Business Consulting: A Guide to How It Works and How to Make It Work (Economist Series) [Hardcover]

Gilbert Toppin (Author), Fiona Czerniawska (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This book offers a comprehensive analysis of the consulting industry, showing how it has developed and how it is likely to evolve in an increasingly competitive landscape." (Supply Management, June 2005)

"An intelligent, comprehensive, diligently researched analysis of the consulting industry. It takes an even-handed approach and is critical of both the way organizations purchase and manage professional services and the way consulting firms supply them." (CPO Agenda, Summer 2004)

Product Description

In the last three decades of the 20th century the management consultancy industry grew at a cracking pace but increased scepticism about the value that consultants genuinely add, combined with the economic slowdown, has made life much tougher for the consulting industry. As firms have cut back on consulting services and begun to review the way they use consultants, consulting firms themselves are looking at how they need to change. People are now talking about business consulting rather than management consulting.

Using real examples from a range of private sector firms, public sector organisations and from the consultants themselves, this book explores the new business consulting world and looks at every element of it with the aim of both helping firms make better use of consultants and showing consultants how they need to adapt and provide their clients a better service.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 264 pages
• Publisher: Bloomberg Press; illustrated edition edition (July 13, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1861977026
• ISBN-13: 978-1861977021
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #966,822 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A good start for a promising book, October 14, 2005

By	W. Van Olffen (Woerden, The Netherlands) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Business Consulting: A Guide to How It Works and How to Make It Work (Economist Series) (Hardcover)

I use this book in my master course on consultancy at our university. It provides an accessible and critical description of what the consulting business presently looks like and what its future may hold. I use this book to complement the more classical academic articles and books students are expected to read on organizational change and consultancy. As such it provdes great added value. One major drawback is, that the authors are so involved in the industry that they sometimes assume too much inside knowledge (terminology, trends) from readers that are relative outsiders. Thus, the book could do with another harsh round of editing by a non-industry expert. The same goes for a number of figures and classifications in the book that seem somewhat immature, are intuitively hard to grasp and deserve much more explanation and elaboration. Again, more editing is needed.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent on describing the post-2000 world of consulting, November 5, 2006

By	Strategy Practitioner "Bill StL" (St. Louis, MO USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Business Consulting: A Guide to How It Works and How to Make It Work (Economist Series) (Hardcover)

I have taught Strategic Consulting to MBAs since 1998. I agree completely with the other review but regret that some people may fail to buy the book because the reviewer only gave it three stars.
Some of the authors' strategic frameworks are less than compelling. They do an excellent job,however, of describing the dramatic changes in the practice of consulting since the tech crash of 2000-01.
The book provides value to clients as well as current and prospective consultants.