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Informationen zum Autor THE AUTHOR Edward Verlander is chairman of Verlander, Wang & Co., LLC, an international management consulting firm that delivers services in strategy, organization change, leadership development, and executive coaching. Clients are world-wide and embrace the Fortune 500, numerous European technology companies and, most recently, the public and private education sectors in China. He also teaches MBA-level business consulting at Long Island University and has taught management at Columbia and Hofstra Universities, as well as in the business schools at Jilin University and Nanjing University in China. Klappentext Despite the size of the consulting industry and its attractiveness to business school graduates, there is a dearth of agreement about what constitutes "professionalism" in consulting. The Practice of Professional Consulting provides the most comprehensive introduction to the field of consulting, including a complete system of guidelines, and all the tools, templates, techniques, case studies, competencies, and assessments to become a professional consultant. Broad enough to be useful to anyone starting any kind of consulting business, yet specific in explaining typical client situations, this guide offers new and aspiring consultants with a perspective of the rules, roles, values, methods, and techniques used across firms in the consulting industry. Zusammenfassung Despite the size of the consulting industry and its attractiveness to business school graduates, there is a dearth of agreement about what constitutes "professionalism" in consulting. Inhaltsverzeichnis About This Book xii Preface xv Acknowledgments xviii Part One: Setting the Stage 1 1 The Nature of Consulting 3 It's an Industry 4 Types of Consulting 8 Scope of Consulting 10 Trusted Consultant and Advisor 12 Consultant Qualifications 14 What Is Professional Consulting? 16 2 Why Companies Hire Consultants 19 Why Consultants Are Needed 19 Fast, Bigger, Better, Cheaper Outcomes 21 Forces That Drive Business Consulting 25 Expectations of Consultant Services 30 Changes in Client's Business and Organization Needs 31 Future Challenges 34 3 A Model for Professional Consulting 38 What Do We Mean by "Process"? 38 A Framework for Consulting 39 The Four Stages of Consulting 44 The Four Roles of Consulting 46 Consulting Competencies 48 Part Two: Applying the Model 53 4 Stage One: The Developing and Designing Process 55 Stage One Competencies: Winning the Business 56 Understanding the Client's Business and Industry 59 Making a Good First Impression 61 First Meeting Dynamics 63 5 Stage One, Continued: Assessing Client Needs and Managing Expectations 70 The Purpose of Conducting a Needs Assessment 70 Types of Questions: The Fundamentals 72 Conducting a Needs Assessment: A Question Strategy 74 Needs Assessment: Listening Actively 79 The Proposal Development Process 82 Managing Expectations 91 6 Stage Two: The Mobilizing and Aligning Process 96 Stage Two Competencies: Mobilizing and Aligning 96 Work and Project Plan Reviews 97 Risk Assessment Factors 106 Project Launch Meetings 108 7 Stage Two, Continued: Turning a Consulting Group into a Team 116 Defining a Team 116 Stages of Team Development 119 Diagnosing Project Team Performance 121 How Team Building Is Conducted 122 Special Problems in Building Project Teams 123 Characteristics of High-Performing Teams 126 The Project Leader Style Needed for Team Building 127 8 Stage Three: The Building and Producing Process 130 Stage...
