Types of consultants. External and internal consulting. Types of consulting firms

There are two main types of classification consulting services:

1) from the point of view of the subject of counseling - subject classification;
2) from the point of view of the method of consulting - a methodological classification.

Subject the classification is more common because it is more understandable for consumers of consulting services. In accordance with it, consulting services are qualified depending on those sections (elements) of management to which they are directed: general management, financial management, production management, etc.

Concerning methodological classification, it is professionally focused on the consultants themselves, as it qualifies them depending on the methods of work. In accordance with this classification, a distinction is made between expert, process and training counseling.

It should also be noted that the classifications published by national and international associations of consultants often combine subject and methodological approaches, however, focusing more on the former. In addition, they include in the list of consulting services and other professional services. An example of such a "synthetic" approach is given in table. 1 classification of the European Directory of Economics and Management Consultants published under the auspices of FEACO. This classification includes, on the one hand (subject-wise), services such as the provision of information technology, industrial engineering, management training (training), public relations, etc., which constitutes professional services, and on the other, such types consulting as training consulting, i.e. method of counseling.

Table 1... Types of consulting services according to the classification
European Directory of Management Consultants

1. General management 1.01 determining the effectiveness of the management system 1.02 business valuation 1.03 innovation management 1.04 competitiveness definition / market research 1.05 diversifying or starting a new business 1.06 international governance 1.07 management assessment 1.08 mergers and acquisitions 1.09 organizational structure and development 1.10 privatization 1.11 project management 1.12 quality management 1.13 reengineering 1.14 research and development 1.15 strategic planning 1.16 benchmarking 1.17 partner search 1.18 internal management 1.19 export and import management 1.20 crisis management 2. Administration 2.01 document flow analysis 2.02 placing or moving departments 2.03 office management 2.04 Organization and Management Practices 2.05 risk regulation 2.06 security guarantees 2.07 workspace planning and equipment 3. Financial management 3.01 accounting systems 3.02 capital cost estimate 3.03 company turnover 3.04 cost reduction 3.05 insolvency (bankruptcy) 3.06 profit increase 3.07 increase in income 3.08 taxation 3.09 financial reserves 4. Personnel management 4.01 professional movement and layoffs 4.02 corporate culture 4.03 equal opportunity 4.04 personnel search 4.05 selection of personnel 4.06 health and safety 4.07 incentive programs 4.08 internal communications 4.09 evaluation of works 4.10 labor agreements and employment 4.11 management training 4.12 workforce planning 4.13 motivation 4.14 pensions 4.15 performance analysis 4.16 psychological assessment 4.17 remuneration 4.18 professional development of employees 4.19 conflict resolution 4.20 training 5. Marketing 5.01 advertising and sales promotion 5.02 corporate image and public relations 5.03 after-sales customer service 5.04 design 5.05 direct marketing 5.06 international marketing 5.07 market research 5.08 marketing strategy 5.09 new product development 5.10 pricing 5.11 retail and dealership 5.12 sales management 5.13 sales training 5.14 socio-economic research and forecasting 6. Production 6.01 automation 6.02 equipment use and maintenance 6.03 industrial engineering 6.04 material recycling 6.05 regulation of internal distribution of materials 6.06 packaging 6.07 work organization diagram at the enterprise 6.08 product design and development 6.09 production management 6.10 production planning and control 6.11 performance improvements 6.12 purchasing 6.13 quality control 6.14 inventory management 6.15 ergonomics 6.16 materials management 7. Information technology 7.01 systems computer-aided design and automated control systems 7.02 the use of computers in audit and evaluation 7.03 electronic publishing 7.04 information retrieval systems 7.05 administrative information systems 7.06 systems design and development 7.07 system selection and installation 7.08 internal audit information systems 7.09 information systems recovery 8. Specialized services 8.01 educational counseling 8.02 electricity management consulting 8.03 engineering consulting 8.04 environmental consulting 8.05 information consulting 8.06 legal consulting 8.07 material distribution and procurement management consulting 8.08 consulting in the public sector of business 8.09 telecommunications consulting

1. Consulting on general management, those. help in solving problems related with the very existence of the object of consultation and the prospects for its development. Consultants deal with issues such as assessing the state of the organization as a whole and characterizing the external environment for it, determining the goals and value system of the organization, developing a development strategy, forecasting, organizing branches and new firms, changing the form of ownership or composition of owners, purchasing property, shares or shares. , improvement of organizational structures, etc.

Possible There are three main cases when consultants consider general management problems:

Firstly, during research management activities... Most management consultants have an established practice: before offering possible solutions for any specialized problem, it is necessary to conduct short review and research of the organization as a whole;
Secondly, during research of specific functional areas of management, when it becomes clear that it is necessary certain changes in the general management structure, i.e. the consultant must resolve general management problems that underlie the solution of particular problems;
third, while solving problems related to one or more issues of general management. Addressing these issues can take the form of extensive research rather than summary reports as in diagnostics, especially if they are problems. top level guides related to the general course of management of the organization. The implementation of such projects may require a large amount of time (for example, to develop a development strategy new firm may take six to nine months).

When consulting on general management, consultants face with two main problems: the development of a mechanism for the decision-making process and the choice of leadership style.

Availability first problem may mean that there are forms of decision-making in the client organization that lead to negative consequences. For example, the over-centralization of operational decisions makes the firm inflexible, slow to respond to changes in market opportunities.

To investigate this problem, the consultant can conduct an analysis in the following areas:

• classification of decisions into groups according to their nature, financial implications, feasibility, etc .;
• ways of making the most typical decisions;
• participation of employee representatives in decision-making;
• responsibility for decision making, their implementation and control;
• decision-making mechanism as a whole.

