Consulting models and professional consultant characteristics in business

¶ … Change

A consulting service is defined as the services delivered to the business, public organizations and other entities by a qualified and independent professional. Schein model of problem solving is one of the major theories of consulting consisting of two cycles of activities: The first cycle consists of a problem formulation, proposal for a solution, testing the solutions before the implementation plan. (Ajmal, Nordtsrom, & Helo, 2009). The second cycle of activity involves the action planning, taking action steps, and evaluating the outcomes. However, the flawless consulting model comprises of five phases that include evaluation, implementation, feedback, discovery and contracting. On another hand, a model of systemic process consulting involves four phases that include gathering the information, building the hypothesis, planning, and interventions. However, the advanced in the information technology and competitiveness in business environment have made the aforementioned consulting models to be gradually obsolete. As being revealed in Fig 1, the intervention theory attempts to address these shortcomings by developing fives phases in the consulting process that include

• Sensing problems

• Problem definitions

• Deriving solutions

• Implementing solutions, and • Evaluating outcomes.

Fig 1: Intervention Theory

The first process starts from the management when they sense a problem within an organization. The problems may include a decline in the product sales, high rate of labor turnover, high costs of operations, or a decline in profitability. The next process is to call up a consultant to solve the problem. (Kilmann, & and Mitroff, 1979). The consultant will define and diagnosis the problems, and find the root causes of the problems. The identification of the root cause will assist the consultant to develop the solutions to the problems. Afterward, the recommended solutions will be implemented by the organization, and the last process is to evaluate the outcomes.

In the United States, many consultants have been successful in the professional careers. Top consultants are the people who have completed an advanced degree in management. Typically, many business schools in the United States have successfully trained people to become successful consultants. Moreover, a successful consultant should have a professional experience in consulting. For example, some successful consultants start their professional careers working with consulting firms before starting their consulting businesses. More importantly, a successful consultant should have good time management with an ability to meet a deadline for a project. A successful consultant should also possess problem solve skills with the ability to analyze the problems and develop solutions to the problems. Additionally, a consultant should possess communication skills and have expert knowledge in solving problems.

In the last few decades, there has been a dramatic change in the business cycles where business organizations prefer consultants to solve problems rather than relying on the in-house employees. A decision to cut costs has been the major factors making business organizations to prefer consultants. Moreover, many MBA graduates also prefer setting up a consulting business rather than working with an organization. A consultant from top MBA schools in the United States may charge as much as $1,500 per day as consulting fees. Based on the benefits that business organizations derive from consultants, many organizations prefer using consultants to solve their organizational problems.

A consultant can use different models to analyze the organizational assessment before recommending the solutions. A SWOT (Strength, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis is one the tools to analyze an organization. Porter Five Forces are also used to analyze an organization. The Mckinsey 7S Framework is also an effective model to implement the organizational analysis. Key functional areas in an organization consist of various departments to implement the business process. Human resources department is one key functional area within an organization that manages overall human resources. The marketing department is another important functional area within an organization. The R& D. department is also important functional areas. The metric to measure the key functional areas include annual sales, profitability, balanced scorecard, customer value analysis, and action-profit linkage.

Assignment 1: Research Topics

Three dissertations related to the research topics are as follows:

"A case study of teacher leadership as a strategy for implementing change Sawyer," (Joseph, 2005 p 1).

"A strategy for implementing change and growth through entrepreneurial leadership at Mcminnville First Presbyterian Church" (Randall, 2000 p 1).

"Healthcare Reform: Innovative and Other Proven Strategies for Successfully Managing and Implementing Organizational Change Pinkney," (Lisa, P. 2013 p 1).

The studies identify problems that organizations are facing in the present business environments and the strategies to address the problems. Joseph (2005) emphasizes that teacher leadership is an effective strategy to implement changes within a school organization.

Joseph (2005) believes that "teachers already held positive perceptions of teacher leadership and that these were maintained or strengthened as a result of their experiences." (p 1).

However, Randall (2000) believes that a strategy to implement changes in a business organization is through entrepreneurial leadership. Lisa (2003) also reveals that health reform can be achieved through organizational changes. Lisa (2003) argues that "healthcare spending in the United States grew ten times the base rate in 1980 from $256 billion to $2.6 trillion in 2010" (p 1). To implement changes, healthcare organizations must embrace innovative as well as other proven strategies in order to remain competitive.

The solution to any problem is to implement the Kotter's 8-step change model provided as follows:

Step 1: Creating Urgency

Step 2: Forming a Powerful Coalition

Step 3: Creating a Vision for Change

Step 4: Communicating the Vision

Step 5: Removing Obstacles

Step 6: Creating Short-Term Wins

Step 7: Building on the Change

Step 8: Anchoring the Changes in the Corporate Culture.

The rationale for choosing the Kotter's change model is that it can assist management to implement the top-down management change process. Moreover, the model provides the robust approach to assist leaders involving key stakeholders within the organization in enhancing successful implementation of the change process.

Assignment 2: Strategies for Engagement

3. Other Strategies for Implementing Organizational Change

The Lewin's model, ADKAR model and Kotter's 8- Step model are the other strategies to implement an effective organizational change. The ADKAR model assists in implementing changes for an entire organization. The ADKAR model stands for:

• Awareness,

• Desire,

• Knowledge,

• Ability and • Reinforcement.

All these words represent a change process to achieve desired outcomes. However, Lewin model involves three steps that include:

• Unfreezing,

• Changing, and • Refreezing.

4.Analyzing Challenges a Consultant might face during a Project Implementation Phase

A challenge a consultant might face during the implementation of the change process is to make all the stakeholders within the organization accepting the proposed changes. For example, some workers might resist changes because some workers might believe that the changes might make them redundant. Thus, a consultant is required convincing all the stakeholders to support the proposed changes. However, making everybody within an organization to support the changes may be time-consuming.

Moreover, the projected costs of project implementation might not be enough during the project implementation. For example, inflation might increase the cost of a project's materials, which might delay the project. Moreover, the time allotted for the project implementation might not be enough leading to the extension of the project's due date and project costs.

Reference

Ajmal, M., Nordtsrom, F., & Helo, P. (2009). Assessing the effectiveness of business consulting in operations development projects. International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, 58(6), 523-541. doi: 10.1108/17410400910977073

Joseph, M, S. (2005). A case study of teacher leadership as a strategy for implementing change Sawyer, Boston College, Proquest Dissertations Publishing.

Kilmann, R.H. & and Mitroff, I.I. (1979).The Problem Defining and the Consulting/Intervention Process. California Management Review, 21 ( 3).

Lisa, P. M (2013). Healthcare Reform: Innovative and Other Proven Strategies for Successfully Managing and Implementing Organizational Change Pinkney, University of Maryland University College, Proquest Dissertations Publishing.

Block (2011). Flawless Consulting: A Guide to Getting Your Expertise Used (3rd Edition). Chicago. Pfeiffer.

Randall, S. D (2000). A strategy for implementing change and growth through entrepreneurial leadership at Mcminnville First Presbyterian Church, Doctor of Ministry Program, Proquest Dissertations Publishing.