Práce se ve své teoretické části zabývá manažerským poradenstvím v oblasti IT a definuje produkty IT poradenství dle literatury. V praktické části je provedena analýza trhu IT poradenství v ČR a následně analýza tří vybraných IT poradenských společností v České republice. Na základě této analýzy je v závěru této práce zpracován model úspěšné IT poradenské firmy.

The management consulting industry is growing. The industryis also described as being exposed to increased pressure fromthe environment. An interesting question is then how resourcesare managed in management consulting firms in order tosustain competitive advantage. The purpose with this thesis isto investigate how firms in the management consulting industrymanage their resources through the lens of the resourcemanagement framework and if there are any signs of change.Through a multiple case study of the processes in two largemanagement consulting firms, the activity (i.e. the use ofresources) perceived as important for the leveraging ofcompetitive advantage is studied. The findings suggest thatcustomers have a much more central part in the resourcemanagement process than depicted in the resourcemanagement framework. The clearest signs of change refer tothe development of new career paths and an increased globalintegration of competencies.

Purpose: This paper aims to explore if organizational affiliation as a private and public organization influences the motives behind utilizing management consulting. Our topic, management consulting, has been widely discussed both in academic and non-academic settings and the client perspective in management consulting have to some extent received academic attention. We found it interesting to explore the client perspective through a lens about the effect organizational affiliation has on organization's motives on utilizing management consulting. Methodology: This study has a qualitative research method with an inductive research approach. Our data collection was conducted through interviews with participants from both the public and the private sector that was involved in purchasing management consultants in their organizations. We analyzed our empirical material with a qualitative content analysis that help us code and develop categories in our material. Findings: The findings in our study implicates that motives behind utilizing management consultants differ between public and private sector in how they perceive management consulting and what their expectations on the consultant are. Through our empirical material and data analysis we have been able to detect differences in how the private and public sector perceives management consulting and influencing factors, which in turn affects the motives for purchasing management consulting services in the organization.

The objectives of the research was to identify how knowledge, learning and reflection is mediated in communities of practice. The overall aim was to base the evidence from the lived experiences of those who are part of the communities of practice under study. The research was undertaken through a qualitative inquiry using a social constructionist perspective. The research was pursued through participative action research in one case study organisation, and through participative observation, or observation in fifteen others. The key findings of this inquiry include six sociological elements which were common to all sixteen organisations. Further, four key knowledge flow processes were consistent across all cases. In total forty-one main findings were identified to the pursued research questions. Two conceptual models of learning and reflection were presented as ways to help understand how knowledge, learning and reflection are mediated in communities of practice. The models can be used at different levels of abstraction and conceptualisation. The study provides original insights into consulting activity within communities of practice, and highlights key themes based upon the lived experiences of the participants in the inquiry.

<p>Syfte: Syftet med denna uppsats är att jämföra två olika</p><p>managementkonsulters upplägg, genomförande samt syn på</p><p>framgångsfaktorer i ett av deras vardera konsultuppdrag gällande</p><p>strategiska tjänster och organisationsförändring. Vidare redogöra för</p><p>deras uppdragsgivares åsikter kring uppdragen de utfört.</p><p>Metod: Genom två fallstudier där två managementkonsulter samt deras</p><p>respektive uppdragsgivare intervjuats har vi undersökt hur</p><p>managementkonsulterna arbetar i respektive fall, vilken metodik de</p><p>använder och vilka faktorer de anser vara viktigast för att arbetet ska</p><p>lyckas. Vidare, för att bredda undersökningen har uppdragsgivarna</p><p>intervjuats i syfte att ta reda på hur arbetet gått, vilka resultat som nåtts</p><p>samt hur de utvärderat konsulterna.</p><p>Resultat: Genom fallstudierna har vi kommit fram till att de undersökta</p><p>konsulterna skiljer sig avsevärt i många aspekter. Framförallt har de</p><p>olika syn på konsultation i allmänhet, då ena konsultfirman använder</p><p>ett beteendevetenskapligt synsätt, medan andra konsultfirman mer</p><p>andas företagsekonomi. Dessutom används olika metoder i både</p><p>upplägg och genomförande av konsultation.</p>

Syfte: Syftet med denna uppsats är att jämföra två olika managementkonsulters upplägg, genomförande samt syn på framgångsfaktorer i ett av deras vardera konsultuppdrag gällande strategiska tjänster och organisationsförändring. Vidare redogöra för deras uppdragsgivares åsikter kring uppdragen de utfört. Metod: Genom två fallstudier där två managementkonsulter samt deras respektive uppdragsgivare intervjuats har vi undersökt hur managementkonsulterna arbetar i respektive fall, vilken metodik de använder och vilka faktorer de anser vara viktigast för att arbetet ska lyckas. Vidare, för att bredda undersökningen har uppdragsgivarna intervjuats i syfte att ta reda på hur arbetet gått, vilka resultat som nåtts samt hur de utvärderat konsulterna. Resultat: Genom fallstudierna har vi kommit fram till att de undersökta konsulterna skiljer sig avsevärt i många aspekter. Framförallt har de olika syn på konsultation i allmänhet, då ena konsultfirman använder ett beteendevetenskapligt synsätt, medan andra konsultfirman mer andas företagsekonomi. Dessutom används olika metoder i både upplägg och genomförande av konsultation.

