Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.