CONSULTANCY THEORY AND PRACTICE

Consultancy Theory and Practice

Consultancy Theory and Practice

Part One

Section 1: Consultancy and Processes of Change

An Underlying Model of Planned Change

This a form of organising change in human schemes founded on the classic viewpoint of organizational development evolved by the NTL Institute for Applied Behavioral Science. The classic viewpoint retains that the jobs of an organization-from designing to output to sales-are carried out with the largest grade of productivity when those jobs are sustained by high value of connections amidst those to blame for them. With that in brain, the Meta-Model of Planned Change is offered. It is a form that accepts as factual in the empowerability of human schemes and the persons that reside and work inside them. Accordingly, (Charles, 1988, 12) it calls for collaborative schemes and methods directed at open connection and consensual decision-making.

A form is a descriptive scheme of data, ideas, inferences, and significances utilised to comprise and support the comprehending of some phenomenon. Meta-, in the sense utilised here, is a context or framework. A meta-model could then be appreciated as a structure or context for a model-albeit, a form of a model. Therefore, a meta-model of designed change is a structure from which any number of more exact forms of how to organise change in human schemes can be appreciated and developed. (Charles, 1988, 12)

 

Section 2: The Nature of Consultancy

 

Consultancy as a Activity

A "consultant" typically has multiple customers at a time, and it's more about a long-term relationship than it is about a specific project. There will certainly be projects in the course of a consulting relationship, sometimes big ones, but the general idea here is that you're an always-available resource they can call on for big matters or small. In a few cases, I am the IT department for several customers, and they use me so they don't have to hire a dedicated person for it. Unlike the contractor, this involves a lot of juggling when the fluctuating demands of multiple customers come into play. It's harder to get a deeper focus because of all the context swapping going on, but long term relationships are worth it in the long run. A consultant is an experienced individual that is trained to analyze and advise a client in order to help the client make the best possible choices. A strategic consultant may evaluate a business plan and help the client develop a plan to meet those strategic goals. For example, a client concerned with government regulations and risk mitigation may engage an ediscovery or regulatory compliance consultant. As another example, value added resellers (VARs) may employ sales consultants to examine the client's immediate business or technology needs and recommend products, services, or other solutions that can address those needs.

Section 3: The Dynamics of Consultancy

 

Consultancy Styles

Information technology is a broad subject concerned with technology and other aspects of managing and processing information, especially in large organizations. In particular, IT deals with the use of electronic computers and computer software to convert, store, protect ...