CHAPTER III

Why a Sense of Skepticism and UneaseTowards Management Consultants

Outsourcing

5 Pros and ConsPros:

Pros

1.Specialized - you can get the best

2.Personal attention from a senior practitioner
3.Each campaign treated uniquely
4.Holistic view - consultant is intimately aware of allaspects of the campaign
5.Relationship - it¶s easier to form a long termrelationship with the owner/operator
than anaccount rep that may change jobs

Cons

1.Specialized - yet another vendor to manage

2.Has to wear many hats (eat what they kill)
3.Physical limitations on number of clients that canbe serviced
4.Can be more expensive per hour 
5.Limited in the number of things that can be donewel

There are 3 options that shouldbe considered to be the bestmodel for the company.

³All outsourced´ (what most people do)

³Hybrid,´ and ³all in house.´

People have started to think along the lines of ³Ican build a great team for the $2
million that I amspending on Project Management

This is a growing problem for agencies that needto provide value

Another question to consider: ³is the currentmodel working

Summary of the pros and consof being in-house:

Pros:

Strong connection to the product / serviceoffering and in depth understanding of the

industryand top competitors.

Concentrated focus on servicing just one client insteadof balancing the needs of
multiple clients.

It may be less expensive to maintain internalresources, depending on the size and

experience of theteam.
Timely and complete access to forecasts, sales data,inventory, etc.

Better integration and coordination with otherinternal departments, including:

marketing,merchandising, IT, and finance

Cons to being in house:

Many of the best consultants are extremelycompetitive individuals, yet internal

positions donot usually foster this competitive spirit.

There is often a sense of boredom and eventuallack of motivation that comes with
continuallyworking on the same site as opposed to newchallenges and opportunities.

As part of a small internal team there is often alack of informal learning opportunities
whichinhibits professional growth and the ability todeliver in a rapidly changing
environment.

With a single in house resource, you will be constrained to a single set of strategies, as
opposed to best of breed solutions that resultf r o m a n i n t e g r a t e d t e a m
approach

Professionals are rarely equally trained or experienced in both organic optimization

and paid search marketing

You may be sacrificing by relying on oneresource or investing in a larger team. It

isoften difficult to drive organizationalchange from within.

External resources are needed to justify priorities, directional change, and budgets

COST VS VALUE OF ADVICE

One of the simple unavoidable facts of life is that everything costs money.  It can be
frustrating spending your entire paycheck week after week with little to nothing to show for
it.  Learning to understand cost vs. value will help you get the most for your weekly checks
and make the most of your personal finances.

Cost is simple to understand.  How much money are you going to have to spend for this
item?  This is the cost.  Value on the other hand is a little more complex.  Value can come
from many different places.  These three key ideas will help you master the art of
determining if the cost of an item is equal to or lower than the value.

Cost, Value and Where You Live

Think about your house or apartment for a minute.  Do you live in the cheapest part of
town?  Why or why not?  The answer to this question is one of the building blocks for
understanding cost vs. value.  Sure, you could probably crash on your mom’s sofa for free
but having somewhere else to live has a value.  You may be willing to pay more for a
smaller apartment in a good neighborhood.  Use this reasoning to guide all of your
purchases.  A reliable car has a higher value than one that always breaks down.

A Premium for Convenience

A candy bar or a bottle of soda is more expensive at the gas station than the grocery store. 
Why is this?  Gas stations and other locations charge a premium for convenience.  Is a gas
station candy bar worth more than one from the store?  They have the same ingredients,
the same nuts, the same chocolate, even the same package.  The value doesn’t really
change but the cost does.  Learn to plan ahead and to ask yourself how to get the best
value for your money.

Is This Actually Worth It?

Next time you go to make a purchase ask yourself, “Is this actually worth it?”  Is the cost of
the item relative to the actual value?    As you learn to do this you will be able to start
differentiating the cost of an item and its value.  In an ideal situation the cost will always be
lower than the value received.

A great way to start mastering this skill is to determine the value of an item before you see
the price.  If you are considering purchasing a new item, look at it first.  What do you think it
is worth?  Then look at the price and see how they compare.  This can be done with almost
any product from shirts to pants to electronic devices.

SEPARATING CONSULTING SUCCESS FROM DISASTER

Management consulting refers to both the industry of, and the practice of, helping organizations improve their

performance, primarily through the analysis of existing business problems and development of plans for

improvement. From as early as the late 1800s, management consulting firms have been expanding their

influence over the developing world. Today there are many management consultants at work deep inside

many organizations. According to market research, global management consultancy market is forecast to

have a value of over $300 billion by 2012.

Despite consistently high and growing revenues, management consultancy also consistently attracts a

significant amount of criticism. This includes being criticized for overuse of buzzwords, reliance on and

propagation of management fads, and a failure to develop plans that are executable by the client. A number of
critical books about management consulting argue that the mismatch between management consulting advice

and the ability of business executives to actually create the change suggested results in substantial damages

to existing businesses. Although there are elements of truth to some of the critics, we believe that

management consultants can are still crucial resource to deliver benefits and success for companies, as long

as the relationship and expectations are correctly managed. So what separates a consulting success from a

consulting disaster? We believe it is very much the effort of both the consultants and the clients we serve.

We feel that it is best for companies to engage consultant for a specific task and avoid carte blanche

engagements. This includes setting big objectives like “world class manufacturing” or other paddling vague

concepts that cannot be measured or judged. Outputs ought to be clear and not broad based diagnostics.

Companies will have to remember that consultants are no substitute for vision and good management.

Bringing in consultants without any clear idea of the help that is needed is a waste of time and money. Many

consulting interventions ultimately fail to achieve the ends intended, because they call for the consultant to

make highly subjective judgment about the complexity of the problem to be addressed before studying the

problem itself. To overcome this problem, there has to be strong dialogues between the consultant and the

client. Apart from recognition of the circumstances and the issues at hand, there has to be conviction from the

consultant and management team on the need for the correct course of action and change. Often this requires

the consultant and management team to look at observable facts and arrive at a set of shared assumptions

about the future. There is a need for executive sponsorship and intimate involvement from the key

stakeholders in the entire effort. Firms should also view the cost of consulting as an investment rather than a

period expense.

Achilles believes in maintaining and sustaining long term relationship with our customers so that sufficient

familiarity with each client, industry and history can allow us to make significant contribution. We do not see

our consultancy as a sale, but as an alliance based on long term mutual benefits and value. We seek to

deliver value by successfully achieving results more efficiently than clients would themselves; with high

professional standards, being objective and possessing good domain knowledge. We advocate using scientific

approach and fact driven decision making to meet the demands of each customer. We adopt a down to earth,

hands-on, result oriented and tailor-made approach to our assignments. Where possible, we bring lateral

thinking and creativity to challenge conventional thinking and test assumptions. Upon completion of

assignments, we ensure “transfer” whereby client has ongoing capability to support the change even after the

consultant has gone.