ABC Consulting Services is a Consulting Engineering firm based in Pietermaritzburg. Primary and secondary research was conducted in an attempt to identify the key marketing issues that ABC Consulting Services faces in its internal and external environments. The primary research done on the company (micro factors) and its environment (macro factors) was in the form of qualitative descriptive research with the source of information coming from internal semi structured focus groups and questionnaires sent to selected individuals involved in the consulting engineering industry. The secondary research includes a study of the current state of the South African Consulting Engineering industry. The content analysis of the primary and secondary research resulted in the identification of six key threats in the macro environment and five main opportunities for the company to increase its current work. The key threats identified are the lack of engineering skills, the lack of skills in the client organisations, inexperienced firms in the market, tendering processes and slow payment from clients. With further unpacking of these issues, it was found that many of the issues are as a result of the lack of skills in client organisations. The opportunities identified include agricultural development for historically disadvantaged individuals, the relatively low value of the Rand making the company's services cheaper for internationally funded projects, increased infrastructure budgets as a result of the 2010 Soccer WorId Cup, agricultural development in Africa and an increase in floodline determination work. The internal resource analysis identified that that the company is very strong in terms of the quality of its human resources; however, it is under staffed for the current work load. Financially, the company is in a good position and the current environment should continue to yield very good returns in the short to medium term, however, the firm is inflexible in terms of financial commitments. The firms lack of formal marketing systems and their low client and contact bases in Government departments were identified as weaknesses. The company's facilities and processes are good and represent a strength, however there are some procedures such as quality management systems which need to be implemented. It is recommended that the company institute formal marketing procedures and market themselves to prospective clients by means of networking and doing presentations to selected prospective clients in order to inform them of the service that the company has to offer. The company should also do limited advertising in selected specialist magazines which deal with irrigation and the sugar industry. In order to establish themselves as leaders in sugarcane estate development, they should write and present papers at the annual SASTA conferences. To promote the profession, they should do presentations at high school level to encourage high school students to study engineering and at a University level; the company should offer their services to the local University for lecturing certain modules of suitable courses. This can be used as a platform for promoting the profession to the students to encourage them to stick to engineering as a career. To solve the staff shortage problem, the company should recruit two new engineers, one with approximately 3 years relevant experience and another with approximately 5 years relevant experience. / Thesis (M.B.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2006.

There will always be a need for consulting engineering services in industry. In the engineering consulting fraternity, employees are the key valuable assets and this study addresses how the professional employees’ skills can be managed and structured in such a manner that they contribute efficiently to the daily operation of the consulting engineering firms. The core business of the consulting engineering firms is to sell or offer engineering or technical solutions to their clients and this can be successfully recognised by integrating the firm’s different engineering disciplines into projects teams that are able to implement specific projects allocated to them. Leaders in these teams are expected to have proficiency to identify individuals’ skills and talents that can be incorporated into a specific project team. At a strategic level, firms’ mangers should consider developing skills development plans that takes into consideration a combination of academic training, professional training and practical employee training. As soon as a skills development plan is in place, it is easier for it to be implemented at the operational level under the supervision of team leaders who are responsible for the continuing professional development of individual team members. The aim of this study was to determine the various business and technological strategies applied by consulting engineering firms while tendering and competing for project work in the country. The consulting engineering industry is highly competitive; managers of these firms must be properly equipped with both technical and management skills in order that they may survive in this industry. A probability sample of 44 engineering consultants was drawn from consulting engineers in two areas of South Africa, namely, North West Province and Eastern Cape Province, which have a total of 140 consultants. 22% of the respondents offered electrical engineering services, followed by the civil engineering services that form 16.7% of the respondents. The structural and mechanical engineering followed at 13.9% and 11.1% respectively. Chemical engineering and architecture were both at 5.6%. Some of the findings of this study were that managers of the consulting engineering firms must be equipped with communication competencies as well as emotional intelligence and self-management competencies, because, although consultants are highly technically skilled, they lack business and human skills. Part of the recommendations are that there is a need for the consulting engineering firm to upload a succinct synopsis of their services on their company websites, which will help promote the value of their services to their clients. / Thesis (M.Com.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2012.