When second problem it may turn out that the causes of negative phenomena lie not in the structure of the organization or in the planning procedure, but in the style of leadership arising from the attitudes and behaviors of senior managers.

In this case, the consultant analyzes:

• the personality of the manager, his methods of work, habits;
• manager's priority scales;
• the management style of a given organization, which is often determined by personal and organizational culture.

2. Consultants for administrative management (administration) deal with issues such as company formation and registration, office organization, data processing, administrative control system, etc. Their main task is to optimize the management of the organization.

• distribution of functions between departments and divisions;
• optimization of the number of control levels;
• establishment of labor discipline;
• correspondence of the degree of importance of the functions performed by one or another department for the organization as a whole, and its role in decision-making;
• record keeping;
• planning of offices and their equipment.

3. Consultants for financial management assist in solving the following main tasks: 1) search for sources financial resources; 2) assessment and improvement of the current financial efficiency the activities of the organization; 3) strengthening the financial position of the organization for the future. They deal with issues financial planning and control, taxation, accounting, placement of shares and shares on the market, credit, insurance, profit and cost, insolvency, etc.

By its very nature, finance is an integral part of many types of management consulting services. Financial due diligence, for example, is an essential part of business diagnostic studies. During the project execution consultants financial issues can work closely with consultants in other areas, especially in the field of production and marketing, assessing the financial implications of their proposals.

In practice, a financial management consultant deals with three research subjects. First - company expansion, which includes the opening of new enterprises, the introduction of new production lines, the installation of new equipment, the conquest of a new market, etc. In each of these areas, the consultant evaluates the measures required for this and the costs that they entail, that is, determines whether the return justifies the investment. Second - capital Management In this case, the consultant studies the capital structure of his client, analyzes the prospects for obtaining venture capital or debt capital and the cost of various sources of financing, both short and long term. The third is the accounting system, including its development and improvement. Before starting to develop an accounting system, the consultant must understand what kind of help managers expect from him, for what purpose this system is being created, and know who will receive the information and how it will be used.

4. HR consultants develop solutions for the selection of employees, control staff, the system of remuneration, advanced training and personnel management, labor protection and psychological climate in the team.

Their main task is to assist managers in optimizing the attraction and use of such a key factor for any organization as human resources.

In this regard, HR consultants should consider the following issues. The first one is recruitment principle... In this case, consultants try to prepare a description of the "ideal" performer who has a certain professional training, qualifications, experience that are required to perform this work. Based on this, methods of assessment, selection and placement of personnel are being developed. The main recruiting methods are testing and interviewing.

Second question - planning of recruitment and professional development of personnel. In this direction, the consultant usually solves the following problems:

• determination of the basic requirements for various categories of performers;
• analysis of the difficulties associated with education, culture and social issues which employees must overcome when doing their job;
• determination of the organization's policy in the field of personnel training and professional growth.

Third question - motivation. Each company seeks to motivate its staff to achieve a range of goals - both group and individual. The HR consultant recommends which strategy is best for:

• improving the psychological climate in the organization;
• enrichment of the content of work;
• establishing a system of rewards and incentives.

And finally, the fourth - performance assessment the employee of the enterprise from the point of view of group and individual goals, which must be interrelated and agreed.

5. Marketing consultants assist managers in solving a vital task for any enterprise operating in a market economy: ensuring its functioning in such a way that effective demand is presented for the goods and services it produces. They deal with market research issues and provide decision-making in the field of sales, pricing, advertising, development new products, after-sales service, etc. Since in market economy the most difficult problem for an enterprise is not production, but sales of products; marketing is one of the most important areas of business consulting.

Marketing is the area in which a firm makes its contacts with external economic objects(customers and competitors), so the firm's survival depends on how well it adapts to market conditions.

Typically, a firm tries to find new potential markets, new products for existing customers, new customers to sell existing products and study the activities of potential competitors.

There are five marketing challenges a consultant faces:

1) sales service management... It is necessary to constantly monitor the level of training and motivation of sales agents, as well as the level of sales work in general, so that it meets the interests of consumers;
2) advertising... Typically, the firm receives advice on this type of activity from its advertising agency, but alternatively, the client can seek advice from an independent consultant;
3) distribution channels... In this case, an alternative to contacting enterprises directly is usually considered. retail instead of using wholesale businesses. When buying goods, bypassing wholesalers, a large number of sales agents are involved, but this leads to additional costs. Therefore, the consultant who is required to perform this work for manufacturers of goods mass consumption should spend considerable effort studying the problems and opportunities of wholesale and retail trade;
4) packaging of goods... In this case, design consultants are involved;
5) turnover of inventory... Inventory turnover is key commercial enterprise... The task of the consultant in such cases is to check the methods of control over the state of commodity stocks. Different types goods (grocery, durable, industrial, etc.) require different inventory management systems.

6. Consultants on the organization of production combine knowledge of economic, management and engineering issues, assisting managers in solving problems such as choosing a production process technology, stimulating labor productivity, evaluating and controlling product quality, analyzing production costs, planning production, using equipment and materials, designing and improving products, evaluation of works, etc.

Manufacturing process requires decision-making on the part of the manager in order to obtain products of the required quality, in the required quantity, on time and at minimal cost. Thus, the job of the consultant is to help find the best ways to achieve these goals.