Comment se façonne, en pratique, la valeur d'une prestation de conseil en management ? Malgré le dynamisme du marché qui lui confère une légitimité de fait, le conseil en management est à la fois mal connu et brocardé par la critique : on s'interroge sur l'efficacité de ses méthodes, sur la valeur ajoutée de ses préconisations. Les outils de la sociologie pragmatiste permettent de jeter un éclairage nouveau sur ces questions, en contournant l'opposition classique entre une approche fonctionnaliste (rationnelle-technique) et une approche critique (psycho-sociale) du métier. L'argument central de la thèse est que le conseil en management doit être compris comme une performance entièrement tendue vers un enjeu d'efficacité pratique qui se découvre dans l'action. La valeur émerge de la prestation en train de se faire : elle sanctionne la félicité d'un attachement socio-technique entre le consultant et le système-client dans lequel il intervient. Basée sur une immersion complète de près de trois ans dans un cabinet international, la thèse est une ethnographie de la pratique des consultants en mission dans différents grands groupes. Elle décrypte, en particulier, cinq opérations de mise en valeur qui augmentent la densité et l'impact de l'activité de conseil en management dans les systèmes-clients : (1) la singularisation de la prestation, (2) la montée en compétence du consultant, (3) la production de son autorité, (4) la présentation graphique du diagnostic et (5) le signalement de l'activité. L'étude empirique de ces mécanismes permet d'alimenter une théorie pragmatiste de la valeur comme forme pratique d'attachement et de mieux comprendre les enjeux du capitalisme contemporain. / How does work the fabric of management consulting's value? Despite the dynamism of the market, consultants' practice remains poorly known and often criticized. One questions the efficacy of their methods and the general value added of their recommendations. The intellectual tools of the pragmatist sociology allow us to shed a new light on these matters, getting around the classic opposition between a functionalist (rational-technical) and a critical (psycho-social) approach to the practice. The key argument of the dissertation is that management consulting should be understood as a performance geared toward a practical efficacy. Value emerges from the service as it is being performed: it sanctions the felicity of a socio-technical attachment between consultants and their client-system. The dissertation is grounded on a complete involvement in a large French consulting firm, for about three years. It is an ethnographic account of the practices of consultants during their assignments within various large organizations. It decrypts specifically five valuation processes that intensify the density and the impact of the service in client-systems: (1) the singularization of the service, (2) the rise in competence of consultants,(3) the production of their authority, (4) the graphical presentation of the diagnosis and (5) the signaling of activity. The empirical study of such mechanisms fuels a pragmatist theory of value as a practical attachment and allows us to better understand the stakes of contemporaneous capitalism.

A definition of value, a higher order construct, how it is created and its constituents remains elusive. This research aims to explain value co-creation and its key enablers in the management consulting industry. Service Dominant Logic (S-DL) first published by Vargo & Lusch (2004) has fostered extensive debate ever since, and with the Service Logic theory of the so-called Nordic School of Marketing (Grönroos, 2011b) they have encouraged research on subjects under the optic of value co-creation (S-DL), value facilitation (SL) and exchange of service, arguing that value is only phenomenologically assessed by the customer (S-DL) and that the only real value is customer’s value-in-use (SL). The understanding of how value is co-created has been scarcely researched empirically as, for instance, Aarikka-Stenroos & Jaakkola (2012) have. Capabilities management has been related to a firm’s resources and the Resource-Based View (RBV); however, empirical research relating capabilities to the process of value co-creation in b2b context has also been discussed as sparse (Lindgreen, Hingley, Grant and Morgan, 2012).This research explores interconnectedness of value, relationship-interaction and dynamic capabilities in management consultancy, and responds to the following research question: What arrays of capabilities and interaction are required for management consulting sustained value-facilitation? The subjects of relationship and interaction are discussed as core to value co-creation while investigating the intervening role of dynamic capabilities. A qualitative abductive methodology is applied, founded on a critical realist philosophical argumentation. The iterative deductive-inductive methods involved in the abductive process ideally approach the open ended questions that emerge researching social phenomena. The data is obtained by elite interviews with executive consultants and CXO level customers, who have had profound experience of consulting assisted co-creation initiatives. Four abductive iterations of data collection and analysis are applied, departing from a theoretical framework that emerges from the review of extant literature and that is informed by the research question. The salient constructs from contextually complex discussions are analysed and lastly synthesized in an overarching model. This research contributes mainly in two areas: (1) The identification of relationship/interaction in consulting at the core of value co-creation, and its key characteristics as a dynamic context. Co-creation is proposed as an evolving-adaptive process dependent on relationship through interaction.(2) The identification of capabilities that allow relationship and co-creation and higher order capabilities that develop capabilities, which emerge from deliberate reflection of the consultant’s strategy. Such dynamic capabilities develop and orchestrate capabilities for value facilitation and customer value creation.

Main goal of the thesis is an analysis of a position and resources of a real small management consulting firm, then to suggest possible strategic scenarios of a firm's expansion. The theoretical part contains issues related to general strategic management. The issues are accompanied by alternative points of view on a strategic planning, for example by Mantra and Master Idea concepts and Effectuation. Consequently, specific issues of management consulting firms related to strategic management are described. Whole theoretical part is based on world literature primarily. The practical part of the thesis starts by a description of the analyzed firm and strategic premises of firm's owners. Next part is an analysis of a firm's position and resources. It consists of analyzes of external macro and micro environment, analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. After analyzes, there are strategic scenarios and consequent strategic steps described. The steps are divided onto three groups. First group consist of steps which influence whole firm. Second group contains steps on a field of management consulting. Last group is focused on education market.

No description available.