Thesis: Contractual relations of consulting firm and client Author: Karolína Brosková The purpose of my thesis is to analyse the contractual relations between consulting firm and its client. The reason for my research is an increasing amount of consulting firms arising in Czech business enviroment as well as non-existence of precise and explicit regulation of these relations in Czech legal system. The thesis is composed of two main chapters, each of them dealing with different aspects of management consulting. Chapter One is subdivided into three parts. Part One is introductory and defines basic terminology of management consulting, its history and typology. Part Two deals with subjects of contractual relations between consulting firm and client. Finally part Three explains when these relations will be regulated by Czech commercial contract law. Chapter Two examines relevant Czech legislation in combination with practical examples from valid agreements. The chapter consists of two parts. Part One focuses on particularities of Czech contract law. Part Two investigates what should be included in consulting agreement. Conclusions are drawn partially in Chapter Two, part One and partially in the epilogue. The main aim of the thesis is to find out what is the economic cause of these relations, and what...

My original contribution to theory and practice formulates management consultancy as a social act evolving within interaction with clients whereby identity, as an emerging process, can form and be formed within consultant-client relationships. Drawing on Stacey's work on complex responsive process thinking, I have described a reflexive, social self, highlighting the implications for management consultants of this open-ended responsiveness of identity formation. Within the prevailing management literature there is a sense that consultants design interventions that change organisations, whether through working on leadership development, executive coaching, providing expertise or facilitating organisational change. As part of my original contribution I pick up on the emotional, relational and occasionally messy nature of consulting, which is frequently overlooked in the literature. My research into the emergence of intentions and the formation of identity within consultant-client relationships analyses my work as a researcher-practitioner working within large financial service organisations through a variety of consulting projects. The inquiry examines my professional practice, researched through a social, iterative and temporal method centring on reflexive, narrative inquiries. I illuminate the fundamental conversational nature of consultant-client relationships; challenging the view of consulting as a transaction whereby the consultant provides a service, withdrawing relatively unchanged. I postulate consulting as a series of conversations with interdependent people wherein emerging themes organise new ways of relating and novelty evolves. Drawing on Elias' process sociology I extrapolate the fundamental interdependence of consultant-client relationships; conceptualising management consulting from a complex responsive processes way of relating. I challenge the notion of intention as located in the individual; an independent, disembodied, thought before action predicated on an 'if-then' notion of causality, underpinned by an assumption of human beings as autonomous and rational. I develop the work of Joas arguing that intentions are emerging, social and embodied; a theme organising conversations. In particular I detail how strong emotions and embodiment occur in those arresting moments, where experiences of inclusion and exclusion, can alert the consultant to new ways of relating. My inquiry has highlighted the significance for management consultants of realising the fundamentally social nature of human interaction and the importance of responsiveness in the living present. With reference to Mead's view of conversation as a pattern of gesture/ response I highlight the consultant-client relationship as co-created and therefore not to be ordered by the consultant who can, nevertheless, pick up on and influence new patterns of relating as they evolve.

by Kee Wing Man Denise. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves [52-53]). / ACKNOWLEDGEMENT --- p.2 / ABSTRACT --- p.3 / TABLE OF CONTENTS --- p.4 / Chapter / Chapter 1. --- INTRODUCTION --- p.5 / Chapter 2. --- THE ENGINEERING CONSULTANCY BUSINESS --- p.9 / Chapter 3. --- THE INTERVIEWS --- p.13 / Chapter 4. --- ANALYSIS OF MARKETING STRATEGIES --- p.29 / Chapter 5. --- RELATIONSHIP MARKETING --- p.26 / Chapter 6. --- CONCLUSION --- p.33 / APPENDICES / BIBLIOGRAPHY

Forecast of the period 2005-2008 demand ezpension agricultural consulting of this kind: accountancy record, planning and coordinating project of businnes, innovation and streamline consultations. At work ready samply of the development of the consulting services within agricultural sector.

