The Consulting Economy


Book Description

When you hear the term "consultant," you most likely conjure up images of suits instructing high-level management on strategy. But the trade of consulting is so much more--and so much bigger--than you might imagine. In fact, the $425 billion industry is on pace to double in the near future, meaning a majority of professionals will one day be consultants instead of employees. Luckily, if you have marketable skills and an entrepreneurial spirit, you can join this booming business now and build the profitable and flexible career you've always wanted. In The Consulting Economy, Jonathan Dison, founder of Lightrock Consulting and BenchWatch.com, explores the realm of consulting, teaching both aspiring and experienced consultants, contractors, and freelancers how to find a niche within their industry, start a business, develop a clientele, maximize income, and create a career that is vibrant, challenging, and rewarding. Whether you're a millennial just starting out, a midcareer worker looking to spend more time with family, or a retiree hoping to find a new vocation, The Consulting Economy will give you the tips and tools you need to successfully transition into the world of consulting, maximize your wealth and profitability, and begin enjoying the freedom and excitement of working for yourself.




The Economics and Sociology of Management Consulting


Book Description

Management consultancy is a key sector in the economic change toward a service and knowledge economy. Originally published in 2006, this book explains the mechanisms of the management consulting market and the management of consulting firms from both economic and sociological perspectives. It also examines the strategies, marketing approaches, knowledge management and human resource management techniques of consulting firms. After outlining the relationships between transaction cost economics, signaling theory, embeddedness theory and sociological neoinstitutionalism, Thomas Armbrüster applies these theories to central questions such as: Why does the consulting sector exist and grow? Which institutions connect supply and demand? And which factors influence the relationship between clients and consultants? By applying both economic and sociological approaches, the book explains the general economic changes of the previous thirty years and sharpens the relationship between the academic disciplines.




Dangerous Company


Book Description




The Everything Start Your Own Consulting Business Book


Book Description

Consultants work in all fields. They operate from offices and from home, work for investment firms and as personal trainers, or have expertise as accountants and wedding planners. The independence, flexibility, and potential income it brings make for an exciting and satisfying career. And it’s an increasingly popular one for highly skilled, motivated professionals who’ve been laid off in this unstable economy. This guide features tips and tricks to help beat the competition, including how to: Set—and keep—personal and financial goals Organize important paperwork Price and market specific services Create advertising and publicity plans Grow a business, from finding a partner to managing employees Minimize and eliminate business risks Consultants are paid well for their advice—if they know how to operate a successful business. With advice from experts in a variety of areas, this valuable guide helps you create the business of your dreams!




Consulting For Dummies


Book Description

A clear, concise resource for entering this lucrative career field Consulting For Dummies, 2nd Edition includes a reorganization and narrower focus of the topic, with new or updated information that delves into the specifics of running your own consulting business. There is greater emphasis on the business of consulting, along with financial and legal issues involved in setting up a consulting business, deepening coverage of consulting proposals, and entirely new chapters on higher-level consulting issues that more-established consultants are demanding.




Getting Started in Consulting


Book Description

The definitive guide to getting out of the office and getting into consulting Getting Started in Consulting, Fourth Edition is the acclaimed real-world blueprint to professional and financial freedom. For nearly two decades, this invaluable resource has helped thousands of people quit the daily grind and become their own boss. This practical and motivational guide provides the tools and knowledge to control your future and secure your fortune. From establishing goals and sorting out the legal and financial paperwork, to advanced marketing strategies and relationship building techniques, this indispensable book offers step-by-step instructions for you to establish and grow your own consultancy business. This extensively revised and updated fourth edition includes new and expanded coverage on topics including utilizing informal media, changes in legal and financial guidelines, key distinctions of wholesale and retail businesses, and much more. Author Alan Weiss delivers expert advice on how to combine minimal overhead with optimal organization to produce maximum income. Every step in the process is clearly explained, including financing, marketing, bookkeeping, establishing your fees, and more. This guide is a comprehensive, one-stop source for everything you need to prosper in the rapidly expanding world of private consultancy. Adopt a pragmatic and profitable strategy to achieve incredible results from your consultancy business Learn to identify and address the most commons issues facing your prospects and clients Leverage technology to reduce labor, maximize profitability, and increase discretionary time Access sample budgets, case studies, references and appendices, downloadable tools and forms, and online resources The modern business landscape presents unique opportunities for those willing to take the leap from corporate offices to home offices. Getting Started in Consulting, Fourth Edition is the must-have guide for anyone seeking to cut their own path to their own consulting business.