The production management consultant needs to analyze the following aspects:

1) the product itself... Indeed, some qualities of the product itself can predetermine the efficiency of its production, and therefore the consultant must find out:
• what parts the product consists of;
• whether parts of it can be improved or standardized;
• is it possible to replace some components with cheaper ones (especially in the chemical and cosmetic industry);
• is it possible to improve the equipment on which the goods are produced.
In addition, in each specific case, the consultant can improve the quality control system by establishing:
• the presence and frequency of inspections;
• use of sampling techniques;
• the level of consciousness of employees;
2) methods and organization of production... First, the consultant should research and improve the layout of the equipment, while figuring out:
• whether the installed machines and equipment affect the quality of the workplace organization;
• whether there are elements of congestion in some areas, while others seem to be underutilized;
• whether the production space is being used appropriately.
Thus, he must collect information on the space requirements for equipment placement, storage facilities, work in progress, estimate the actual needs for space, etc. Secondly, the consultant must inquire about the methods of operation and repair of machinery and equipment. Thirdly, he must check that the development of production is carried out by simpler and more effective methods. Fourthly, the consultant must deal with production planning issues, which is associated with the forecast of demand and the use of working time in general;
3) frames... The personnel issue is decisive in any operation. There are two main areas of business management consulting that should be considered in this regard.
The first is the physical working conditions, which include safety measures necessary to protect workers from harmful effects, such as high or low temperatures, air pollution, excessive noise levels, etc., and all technical measures to prevent accidents.
The second area is motivation and job satisfaction, which often play an important role in improving product quality and increasing productivity.

7. Information Technology Consultants are engaged in the development of recommendations for the implementation of computer-aided design (CAD) and automated control systems (ACS), information retrieval systems, the use of computers in accounting and other quantitative methods for assessing the activities of an enterprise.

Information technology is essential for modern organizations. But the changes accompanying the use of new information technologies are related to themselves organizational framework and enterprises, such as the principles of building its structure.

A management consultant is not just a computer maintenance technician; he should help the client understand the capabilities and disadvantages of computers, provide information and bridge the gap between the technical staff and the end user computer programs... Information systems often cause complaints from the administration about the lack of relevant information or delays in obtaining it.

Therefore, the consultant should carefully examine the nature of the relationship between information and different kinds management actions and try to increase the usefulness and availability "of information; consider in detail the decision-making system.

All organizations have a wide variety of information systems, both formal and informal, with varying numbers of levels and degrees of effectiveness and relevance. Therefore, the consultant should:

• harmonize the existing system for providing information on the right level and in the right form;
• determine the degree of compatibility of all systems;
• prepare recommendations for improving (in terms of reliability, form of presentation, content, etc.) of existing systems;
• select equipment (hardware);
• to develop systems for managing databases, communication facilities and forms of data processing (software);
• select staff and plan the necessary professional retraining frames.

If the client already has a computer system, the consultant will help identify its deficiencies and establish:

• what the system is designed for;
• how the tasks of the system are coordinated with the user;
• how the user participated in the development of the system, and then try to establish what the user actually got from the system.

8. Specialized consulting services Are those types of recommendations that do not belong to any of the seven groups described above. They differ from them either in methods (training consulting), or in objects (consulting on electricity management, telecommunications, ecology, procurement, consulting in the public sector, consulting for small businesses), or the nature of the knowledge introduced ( engineering consulting, legal consulting).

As an example, consider the features small business consulting... There are three factors that affect the small business counseling process:

• the company is usually financed from personal or family funds;
• the manager works in close personal contact with all employees of the company;
• the company operates in a geographically limited region.

As a result, a management consultant in this area will face the following challenges:

• the manager of a small company solves both strategic and operational problems in a relatively isolated manner;
• he can pay low wages, offer a low level of job security, little opportunities to receive benefits and incentives;
• he is limited in his ability to increase start-up capital and obtain loans, since the company is not immune from economic downturns;
• when the need for important changes arises, the manager can be busy with current operational problems;
• the manager is not always able to correctly understand and interpret government regulations, acts and other documents for his own benefit.

Thus, a small business consultant must have differentiated approaches to entrepreneurship and ensure the interconnection of all management tasks. He must see the "big picture" of the enterprise in order to ensure the interconnection of administrative and operational functions. Therefore, its goal is to find a practical solution to all types of problems: on issues of finance, sales, production, procurement, etc.

The methods of consulting small businesses are extremely varied, and include both assistance in implementing the recommendations themselves and informal training.

In addition to the definition of management consulting, there are 11 more types of professional services in economics and management, which are included in the concept of "consulting" in the broad sense of the word: 1) audit; 2) accounting services; 3) legal services; 4) provision of information technology; 5) engineering; 6) investment banking; 7) recruiting; 8) advertising and public relations; nine) business information; 10) lobbying; 11) training. Let's consider them in more detail.

Audit. The word "audit" translated from Latin means "hearing" and is used in world practice to refer to verification, audit.

As auditors, accounting professionals verify financial statements firms and give expert judgment(conclusion) regarding its correctness, reliability and compliance with generally accepted standards. The auditor's opinion is published in the annual report on the company's activities along with its official balance sheet in accordance with the procedure established by law. For their activities, audit firms usually receive special powers (licenses, certificates) from government agencies overseeing the activities joint stock companies... Auditing is essential for investment instruments such as securities markets and stock exchanges. Its task is to show potential investors, shareholders, creditors and business partners how reliable in financially this or that company.

IN recent times abroad, the term "audit" began to be used to refer not only to accounting, but also to any other check of the state of affairs in an enterprise or in an organization carried out independent experts... Therefore, such concepts as "management audit", "investment audit", "business audit", "economic audit", "energy audit", etc. are used.

Accounting service- these are services provided by accounting firms external to the client, maintaining or restoring his accounting. This function can also be supplemented by consulting services for the organization and improvement of accounting.

It should be noted that in some countries audit and accounting services are completely separate: they have adopted special legislative acts prohibiting auditors from providing their clients with any other accounting services, including consulting.

