change, it should be implemented using a certain method that would allow the necessary changes to be made to achieve maximum efficiency. Of all the variety of methods available to date, the best is the reengineering of business processes.

From all of the above, it follows that properly and competently conducted consulting can several times increase the efficiency of the company or firm, as well as improve the corporate culture, establish the process of managing the enterprise and optimize the entire activity of the company-customer. In addition, the services of a consulting company are able to withdraw a firm from a crisis situation, not allowing it to go bankrupt.