Tyrimo objektas – socialinių konsultavimo paslaugų kokybė. Tyrimo tikslas – nustatyti Prienų rajono savivaldybės administracijos Socialinės paramos skyriaus konsultavimo paslaugų kokybę ir pateikti šių paslaugų kokybės tobulinimo kryptis ir priemones. Tyrimo uždaviniai: 1. Išanalizuoti socialinių konsultavimo paslaugų kokybės teorinius aspektus. 2. Nustatyti konsultavimo paslaugų kokybės vertinimo kriterijus. 3. Įvertinti Prienų rajono savivaldybės administracijos Socialinės paramos skyriaus konsultavimo paslaugų kokybę. 4. Numatyti Prienų rajono savivaldybės administracijos Socialinės paramos skyriaus konsultavimo paslaugų kokybės gerinimo galimybes. Tyrimo laikotarpis: 2003 m. – 2008 m. Tyrimo metodai: mokslinės literatūros, įstatymų ir dokumentų, periodinių mokslinių straipsnių, elektroninių informacijos šaltinių analizė, anketinė apklausa, interviu, sintezė, loginė analizė, statistinė duomenų analizė, grafinis vaizdavimas. Pirmoje darbo dalyje yra analizuojama socialinių konsultavimo paslaugų bei paslaugų kokybės samprata, apžvelgiami kokybės tyrimo modeliai, pateikiami konsultavimo paslaugų kokybės vertinimo kriterijai. Antra darbo dalis skirta įvertinti Prienų rajono savivaldybės administracijos Socialinės paramos skyriaus konsultavimo paslaugų kokybę. Ji vertinama naudojant Ch. Gronroos bendrai suvoktos kokybės modelį ir įtraukiant A. Parasuraman, L. Berry ir V. Zeithaml pateiktos Servqual metodikos vertinimo kriterijus. Trečioje darbo dalyje suformuluotos Prienų... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Research object – quality of social consultation services. Research aim - to determine the quality of social consulting services in Prienai district municipality administration and to present their improvement trends and means. Research tasks: 1. To analyze theoretical aspects of social consulting services` quality. 2. To determine quality research criteria of social consulting services. 3. To evaluate the quality of social consulting services in Social security division of Prienai district municipality administration. 4. To foresee improvement opportunities of social consulting services` quality in Social security division of Prienai district municipality administration. Time of exploration: 2003 – 2008 year. Research methods: analysis and synthesis of scientific literature, laws and documents, periodical articles, electronic information sources, questionnaire survey, semi-structured interview, logical analysis, analysis of statistical data, graphical modeling. In the first part of the work is analyzed conception of the quality of social consultation services, reviewed the quality‘s investigative models, introduced quality research criteria of social consulting services. The second part of final paper is bestowed to evaluate the quality of social consulting services in Social security division of Prienai district municipality administration. It is evaluated by using Ch. Gronroo’s model of common realized quality, involving evaluative criteria by A. Parasuraman’s, L... [to full text]

This exploratory research addressed the challenge of improving consulting psychologists' ability to add value to their clients in a complex world, in which it is increasingly difficult to differentiate and understand domain phenomena and to promote healthy growth and development in individuals, groups and organisations. To solve this problem, a Gestalt Approach, comprising the String Model and a congruent methodological framework, was developed using analogies and metaphors from the physical sciences. The Gestalt Approach was applied at the individual, group and organisational levels. The String Model promoted excitement and interest in the client systems and desedimented preconceptions and patterns of thinking, facilitating the destruction of existing figures, and the differentiation and exploration of new figures from background phenomena. The methodological framework promoted experimentation and dialogue in an environment conducive to exploration and promoted contact with foreground phenomena. At the individual level, awareness was heightened of the role and development of a historically disadvantaged South African. The individual and the position for which he was being developed were described in terms of the String Model, creating insights which were not in the client system before. A clear, holistic picture of the individual's developmental areas emerged. The approach facilitated contact between the individual and key roleplayers who must create an enabling environment and provide resources conducive to individual development. At the group level, the String Model proved useful in assisting a Board of Directors to clearly differentiate the Board from other groups in the client system. Discussion amongst the participants, who had diverse perspectives, promoted a common understanding of the Board's structure and functioning. Participants were able to differentiate the current dysfunctional status of the Board from the ideal in String Model terms and develop a joint plan to make the Board a healthier entity. At the organisational level, the model according to which a gold mine was structured and managed, was changed due to insights engendered by the Gestalt Approach. The String Model proved to be useful in conceptualising the mine as a whole, with the various sub-systems thereof inextricably related. Changes were made that promote interaction, communication, integration and performance. / Industrial Psychology / D. Comm. (Industrial Psychology)