Legal services.

Legal, i.e. legal, services historically emerged earlier than many other types professional service business.

Lawyers provide services both in the form of advice (legal consulting) and by directly handling the affairs of their clients: representing their interests in courts and other instances, negotiating, drafting contracts, etc. They can also provide expert opinions on the compliance of an action or document with legal norms, in which their function resembles an audit. On certain issues, the legislation requires the expertise of independent lawyers on a mandatory basis.

The specificity of legal consulting in comparison with economic, which management consultants are engaged in, is determined by the difference between the professions of an economist and a lawyer. An economist gives advice on what needs to be done to solve a particular problem (for example, to produce a particular product, enter such and such a market, carry out structural restructuring, etc.), and a lawyer explains what is impossible or possible do from the point of view of legislation (for example, it is forbidden to carry out such and such financial actions, it is forbidden to sell this product to such and such countries, it is impossible to exceed the permissible standards of pollution during production, you can include such and such a clause in the contract, etc.). Lawyers are guided by written laws - regulations states, and economists and management specialists - primarily the laws of the market and human behavior.

So, legal advice is aimed at shape, and economic - by content business processes.

Providing information technology... Information technology (IT) refers to methods of automated information processing. At present, such processing is carried out on the basis of electronic computing devices, therefore, we are usually talking about information and computer technologies: the development and use of computer programs, the creation of databases, computer networks, etc.

There are four groups of entities that provide such services:

1) special software development firms;
2) management consulting and accounting firms providing services for the application of new IT in management, adaptation standard programs to the needs of enterprises, the choice of equipment and the integration of computing systems;
3) firms serving computers. Their services include computer system design, programming, user training, data network management, system integration, etc .;
4) manufacturers of computer equipment. They were the last to be involved in IT-related activities, but immediately became active in this direction, developing IT focused on the use of the equipment they manufacture.

All information technology services are accompanied by consulting on their implementation and use.

Engineering- these are services for engineering training and ensuring the process of production, construction and operation of various objects. The entire set of engineering services is divided into two groups: 1) services related to the preparation of the production process; 2) services to ensure the production process itself. Engineering services are provided by specialized firms, as well as construction and industrial companies.

Consulting on engineering issues is one of the types of consulting services (see items 6.04 and 8.04 of Table 1).

Investment services (investment banking)... These include the activities of special credit and financial institutions - investment banks and companies, for the sale and purchase of securities (shares, bonds). Investment banks accumulate Money private investors by issuing their own securities (liabilities) and investing these funds in stocks and bonds, i.e. act as intermediaries between issuing firms and investors. In addition to their main functions related to the placement of securities, most of these types of firms offer a wide range of advisory services in the field of general and financial management (see Sections 1 and 3 of Table 1).

Recruiting- these are services for the selection and assessment of personnel. This service area has evolved as separate species due to the ever-growing need for executives and other specialists. These services are provided by recruitment firms or specialist divisions of multidisciplinary consulting firms. In the latter case, recruiting can be carried out as part of a broader package of services related to enterprise reorganization or human resource management.

A recruiting firm acts as a service that applies in the area of ​​production that it serves, special methods interviewing and personnel assessment techniques, methodology for developing proposals and negotiating to attract qualified candidates.

When implementing investment projects firms of this profile can provide comprehensive services for the selection of a complete "team" of managers for a newly created enterprise.

Recruiting firms are expanding their scope of activities by providing a number of additional services. In particular, services are provided for the selection of temporary management personnel and the search for new jobs for senior management personnel who are relocated in connection with the restructuring of production. Such firms can also provide consulting services on all aspects of personnel management (see Section 4 of Table 1).

Advertising and public relations... The purpose of this field of activity is to create in the eyes of the public a positive and at the same time specific, different from competitors' image (image) of a product or company. The creation of the image is carried out through the media (announcements, interviews, articles, publications financial statements etc.), direct mailing of promotional materials by mail, as well as by holding various events (conferences, presentations, charity events, etc.).

The targets of this activity are the general public, government agencies, shareholders and the employees of the firm themselves.

Advertising and public relations consultants are invited in order to create a memorable positive image of the company, contributing to the creation of a favorable external and internal environment for its functioning.

Public relations consulting services are provided in areas such as general management, administration, socio-economic research and forecasting. However, they can advise in other areas as well, to the extent that they are related to the company's image.

Business information... This type of service consists in the provision of economic, technical, social, legal and other information both by order of individual enterprises and in the form of publications available for free sale: manuals, reference books, articles, magazines, reviews, digests, etc., as well as providing information in electronic form.

In the market of information services, there are their producers - information agencies, centers and foundations for socio-economic research, research organizations, mass media, publishing houses, libraries, advertising and reference agencies and consulting firms.

An important aspect of information services is the provision of information about the reliability of firms.

At the request of the client, the following information can be provided:

• financial condition (balance sheet data, profit and loss statements, comparison of financial indicators for recent years, etc.);
• legal form of the company, its number tax office, bank details, legal and actual addresses;
• capital structure, types of activities, history, data on managers, information on branches;
• practice and timing of payments;
• court decisions, cases of property pledges and other financial obligations, as well as other information of a notification nature;
• the position of the firm in a specially developed rating showing its financial position and the degree of commercial risk of cooperation.

The analysts of the information firm can also determine the level of risk of the planned loan and make recommendations for the maximum amount of the loan.

Russia hosts the annual exhibition-fair of information services "INFORMEXPO", which is organized by a number of government agencies and private firms.

