Preparing Better Consultants

Edited by:
Susan Adams, Bentley University
Alberto Zanzi, Suffolk University

A volume in the series: Research in Management Consulting. Editor(s): David Brian Szabla, Western Michigan University.

Published 2011

This volume focuses on a relatively neglected area of management consulting, the education of consultants. In today’s business world, we find training programs provided by consultancies, certification programs provided by professional organizations, on-the-job training of consultants with formal or informal supervision, self-taught professionals, and some academic programs and courses. Is that enough? No, better consultants are needed to handle the complexity and changing nature of business. Academe is in the best position to provide the critical thinking preparation necessary. Yet, academic institutions have been slow in embracing this challenge. The role of academia needs to grow in magnitude and in certain directions that educate consultants beyond industry training practices. Chapter authors provide examples of innovative programs, topical approaches for courses, and thoughtful reflections on the role academia can play in preparing better consultants. There are lessons for business schools, consultancies, and aspiring and practicing consultants.

CONTENTS
Preface, Anthony F. Buono. Introduction, Susan M. Adams and Alberto Zanzi. PART I: PROGRAM INNOVATIONS. Upgrading Problem-Based Learning by Involving Consulting Professionals, G. M. (Bud) Smith, Jr. and Deborah Good. Bridging the Divide: Enhancing the Real-World Experience in a Management Consulting Course, Tom Cooper and Dennis Hanlon. A Springboard for Further Learning: Teaching Seasoned Practitioners by Harnessing Their Experience, Hans Vermaak. The IFF-M/O/T Master Program in Organization Development, Ralph Grossmann, Klaus Scala, and Kurt Mayer. Preparing and Training Better Consultants Through the Socioeconomic Approach to Management Curricula, Henri Savall, Véronique Zardet, Marc Bonnet, and Michel Péron. Want Higher Impact Consulting? Use Yourself as an Instrument of Change, Miriam Y. Lacey. PART II: TOPICAL APPROACHES. Intervening and Interventions: An Overview, Léon de Caluwé. Consultants and Persuasive Argumentation, Onno Bouwmeester. Academic Storytelling Consultancy Supporting a Local Arts Scene: An Agential Realist and Socioeconomic Approach to Management Perspective, David M. Boje and Joe Gladstone. Virtual Project Consultants: A Time-Driven Decision-Making Model, Velvet Weems-Landingham. PART III: REFLECTIONS ON THE ROLE OF ACADEMIA IN PREPARING BETTER CONSULTANTS. Experiential International Consulting Education: Lessons Learned From Success and Adversity, Thomas C. Head, Alan G. Krabbenhoft, D. Michael Brown, and Ralph Haug. Locals and Cosmopolitans: The Challenges of the Business Consulting Course, Moshe Banai and Philip Tulimieri. Realizing Consultant Domain and Client Agenda, Jean E. Neumann. About the Authors.