The role of internal audit has changed during the past few years. Today, internal auditors are central players in organizations’ corporate governance structure. However, previous studies show that there is a gap between internal auditors’ own perception of their role compared to their stakeholders’. The wide scope of internal auditors’ role risks placing internal auditors in a situation of conflict, where consulting services threaten their provision of assurance services. In order to provide clarification to the role, this thesis studies how internal auditors become comfortable in their role, as both assurance and consulting providers and what concerns internal auditors face in their work. In order to fulfill the aim following research question is asked: How do internal auditors become comfortable in their role within risk management? Ten internal auditors were interviewed in order to make a contribution in the field of internal audit. The findings suggest that both assurance and consulting services are needed in order for internal auditors to feel they add value to the organization and hence, become comfortable in their role. Internal auditors’ comfort is many times dependent on fulfilling their stakeholders’ needs, however, staying in the scope of their role was shown to be more important.

Magistrantūros studijų baigiamasis darbas, 78 puslapiai, 16 paveikslų, 5 lentelės, 45 literatūros šaltiniai, 5 priedai, lietuvių kalba. RAKTINIAI ŽODŽIAI: ūkininkas, ES struktūrinių fondų parama, konsultavimas, konsultavimo organizavimas, kokybė. Tyrimo objektas - ūkininkų konsultavimas. Tikslas: išanalizuoti ir įvertinti ūkininkų konsultavimo organizavimą Švenčionių rajone. Uždaviniai: 1. Išanalizuoti mokslinę, praktinę literatūrą žemės ūkio subjektų konsultavimo organizavimo klausimais. 2. Ištirti ir įvertinti Švenčionių rajono žemės ūkio subjektų nuomonę apie konsultavimo kokybę ir konsultavimo organizavimą. 3. Identifikuoti pagrindines kliūtis, trukdančias kokybiškai teikti konsultavimo paslaugas ūkininkams. 4. Parengti rekomendacijas ūkininkų konsultavimo organizavimui gerinti. Tyrimo metodai: mokomųjų knygų, periodinių mokslo leidinių analizė; konsultavimo įstaigų dokumentacijos analizė; žemės ūkio subjektų nuomonių apie ES struktūrinių fondų paramą ir jos gavimą kiekybinis tyrimas ir rezultatų analizė, lyginamoji analizė, sintezė. Tyrimo rezultatai. Žemės ūkio subjektų konsultavimas siekia didinti ūkininkų ir kitų kaimo gyventojų gebėjimą įvertinti situaciją ir lūkesčius, suvokti problemų esmę, pasirinkti tinkamą sprendimą dėl ūkio plėtros, investicijų bei dalyvavimo ES struktūrinių fondų paramos programose. Paramos įsisavinimo sėkmė priklauso nuo ūkininkų suvokimo apie keliamus reikalavimus, todėl žemdirbiams reikia nuolat konsultuotis. Todėl Lietuvos žemės ūkio... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Master`s research paper, 78 pages, 16 pictures, 5 tables, 45 Literary Resources, 5 appendixes, in the Lithuanian language. KEY WORDS: agricultural subjects, the support of structural foundation, the consulting, the organization of consult, quality. The main object of the researches paper: the consulting of agricultural subjects. The main goal of the researches paper: to analyze and to evaluate the organization of consulting to the agricultural subjects in Švenčionys district. The main aims: 1. To analyze scientific and practical literature about the organization of consulting to the agricultural subjects. 2. To research and to evaluate the opinion of agricultural subjects in Švenčionys district about the quality and organization of consulting. 3. To identify the main problems which are disturbing to organize high quality service of consulting to the farmers. 4. To prepare some recommendations according to the improvement of the organization of consulting to the agricultural subjects . The methods of research analysis of the literature, analysis of the documents in the consult institutes, quantity research of the agricultural subjects opinion about the structural foundation in EU and analysis of the results, comparative analysis, synthesis. Results of the research. The consulting of the agricultural subjects reaches to increase the ability of the farmers to evaluate their situation, to recognize the main problems, to choose right solution for the farm development, to take part... [to full text]