Lobbying- this is a legally carried out influence on state bodies (legislative and executive) to create optimal conditions for the implementation of the company's activities. This type of activity differs from public relations, like marketing, in a more specific direction. It is aimed at organizing interaction with the authorities in the implementation of a particular project or function of the firm. If we still associate the concept of "lobbying" with something illegal, it is considered almost synonymous with corruption, then in developed economies the corresponding firms provide their clients (enterprises, industry associations, etc.) with services for interaction with government bodies on a professional basis. These are services in the field of preparation and adjustment of bills and regulations in accordance with the needs of business, substantiation of positive decisions on certain appeals of businessmen to the authorities. The advantage of the services of lobbying specialists is the observance of full legality and knowledge of the methods of influencing the representatives of the authorities. Relevant consulting services can be associated with all services presented in table. one.

Active professional development (training)... This type of service closes the list and is the borderline between consulting and training. Professional development of managers is carried out in the form of courses, conferences, seminars and practical training; which can take place both with a separation and without interruption from production. The difference between training and consulting is that the management coach does not recommend to managers management decisions on specific problems, but only transfers to them their knowledge of how to accept them, and provides information on the relevant issue.

The difference between training programs and traditional training events is that they are carried out in a form that is as close as possible to practice (business games, psychological training, situational analysis, etc.), based on the practical knowledge of consultants-trainers, accumulated in the process of diagnosing and solving problems at other enterprises. Training methods make it possible to introduce knowledge not only through consciousness, but also through the subconscious, forming skills and abilities from abstract concepts. In addition to the implementation of the training function, the training contributes to the establishment of contacts and subsequent interaction of consultants and managers. In this way, the training is close to training counseling (see item 8.01 of Table 1). An integral part of the training is psycho-training - a form of training with managers and staff, which allows you to strengthen and develop their psychological qualities, teach more effective methods behavior and communication.

Types of counseling, types of clients and counselors in psychological counseling

Types of counseling

Before discussing the types of psychological counseling itself, it should be noted that counseling as such also exists in a number of other professional areas other than psychology (for example, technical), as well as closer to it - natural sciences and humanities. These include medical advice, legal advice, management advice, etc.

The classification of psychological counseling itself, which, as already mentioned above, means the provision of psychological assistance to mentally normal people to achieve their personal development goals, can be approached based on different criteria.

So, taking age as a classification criterion, we distinguish the types of counseling depending on age periodization.

Infancy (from birth to 1 year);

Preschool childhood (1-3 years);

Preschool childhood (3-6 years old);

Jr school age(6-10 years old);

Teenage years(10-15 years old);

I period (senior school age 15-17),

II second period (17-21 years);

mature age:

I period (21-35 years old),

II period (35-60 years);

Elderly age (60-75 years old);

Senile age (75-90 years old);

Long-livers (90 years and above).

If in the second case the age from 0 to 90 years and above can theoretically be the age of the person about whom the consultation took place, then the practically real age range is somewhat narrower: from preschool childhood to old age.

Moreover, the limitation of the age of the consulted is associated both with a certain age problem, personal maturity, necessary for solving psychological problems, and the essence of the counseling itself as a method.

Counseling a child under the age of 15 is pointless: he still cannot be responsible for himself and be a productive person. The personality itself has not yet been formed, therefore, not advisory, but psychotherapeutic assistance, as well as a number of special branches: training, education, correction and development, is applicable to children.

In old, and especially senile age, counseling is losing its effectiveness every year, since the needs corresponding to age and the personality itself change, a person can less and less be responsible for himself, his own productivity is getting lower.

From this point of view, there are 2 types of counseling:

1. Contact, in which the psychologist-consultant meets with the client, there is a face-to-face conversation, what is called in foreign literature"face-to-face counseling".

2. Distance counseling, which is subdivided into telephone and written.

The synonym for the first type of counseling is "full-time counseling", the second - "correspondence".

The next basis for classification should take into account the number of clients consulted by one consultant at the same time. According to this criterion, the consultation can be, firstly, individual, and secondly, group. Moreover, the latter should be understood as a conversation between a psychologist and two or more clients, since in a number of socio-psychological works the union of two, let alone three people is already referred to as a small group.

A different classification of counseling can be built on the basis of the scope of application and depending on the individual characteristics of the clients and the problems for which they turn to psychological counseling. In this case, the following types of psychological counseling can be distinguished:

School counseling;

Professional;

Family and conjugal;

Problem-oriented personality and others

The first type of counseling is personal psychological counseling, the need for which occurs quite often in many people. This type includes counseling on such issues that deeply affect a person as a person, cause him strong feelings, usually carefully hidden from the people around him. These are, for example, such problems as psychological or behavioral deficiencies that a person would like to get rid of, problems associated with his personal relationships with significant people, various fears, failures, psychogenic diseases that do not require the intervention of a doctor, and much more. This may also include a person's deep dissatisfaction with himself, problems of intimate, such as sexual, relationships.

The next type of psychological counseling in terms of importance and frequency of occurrence in life is family counseling. This includes counseling on issues that arise in a person's own family or in the families of other people close to him. These are, in particular, the choice of a future spouse, optimal construction and regulation of relationships in the family, prevention and resolution of conflicts in intra-family relationships, the relationship of a husband or wife with relatives, the behavior of spouses at the time of divorce and after it, solution of current intra-family problems. The latter include, for example, the solution of issues of distribution of responsibilities between family members, family economics and a number of others.

The third type of counseling is psychological and pedagogical counseling. It can include a discussion by a consultant with a client of issues of teaching and raising children, teaching something and improving the pedagogical qualifications of adults, pedagogical leadership, managing children's and adult groups and teams, psychological and pedagogical counseling includes issues of improving programs, honeys and teaching aids , the psychological rationale for pedagogical innovations, and a number of others.

