When I left the U.S. Army after a 10-year career, I was not aware of the "Big 8" Accounting and Consulting firms until I joined one as a Management Consultant in Los Angeles. Coopers and Lybrand (now part of PriceWaterhouseCoopers) was one of the big firms and I was a management consultant in their Litigation Management practice.
I have been a professional performance and change management consultant for 40+ years. I began learning how to do what I do so well as a volunteer instructor for the American Red Cross then built skills while on duty as an officer in the U.S. Army. I continued this practice as a management consultant for my own and for other consulting firms until I went back to earn a doctorate degree to work with even more people and organizations. After earning my doctorate, I worked again for a "Big 6" Consulting Firm--Andersen World Wide and Andersen Consulting (now Accenture). Times had changed and I was able to utilize what I had learned in my doctorate degree while working with Andersen Consulting.
I left Andersen Consulting in 1998 to join another consulting firm as a senior business consultant in change management.
Today there are only four or five major consulting firms like the ones I used to belong to. Times are changing and one of the real challenges is that client needs are changing, too.
Large consulting firms have large staffs and command high fees. Large corporations can afford those fees. Small to mid-sized organizations cannot. Who takes care of their needs?
There are a few consulting firms that target small to mid-sized businesses. Beyond that there are lots of individual consultants offering a variety of services. Unfortunately, the need for service greatly exceeds the availability of consultants.
One person can make a big difference by working at top-levels in a small organization. That is a tremendous "value added benefit" to small to mid-sized companies seeking out the right consultants at the right time.
Saturday, September 5, 2009
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