The Big Con


Book Description

A vital and timely investigation into the opaque and powerful consulting industry—and what to do about it There is an entrenched relationship between the consulting industry and the way business and government are managed today that must change. Mariana Mazzucato and Rosie Collington show that our economies’ reliance on companies such as McKinsey & Company, Boston Consulting Group, Bain & Company, PwC, Deloitte, KPMG, and EY stunts innovation, obfuscates corporate and political accountability, and impedes our collective mission of halting climate breakdown. The “Big Con” describes the confidence trick the consulting industry performs in contracts with hollowed-out and risk-averse governments and shareholder value-maximizing firms. It grew from the 1980s and 1990s in the wake of reforms by the neoliberal right and Third Way progressives, and it thrives on the ills of modern capitalism, from financialization and privatization to the climate crisis. It is possible because of the unique power that big consultancies wield through extensive contracts and networks—as advisors, legitimators, and outsourcers—and the illusion that they are objective sources of expertise and capacity. In the end, the Big Con weakens our businesses, infantilizes our governments, and warps our economies. In The Big Con, Mazzucato and Collington throw back the curtain on the consulting industry. They dive deep into important case studies of consultants taking the reins with disastrous results, such as the debacle of the roll out of HealthCare.gov and the tragic failures of governments to respond adequately to the COVID-19 pandemic. The result is an important and exhilarating intellectual journey into the modern economy’s beating heart. With peerless scholarship, and a wealth of original research, Mazzucato and Collington argue brilliantly for building a new system in which public and private sectors work innovatively for the common good.




Beyond Great


Book Description

Great is no longer good enough. Beyond Great delivers a powerful new playbook of 9 core strategies to thrive in a post-COVID world where all the rules of the game are being re-written. Beyond Great answers to two fundamental questions which face business leaders today in a world shaped by daunting and disruptive technological, economic, and social change. First, what is outstanding performance in this new volatile era? Second, how do we build competitive advantage in a world with new and often uncertain rules? Supported by years of research and hands-on consulting practice, this book presents a comprehensive framework for building a high performing, resilient, adaptive, and socially responsible global company. The book begins by taking an incisive look at these disruptive forces transforming globalization, including economic nationalism; the boom in data flows and digital commerce; the rise of China; heightened public concerns about capitalism and the environment; and the emergence of borderless communities of digitally connected consumers. Distilled from the study of hundreds of companies and interviews with dozens of business leaders, the authors have distilled nine core strategies – the new winning playbook of the 21st century. Beyond Great argues that business leaders today must lead with a new kind of openness, flexibility and light-footedness, constantly layering in new strategies and operational norms atop existing ones to allow for "always-on" transformation. Leaders must master a whole new set of rules about what it takes to be "global," becoming shapeshifters adept at handling contradiction, multiplicity, and nuance. This book will show them how.




The Trusted Firm


Book Description

The consulting industry has been on a roller-coaster ride since the heady days of the 1990s. After a recession triggered by the dotcom crash, it's now growing rapidly again--but in a market that has changed beyond all recognition. Fees are down, buying is centralized and many clients are ex-consultants who know all the tricks of the trade. It's a hostile environment in which great personal qualities are no longer enough--consultants need trusted firms behind them, helping them deliver results. This unique journey through the new consulting terrain looks at how leading consulting firms worldwide create a platform for success: what values they need; who they recruit and what recruitment processes work best; how they keep their finger on the pulse of the market; how they match the right people to particular jobs. "This book is essential for both client and consultant to understand the pitfalls to avoid and the conditions neccessary for successin todays' complex, multi faceted project environment." -- Peter Hill, Chief Executive, Management Consultancies Association "The Trusted Firm presents a compelling blueprint for the consulting firm of the future. From concepts to tactics, this book shows firm leaders why and how to rethink their businesses to earn client trustthe ultimate market differentiator." --Michael W. McLaughlin, Editor, Management Consulting News and author of Guerrilla Marketing for Consultants "Fiona, astute observer, commentator of the management field, provides insight and clarity to the chaos of rapid changes in our clients' evolving demands and how our firms can most effectively respond to them. A must-read for understanding data on contemporary client demands; a valuable contribution to our field. Czerniawska explicates the dynamics of the three-pronged relationship between the client, the consultant and the firm. She explains why each aspect of this tri-partite relationship is equally significant in the successful engagement." --Elizabeth Ann Kovacs, President & CEO, Association of Management Consulting Firms




Management Consultancy in the 21st Century


Book Description

Management consultancy is one of the fastest growing markets in the world today, with the worldwide fees estimated to total more than $60bn. This pace of growth looks set to continue, but the future holds significant challenges. This book assesses the key opportunities and risks facing the consulting industry over the next twenty years, such as: - the changing client-consultant relationship, with clients demanding more tangible benefits in a shorter time - access to new international capital will determine the survival of consulting firms - more complex relationships between consulting firms, with new alliances between traditional rivals in order to address new markets - a more blurred boundary between the roles of clients and consultants The author is a management consultant of long-standing experience and she quotes from interviews with leading partners from some of the world's most influential firms, including Andersen Consulting, PricewaterhouseCoopers, KPMG, Deloitte & Touche and the Boston Consulting Group. This will be essential reading for anyone already working as a consultant or considering doing so, and for people who buy or work with consultants.