The fourth of the most common types of psychological counseling - professional business counseling. It has as many varieties as there are various types of activities in humans. In general, business consulting is one that involves people solving business problems. This includes the issues of choosing a profession, improving and developing a person's abilities, organizing his work, increasing efficiency, conducting business negotiations, etc.

Each of the listed types of psychological counseling is somewhat similar to others, for example, in the fact that problems with the same psychological interpretation can arise in different types activities and in different situations. But at the same time, each of these types of psychological counseling has its own peculiarities.

Intimate-personal counseling usually requires a confidential relationship between the consultant and the client, closed from outsiders and at the same time open for communication. Such psychological counseling requires the creation of a special environment, as it resembles a confession. This type of counseling, by the very nature of the problems that it directly concerns, cannot be episodic or short-term. It presupposes, firstly, a great psychological pre-attunement to him as a psychologist-consultant, and the client himself; secondly, a long and difficult conversation between a psychologist and a client; thirdly, a sufficiently long period for solving the client's problem. The latter is due to the fact that most of the problems of an intimate-personal nature are not immediately resolved.

Family counseling, in turn, requires the psychologist-consultant to know the essence of family problems, ways to resolve them, preferably on their own experience family life... It is unlikely that family counseling can be successfully dealt with by people who do not have or did not have a family. It is quite probable that the opposite can also be assumed: a person who himself has repeatedly tried to create or keep a family, but failed to do so, is unlikely to become a good psychologist-consultant on family issues.

Psychological and pedagogical counseling, in turn, presupposes that the consultant has pedagogical education and experience in teaching and educating people. Quite good psychologists-consultants on psychological and pedagogical issues usually become, for example, former teachers and educators with experience pedagogical work and related education.

The same goes for business consulting. Most successfully it can be done by people who, from their own experience, are well aware of the field of activity in which they are going to conduct psychological counseling.

1. diversified companies, specializing in audit, information technology, legal or financial consulting. Management consulting there is an additional service that exists to reinforce the core.

In multidisciplinary companies, management consultants are essentially auxiliary employees; they are required, first of all, to have a subordinate, performing role. But they are good at studying related business and skillfully interact with financial, legal and other consultants. And this is a chance to create complex consulting teams for which there is a good demand.

2. management consulting. And all other types of management consulting are also introduced to support the central, main consulting product. For example, there are consulting firms that specialize purely in motivation (building systems wages, social packages, bonuses, bonuses, etc.), restructuring, reengineering, strategy, etc. They create their own professional schools. Some of these consulting firms appear in response to a fetishized demand, trying to cover it as much as possible, but as this demand dries up, they have to either disappear or specialize in new needs.

3. leadership organizations. They are formed around the strong personality of a highly qualified specialist, his own ideologist. Very strong leaders can keep up to 20 employees around them at all times. Others have one or two employees who adapt to the leader's work style. Some of them create so-called shell organizations, i.e. for specific projects they invite their colleagues, and as soon as these projects end, they diverge until the next client or forever.

4. partnership it is a group of consultants, each of whom is a decent specialist in his field, each has his own clientele and can work independently of the others. Nevertheless, they prefer to jointly finance a common office, office equipment in it, a secretariat, an accountant and other support staff. Then each one in turn can use this office as his own: invite clients there, arrange personal presentations, receive the necessary information and send his own, conduct current work. The circle of such partners most often consists of 6-8 people. From time to time, they invite each other to their consulting projects to work together with the client, adopt each other's methods and experience. In addition, they periodically hold internal seminars in their office to jointly discuss difficult cases, new trends in consulting, literature, preparation of joint publications, etc.

5. individual consultants, one way or another formalizing their legal status in the market, and sometimes without it. It is these consultants who make up the majority in the “shells” of other firms. Their success depends on respect and reputation in professional circles.

Classification of consulting services: general management, administration, financial management, personnel management, marketing, production, information technology, specialized services. Their specificity.

1. General management consulting, i.e., assistance in solving problems related to the very existence of the object of consultation and the prospects for its development. Consultants deal with issues such as assessing the state of the organization as a whole and characterizing the external environment for it, defining the goals and value system of the organization, developing a development strategy, assessing management effectiveness, forecasting, organizing branches and new firms, managing innovations, competitiveness and market conditions, changing form of ownership or composition of owners, acquisition of property, shares or shares, improvement of organizational structures, privatization, project management, quality management, etc.

2. Management consultants(administration) deal with issues such as company formation and registration, office organization, office management, risk management, data processing, administrative control system, etc. Their main task is to optimize the management of the organization.

3. Financial Management Consultants assist in solving the following main tasks:

Search for sources of financial resources;

Assessment and improvement of the current financial performance of the organization;

Strengthening the financial position of the organization for the future.

They deal with financial planning and control, taxation, accounting, capital investment appraisal, placement of shares and shares on the market, credit, insurance, profit and cost, insolvency, etc.

By its very nature, finance is an integral part of many types of management consulting services. Financial due diligence, for example, is an essential part of business diagnostic studies. During project execution, financial consultants may work closely with consultants in other areas, especially in manufacturing and marketing, to assess the financial implications of their proposals.

4. HR consultants develop solutions for recruiting, workforce planning, personnel control, remuneration system, incentive and reward systems, motivation, advanced training and personnel management, labor protection, health and safety of personnel and the psychological climate in the team.

Their main task is to assist managers in optimizing the attraction and use of such a key factor for any organization as human resources.

5. Marketing consultants assist managers in solving a vital task for any enterprise operating in a market economy: ensuring its functioning in such a way that effective demand is presented for the goods and services it produces. They handle market research and provide decision-making in sales, pricing, corporate image and public relations, advertising, new product development, service, design, direct marketing, after-sales service, socio-economic research and forecasting. retail and dealerships, etc. Since in a market economy the most difficult problem for an enterprise is not production, but sales of products, marketing is one of the most important areas of business consulting support.

