Advanced Management Skills

Archive for the ‘The Consulting Profession’ Category

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In recent years management consulting has rapidly grown into a major business. With the advent of the Certified Management Consultant (CMC) qualification it is now evolving into a profession.

Here are a series of insights about some of the issues affecting the profession. I hope you find them interesting and useful.

VM/VE is one of the best management consulting methodologies ever developed. Originally formulated in the late 1940s by Lawrence Miles at General Electric and refined by many practitioners over the years, VM/VE is a powerful problem solving system designed to maximize the value of products, services, projects and business processes.

VM/VE is an evidence based methodology featuring team working, sense making, optioneering, stakeholder management and benefits realization. Skilled value practitioners are able to apply the framework to solve most organizational problems.

Our courses are registered VM/VE modules:

• The Professional Consultant is a registered Foundation Course in VM/VE
• The Lean Operations Consultant is a registered Advanced 1 Course in VM/VE
• The Strategy Consultant is a registered Advanced 2 Course in VM/VE
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The European Standard BS EN 12973:2000 Value Management was developed to keep EU economies competitive in global markets and the European Training and Certification scheme was developed within which our courses are fully approved. Certified value practitioners (PVMs) are registered to practice throughout Europe.

Unlike many consulting methodologies, VM/VE is designed to be future-proof and it constantly evolves to incorporate new thinking and innovation. You can find practitioners working in most areas of commerce, public sector and even in leading not-for-profit organisations. Contact us for more information.

Profiting from Evidence-based Management by Jeffrey Pfeffer & Robert Sutton

This book is a timely reminder that management should be based on sound scientific principles yet in the real world it is anything but. Evidence Based Management (the authors’ updating of ‘scientific management’) is a loud wake-up call to senior executives and their consultants to apply scientific thinking whenever they launch a new business initiative. Read the rest of this entry »

Whenever we choose a doctor, dentist or solicitor we insist on a fully qualified professional. Indeed, the thought of engaging a non-qualified person doesn’t even enter our heads. Why then do clients rarely question the qualifications of their consultants or their ethics?

To find out more read my article published in the Spring 2009 edition of London Business School’s ‘Business Strategy Review’. Download your copy now.

Professional qualifications and memberships are a proven way to increase earnings. A survey by London Economics, a well respected consultancy, found that on average professional qualifications and memberships added £152,000 to lifetime earnings. Read the rest of this entry »

Consulting Courses – (ELCAS Provider 2653 )

Are you looking to strengthen your career both inside and outside the armed forces?

Many people are now choosing consultancy as a route to interesting, well paid and high status jobs both within the armed forces and beyond. In fact numerous service leavers have attended our ELCAS approved courses as part of their resettlement programme. This is because consultancy offers you the opportunity to: Read the rest of this entry »