Management Consulting

Business ranks are filled with managers, some of them very well trained. So why is there such a big market for management consultants? Perhaps all of the practicing managers are so swamped with the small details of company operations that no one has the time, energy, or brain cells left to look at the big picture and see that situation it is in, or to look at the competition and see what the future looks like. How many people on a company’s staff are assigned to study the competition, and nothing else? How many people are free of daily responsibilities to look at strategy?

Perhaps, management consulting is not a business that addresses weakness in a company. Perhaps they are part of the intentional structure of the company. If you do not need this person full time it might be much more economical, as well as effective, to use an outsider. You only have to pay them for the time used, then you can cut them loose. If you do not like someone, you can send them back to the consulting company, no questions asked, no lawsuits.

But, the consultants themselves cannot bill their services as “we do what you could do yourself if you would just someone on staff.” They have to present themselves as filled with special talents and knowledge. They build an image and mystique that implies that they are beyond mere managers.

As consultants they also get to develop experience dealing with problems from the outside, prescribing solutions, and dealing with company leaders. They do not have to do this part-time while diluting their experience with daily management tasks. So they should be better at consulting on a problem and moving on.

Interesting … so it is a business born out of the need to cut internal spending and to escape legal restrictions.