6. Consultants on the organization of production combine knowledge of economic, management and engineering issues, assisting managers in solving problems such as the choice of production process technology, work organization scheme, regulation of internal distribution of materials, stimulation of labor productivity, productivity, assessment and control of product quality, analysis of production costs, production planning , use of equipment and materials, design and improvement of products, evaluation of works, etc.

The production process requires decision-making on the part of the manager in order to get the products of the required quality, in the right quantity, on time and at minimal cost. Thus, the job of the consultant is to help find the best ways to achieve these goals.

7. Information Technology Consultants are engaged in the development of recommendations for the implementation of computer-aided design (CAD) and automated control systems (ACS), information retrieval systems, the use of computers in accounting, computer audit, the selection and installation of systems and other quantitative methods for assessing the activities of an enterprise.

Information technology is essential for modern organizations. But the changes accompanying the use of new information technologies are associated with the very organizational foundations of the enterprise, such as the principles of building its structure.

8. Specialized consulting services are those types of recommendations that do not belong to any of the seven groups described above. They differ from them either in methods (training consulting), or in objects (consulting on electricity management, telecommunications, environmental protection, procurement, consulting in the public sector, consulting for small businesses), or the nature of the knowledge introduced (engineering consulting, legal advice).

MANAGEMENT CONSULTING

(exam)

Development history consulting and state of the art consulting.

The first consulting firm was established in 1885 and specialized in accounting consulting.

1914 Chicago - "Service business research"Edwin Boose.

The origins of management consulting were classic managers. The need for enterprise management is changing, there is an interest in consulting in the field of human relations. Consulting develops along with management.

In the 20s of the 20th century, consulting appeared in Russia, but in a specific form - research institutes of instructors. The main work was carried out in the training of trainers who were trained in rational working methods.

The development of counseling is resumed in the post-war years.

The first wave of consulting in Russia was in the 70s.

1976 - Section Sociology of Organization.

The first management consultants are Estonians Jaak Leimann, Madis Habakuk, Raul Juxvärav.

Official mention in the press "management consultant" - August 19, 1982 in the newspaper "Pravda".

1991 - Association of Management and Organizational Development Consultants.

992 - the first school of consultants at the Academy of National Economy.

The first consulting firms emerged in the early 1990s. In parallel with them, Western consultants come to the Russian market. The first direction in their activity is expert consulting and audit.

The Big Four firms that exist today are:

· Price Waterhouse Coopers;

Deloite

In 1998, a crisis occurs - Western firms leave the Russian market. The number of firms in Russian consulting is decreasing. There is practically no consulting activity.

2000 - 2003 - the years of the rise of consulting in Russia. Medium business consulting.

2004 - 2007 - a massive turn towards consulting.

2001 - 2002 - Dramatic growth in information technology consulting services.

2002 - 2003 - the years of the turn of firms to consulting from just information technology.

Unipravex - developed a consulting map for 2003.

RA Expert.

The consultants carry out cooperation - subcontracting.

IT consulting firms operate in the following areas:

· Business consulting;

· Reengineering;

· Unification of motivational schemes, processes;

· Budgetary management;

· On the implementation of business applications;

· Optimization of management structures;

Setting up IFRS, creating systems internal control;

· Certification for quality systems;

Development of the number management processes for authorities;

· Regulatory and legal consulting for the public sector;

HR direction: development of personnel leasing programs, outsourcing, etc.

Classic HR consultants:

· Increasing efficiency;

· Problems of personnel development.

Strategic consulting:

· Full planning and consulting support for the implementation and implementation of projects;

· Optimization of the structure of government bodies;

· Regulation of processes and activities of authorities;

· Management by results;

· Development of strategies and programs for the socio-economic development of the subjects of the federation.

The most restricted areas for IT consultants:

· grade;

· Tax consulting;

Legal consulting

Marketing consulting occupies a special place in consulting.

Siberian market lags behind the Russian market by 2-3 years.

Moscow firms are actively advancing.

Most of the consulting firms are concentrated in Novosibirsk. The demand for business process optimization is constantly growing.

Industry priorities have changed slightly. Personnel trainings, formation of sales strategies, logistic audit, financial consulting.

Consultant.

1. Consultant as a professional in providing management services.

1.1. Types of consultants.

1.2. Types of consulting firms.

2. Professional associations of consultants. Code of Conduct.

Question: Consultant as a professional in the provision of management services

Criteria for the professionalism of a consultant:

* knowledge and skills, competence;

* interests of the client;

* impartiality and objectivity;

* the ability to critically assess their knowledge and skills;

* good product for good money;

* ethics in marketing;

* public interest

Criteria for the professionalism of consultants:

1. Knowledge and skills of consultants.

2. Service and Public Interest.

3. Ethical standards. Determine which behavior in the provision of services is correct and which is not.

4. Self-discipline and self-control.

5. Ability to critically assess their knowledge and skills. It is considered unprofessional to "grab" on any assignment if the consultant does not understand the problem. Figuratively speaking, a consultant is a person who takes a watch from another to tell him what time it is.

6. Impartiality and objectivity.

7. Confidentiality.

8. "Good product for good money." It is believed that a highly professional consultant should be received at the level of an enterprise director. It is considered unprofessional to ask high price from an uninformed client.

Inside information cannot be used in the personal interests of the consultant.

You can not offer the client's employees to work (poach them).

If the consultant is late in solving problems, then he should warn the client about this in advance.

The consultant should organize his work in such a way that it is more convenient for the client (taking into account the interests of the client).

