The Changing Paradigm of Consulting

Adjusting to the Fast-Paced World

Edited by:
Anthony F. Buono, Bentley University
Ralph Grossmann, University of Klagenfurt, Austria
Hubert Lobnig, Lemon Consulting, Austria
Kurt Mayer, REFLACT - Sustainable Organization Development

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

Published 2011

The 13th volume in the RMC series, The Changing Paradigm of Consulting, is based on the best papers presented at the Academy of Management’s Management Consulting Division’s fourth international conference (2009) on the underlying dynamics within the fast-paced world of business and management consulting. Held in Vienna, Austria, the conference brought together academicians, consultants and organizational practitioners to examine the changes taking place within the consulting field. The book’s 19 chapters are divided into five sections that explore the emergence and implications of this new paradigm, delineating and illustrating the paradigm shift taking placing within consulting, exploring the ramifications for global consulting, examining the challenges inherent in attempts to capture collaboration and cooperation in inter-organizational networks, analyzing the push toward the professionalization – and professionalism – of consultancy, and assessing new approaches to management consulting, focusing on innovative instruments, tools and intervention frameworks. The book captures the myriad complexities and uncertainties faced by consultants and their clients and the concomitant search for appropriate mindsets, attitudes and orientations as well as methods, tools and techniques. As each of the chapters indicates, while there are significant challenges facing the consulting industry, there are also a number of promising frameworks and approaches that can help us successfully meet these challenges.

CONTENTS
Introduction, Anthony F. Buono. Part I: The Paradigm Shift In Consulting. Delineating the Paradigm Shift, Ralph Grossman. Expert versus Process Consulting: Changing Paradigms in Management Consulting in Germany, Thomas Schumacher. Complementary Consulting: The Only Real Option for Managers, Othmar Sutrich and Martin Hillebrand. Changing the Paradigm of Crisis Management: How to Put OD in the Process, Carole Lalonde. Part II: Consulting In A global Context. Strategy Work in an International Setting, Hubert Lobnig. Organizational Development across Borders and Cultures: A Solution-oriented Systemic Approach, Marlies Lenglachner and Manfred Madl. Speculation on the Process and Practice of Organization Development in Hostile Environments, Thomas Head, Peter Sorensen and Therese Yaeger. Part III: Collaboration, Cooperation And Networks In Consulting. Towards a Multidimensional View on Collaborative Processes: A Case Study of an International Alliance Formation, Raymond P.A. Loohuis and Aard J. Groen. Beyond the Organizational Focus: Network Consulting in Regional Clusters, Frank Lerch, Jörg Sydow and Stephan Duschek. Focusing the Network Business Case: Making Use of Teamwork – Key Issues in Collaborative Systems and Consulting Networks, Hubert Lobnig. Consulting Interorganizational Relations: Collaboration, Organization Development and Effectiveness in the Public Sector, Ralph Grossmann, Karl Prammer and Christian Neugebauer. Part IV: In Search of Professionalism in Management Consulting. Critically Exploring Business Engagement in Academia: The Case of the UK Consulting Industry Joe O’Mahoney and Richard Adams. Challenging Universal Criteria in Management Consulting: When Practices Meet Prescriptions, Carole Lalonde. Developing Expertise and Social Standing in Professional Consulting, Alfred Janes. Acting as a Long-term Consultant: Challenges for Professional Practice, Dagmar Untermarzoner. Part V: New Approaches to Management Consulting: Frameworks, Tools And Instruments. Solution- Preventing Tools versus Solution Supporting Tools, Guenter Lueger and Peter Steinkellner. Maturity Grids as Tools for Change Management: Practitioner Guidance through Field Experience, Anja M. Maier, James Moultrie and P. John Clarkson. Consulting by Expertise in Organization Science: A Special Use of OD Know-How for Transorganizational Collaboration Systems in Public Services, Klaus Scala, Michael Stadlober and Hans Fiby. Management Consultant Interaction with Private Equity: The Impact on Growth Development Patterns in South Eastern Europe, Viktor Manev, Elena Todorova, and Milen Manev. About The Authors.