Indian Institute of Management Udaipur

Post Graduate Program in Management

Management Consulting Profession and Practice
Term : V Credits : 4
Faculty : Prof. D Ashok
E mail : dash@gossamer-consultants.com
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Objective

This course is designed to initially provide an overview of the consulting profession, with a subsequent
emphasis on types of management consulting and organization consulting issues. Effort will be placed to
describe the scope of Consulting across a variety of Management functions and on developing proficiencies
in a range of skills required to practice consulting. The course is relevant to those 1) who are specifically
interested in consulting careers and / or 2) whose current or future jobs involve staff consulting or line
management using consultants.
Consultants are most sought after professionals when organisations require to evaluate and decide certain
course of actions. Consulting spans all disciplines of management, from Marketing to Operations to Human
Resources to Information Technology. There is an ever-increasing need for Consultants in the Industry and
the profession can be practiced as part of Consulting companies or even as a freelancer.

Key Coverage
Introduce Consulting Industry and Client Relationships
Understand Consulting Skills and Competencies
Understand planning and executing consulting projects
Understand the typical scope of Consulting under various management disciplines like SCM, HR etc.

Course Method
Case and Presentation Driven
Possible Guest Lectures by Industry Executives

Course Structure (attached)

Suggested Evaluation Method

1. Case Analysis- Group Exercise 30%
2. In-Class Participation 20%
3. Final Exam 50%

Suggested Books

1. Management Consulting Today and Tomorrow Larry Greiner & Fleming Poulfelt
2. Management Consulting Today and Tomorrow Larry Greiner & Fleming Poulfelt Casebook
3. Flawless Consulting: A Guide to getting your expertise used - Peter Block
Session # Proposed course outline for the 4 credit course on Management Consulting

1 The changing consulting industry

2 Consultants: Types, Skills and Values
3 Consulting as a Profession
4 Marketing and Selling of Consulting Services
5 Discussion of Data Gathering Methods
6 Entry, Contracting and Proposal Writing
7 Strategy Consulting
8 Financial Services Consulting
9 IT Consulting
10 Marketing Consulting
11 Operations Management Consulting
12 HR Consulting
13 Analysing and Framing Problems and Solving them
14 Project & Financial Management of Engagements
15 Intervention and Change management
16 Managing Consulting Firms - Performance / Growth Problems
17 Preparing for Client Presentations
18 Students presentation # 1 & # 2
19 Students presentation # 3 & # 4
20 Students presentation # 5 & # 6
Final Quiz