CMCE Roundtable discussion: Excellence in consulting

The Centre for Management Consulting (CMCE) hosted a roundtable discussion on 10th June to explore the topics which influence Excellence in Consulting. In preparation for it, we also shared a series of survey questions on our LinkedIn page to gather the views and thoughts of our community on this topic.

The roundtable discussion was led by a panel of academics and practitioners comprising:

• Professor Julie Hodges, Professor of Organisational Change at Durham Business School;
• Chris McKee, who has held senior level positions at Direct Line and Ingenie car insurance companies;
• Kevan Jones, a former partner in Oliver Wyman management consultancy;
• Nick Warn, a member of the UK Institute of Consulting and a board director of the International Council for Management Consulting Institute (ICMCI).

The panel responded to a number of questions and participants had the opportunity to provide their opinions and perspectives on them, as well as to ask additional questions to the panellists. The questions covered the topics of:

• Consulting value.
• Role of client staff.
• Consultant performance.
• Consultant accreditation.

The key points discussed at the roundtable are summarised in the Excellence in Consulting Roundtable report. This also includes the responses that we received to 18 survey questions on a range of topics relating to Excellence in Consulting.

One of the key themes highlighted in the report is that what a client considers to be excellent is likely to depend on the role of the consultant. We also identified four reasons for engaging a consultant:

• Expertise: consultant provides knowledge that the client does not have.
• Externality: consultant provides external perspective.
• Extension: consultant provides additional resource.
• Endorsement: consultant reviews and legitimises a client decision.

Over the next few weeks, we will be asking for your input on the capabilities that consultants need for each of these roles. So follow us on LinkedIn to get involved in the discussion and share your views.

Based on the roundtable discussion, we are now planning to undertake further research and analysis into:

• Management Consultant Value, to build on the findings and recommendations of CMCE’s Consultant Value Add: Maximising Value from your Management Consultant report and understand more about the value associated with different types of consulting engagements.

• Management Consultant Accreditation, in order to understand the arrangements for accreditation in other professions and countries, and the benefits that they provide for clients and consultants.