Provide organized, efficient, relevant consulting with lasting value Maximizing the Value of Consulting is an indispensable, practical guide for managing, measuring, and delivering the results that make internal and external consulting a lasting value to clients and the company. Sponsored by the ROI Institute and the Association of Internal Management Consultants, this book provides a roadmap to relevance for consultants operating in the increasingly fast-paced, changing, dynamic environment. Readers will learn how to use resources properly and manage the investment efficiently, while truly connecting to the business, securing appropriate levels of commitment, and providing adequate levels of support. Detailed coverage includes guidance toward calculating the value of consulting in terms that executives understand, including business impact and ROI, and using the appropriate tools to show how things are working throughout the process. Whether organizations are using internal or external consultants, or both, consultants can provide better value to the company. Consultants are needed to provide advice, support, and insight into the processes undertaken to improve the business, and integrate the input of different functional units into a more streamlined strategy. This book is designed to help consultants provide the utmost value to clients by maximizing organization, efficiency, and ultimately, ROI. Manage for value with better organization and cost control Set objectives at multiple levels to deliver useful results Measure implementation, impact, ROI, and intangibles Use final results to drive appropriate actions, creating lasting value The skyrocketing need for internal and external consultants will continue, in almost every functional area ranging from HR and technology, to auditing and risk management. Maximizing the Value of Consulting provides a manual for relevant, value-driven consulting, with world-renowned expert insight.

This book provides consultants with a career framework to build, grow, and transform their consulting businesses by becoming brilliant at the basics. The Odyssey process challenges current thinking and offers a methodology to help readers rise to the top of the profession by applying leading-edge techniques and methodologies.An ideal companion to t

The real-world guide to selling your services and bringing in business How Clients Buy is the much-needed guide to selling your services. If you're one of the millions of people whose skills are the 'product,' you know that you cannot be successful unless you bring in clients. The problem is, you're trained to do your job—not sell it. No matter how great you may be at your actual role, you likely feel a bit lost, hesitant, or 'behind' when it comes to courting clients, an unfamiliar territory where you're never quite sure of the line between under- and over-selling. This book comes to the rescue with real, practical advice for selling what you do. You'll have to unlearn everything you know about sales, but then you'll learn new skills that will help you make connections, develop rapport, create interest, earn trust, and turn prospects into clients. Business development is critical to your personal success, and your skills in this area will dictate the course of your career. This invaluable guide gives you a set of real-world best practices that can help you become the rainmaker you want to be. Get the word out and make productive connections Drop the fear of self-promotion and advertise your accomplishments Earn potential clients' trust to build a lasting relationship Scrap the sales pitch in favor of honesty, positivity, and value Working in the consulting and professional services fields comes with difficulties not encountered by those who sell tangible products. Services are often under-valued, and become among the first things to go when budgets get tight. It is now harder than ever to sell professional services, so your game must be on-point if you hope to out-compete the field. How Clients Buy shows you how to level up and start winning the client list of your dreams.

Consultants: Learn how to maximize the value you create for clients and connect that value to your pricing and services.

The number one guide to corporate valuation is back and better than ever Thoroughly revised and expanded to reflect business conditions in today's volatile global economy, Valuation, Fifth Edition continues the tradition of its bestselling predecessors by providing up-to-date insights and practical advice on how to create, manage, and measure the value of an organization. Along with all new case studies that illustrate how valuation techniques and principles are applied in real-world situations, this comprehensive guide has been updated to reflect new developments in corporate finance, changes in accounting rules, and an enhanced global perspective. Valuation, Fifth Edition is filled with expert guidance that managers at all levels, investors, and students can use to enhance their understanding of this important discipline. Contains strategies for multi-business valuation and valuation for corporate restructuring, mergers, and acquisitions Addresses how you can interpret the results of a valuation in light of a company's competitive situation Also available: a book plus CD-ROM package (978-0-470-42469-8) as well as a stand-alone CD-ROM (978-0-470-42457-7) containing an interactive valuation DCF model Valuation, Fifth Edition stands alone in this field with its reputation of quality and consistency. If you want to hone your valuation skills today and improve them for years to come, look no further than this book.

The concept of the ‘internal consultant’ is now gaining considerable ground as managers in support functions seek to redefine their role and effectiveness. The emphasis that it places on moving from a ‘colleague’ to a ‘client’ perspective within the business can bring major benefits to both adviser and organisation. This book provides... ... a practical understanding of the skills required to become a high-performance internal consultant, whatever your own area of expertise. It will help you: Develop stronger, more productive working relationships with internal clients Secure greater internal client commitment to initiatives and change projects Work effectively in a less formal and hierarchical way on projects and initiatives Market your services and build powerful internal networks Enhance your own worth and value to the organisation Who should read this book? All managers working in support functions, such as HR, audit, training, personnel and IT, as well as areas such as finance and marketing.

Management Consulting: A Guide for Students bridges the gap between the latest academic research and practical skills to provide a comprehensive new introduction to modern consulting. David Biggs' important new textbook walks students through the key dimensions of management consulting from the contexts, through the processes, and into skills and implementation using a wide range of examples to provide a refreshing and modern guide for students. Every chapter deploys a consistent pedagogical framework including clear learning objectives that correspond with the latest standard course outlines, mini case studies, and industry snapshots. Full-length case studies appear at the end of every chapter, either prepared specifically for the text by international academics and consultants or supplied from premium vendors such as Harvard Business Review. A full set of online supporting resources for students and lectures make this the complete resource for management consulting courses at all levels.

The second volume in the Research in Management Consulting series focuses on developing knowledge and value in management consulting. While there has been an exponential explosion in both the presence and role played by management consultants, the exact nature of their contribution —to client organizations, to our understanding of management and organization, to our comprehension of the increasingly complex dynamics associated with business in a global marketplace, and to the development of their own firms—remains ambiguous. Just as the business world is experiencing rapid and, at times, volatile change, the consulting industry itself is also facing unprecedented change and challenge. Over the next decade, forecasts suggest a world of difference for management consulting, from different competitors and different types of projects and assignments, to different skill sets and different fee structures, to different client expectations.

Do you really understand what business value is? Information technology can and should deliver business value. But the Agile literature has paid scant attention to what business value means—and how to know whether or not you are delivering it. This problem becomes ever more critical as you push value delivery toward autonomous teams and away from requirements “tossed over the wall” by business stakeholders. An empowered team needs to understand its goal! Playful and thought-provoking, The Art of Business Value explores what business value means, why it matters, and how it should affect your software development and delivery practices. More than any other IT delivery approach, DevOps (and Agile thinking in general) makes business value a central concern. This book examines the role of business value in software and makes a compelling case for why a clear understanding of business value will change the way you deliver software. This book will make you think deeply about not only what it means to deliver value but also the relationship of the IT organization to the rest of the enterprise. It will give you the language to discuss value with the business, methods to cut through bureaucracy, and strategies for incorporating Agile teams and culture into the enterprise. Most of all, this book will startle you into new ways of thinking about the cutting-edge of Agile practice and where it may lead.

Blueprint 4 continues the theme of Blueprint 2 in looking at the opportunities for using market forces for environmental ends. It assesses a range of possible imaginative 'global bargains', which give all parties a self-interested incentive to improve the global environment. The book begins by reviewing the principle global issues to be addressed, and then explains the mechanisms of resource degradation: how economic systems fail, the operation of trade on the environment and the effects of population growth and consumption patterns. It then shows how environmental value can be captured, and the basis, means and institutions for doing so.