There is no need to fear that the client's employees will become competitors, since the professional consultant is constantly developing.

Additional reward or performance reward. In some countries there is a ban on additional remuneration consultant. For example, in the United States, from 1972 to 1981, there was a prohibition on performance remuneration in the consultants' code.

Ethics in marketing is that you cannot speak badly about other consultants and create a false impression about the capabilities of your firm.

Public interest. If the client's interests may conflict with the interests of the community, then the consultant should explain to the client the socio-economic implications of these decisions. If the client cannot be persuaded, then the consultant should refuse to provide services.

Types of consultants

Among the consultants are management consultants, engineering consultants, legal issues, on financial matters, on accounting, etc.

Also, consultants can be divided into two groups:

1. Universal- consultants of a wide profile.

2. Specialists- consultants with a specific focus.

For example, in most consulting firms there is a division of labor between specialists and generalists. Experts are familiar with all the latest developments in a particular industry. Generalists pay attention to coordination different areas management. As a rule, generalists prepare and coordinate large jobs, diagnose and schedule jobs, and prepare reports. In general, they perform supervisory and management functions.

There are two more types of consultants:

1. Internal consultants. These are the consultants who are on the staff of the organization.

2. External consultants. External consultants come from outside the organization.

Today the number of internal consultants is increasing. This speaks to the recognition of the power of the consulting approach.

External consultants view internal consultants as dependent and therefore subjective.

Internal consultant	External consultant
Dependent on the employer financially and administratively.	Material and financial responsibility within the amount of the contract.
Has personal interests in the organization. Depends on the results of work and the consequences of changes.	There is no fundamental dependence on the organization. Administratively independent, emotionally free from conventions and obligations, objective and unbiased.
Is in labor relations with the organization. Knows the intricacies of business and organization. Familiar with the system of formal and informal relationships in the organization.	Has no personal interests in the organization. Doesn't depend on business development. Is hired by certain period to solve certain problems.
He works alone, has a low level of payment for services, so there is a superficial attitude towards him.	High cost of services.
Possesses information based on personal experience, its goals are the interests of the organization.	Works in a team, attracts partner organizations.

Reasons for internal counseling:

1. Awareness of the technical and methodological benefits of counseling.

2. Availability of a consultant at any time.

3. Knowledge of all the features of the internal affairs of the organization: the style of management, culture and policy of the company, as well as confidentiality.

4. Cost factor. Internal consulting is 30% - 50% cheaper than external consulting if there is enough work for it.

External consultant:

· Has information about problems and solutions;

· Owns techniques and technologies that are constantly being improved;

· Focuses on the solution of the problem, and not on the development of personnel;

· The goal is to make a profit.

Recently, internal and external consultants have been working together. Internal consultants define the terms of reference of external consultants, can assess the professionalism of external consultants, participate in project discussions and assess its implementation. In the course of work with external consultants - they study, improve their qualifications, competence.

Types of consulting firms

There is a wide variety of firms that provide a variety of consulting services.

Types of consulting firms:

1. Large (international) multifunctional firms. The size of a firm is determined by the number of employees. If the number of employees exceeds 1000 people, then this is a giant company. Most large firms have branches in different countries... Their size allows you to work with any problem. These are full service firms.

2. Consulting services of large audit firms(Ernst & Young, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Arthur Andersen, etc.).

3. Small and medium-sized consulting firms with a staff of 50 to 100 people. They advise small and medium-sized firms on a limited basis and specialize in one or more areas (for example, strategic development firms, personnel management, assessment of the complexity of work, production management system, marketing, etc.). Also, you can observe specialization by focus, or by industry.

4. Firms providing special technical services(mathematics, computers, econometrics, operations research, strategic research, consumer demand models, automation of the production process, etc.). Such firms can be both independent and associated with technical centers.

5. Consulting departments in organizations, banks.

6. Single consultants. Their services are usually cheaper and they mostly operate in small businesses.

7. Consulting teachers.

8. Non-traditional sources of counseling services. This group includes organizations that provide consulting services, as an addition to other goods and services (banks and investment companies, Insurance companies).

Depending on the specialization, business consultants are divided into subject consultants, trainers and management consultants (or systems consultants).

Subject Consultants specialize in one aspect of the firm's activities, for example, to optimize financial flows and workflow, or to debug the technology of production of goods. As specialists in the field of "treatment" of these particular systems of the business organism, they tend to ignore everything that remains outside the scope of their specialization. Thus, if the client knows for sure that the company has "broken", he should seek help from just such a consultant.

Trainers "Cure" the problem with action (as opposed to subject consultants), for example, train managers in the art of negotiation. However, if the client cannot determine which aspect of the company's activities needs improvement, then no training will help him: this “training” would be like training a layman in a gym hoping to achieve harmony by training just one muscle group.

Management consultants (or system consultants) are able to see the whole problem as a whole. In this case, the state of individual systems is considered by them as a consequence of the general organization of the business.

Management consultants can be divided into at least two groups: specialists and generalists (geralists).

Specialists offer innovations, because they are interested in all new products in specific area knowledge. They provide normative or “value” counseling.

Most often, managers encounter specialists in regulatory advice- this is economic, legal, organizational and technical advice, when experts, auditors, developers, advisers, teachers or innovators transmit recommendations to the client on specific changes using such methods of work as audit and other special checks, development, documentation, training, calculations.

IN "Value" consulting specialist consultants (ideologists, innovators, trainers) "instill" new value orientations in the client organization through training, social and psychological trainings, negotiation technologies, and group work. This consulting is typical with the participation of consultants in the work on "total" quality in management, on the organization's orientation towards the client.

Station wagons offer developed, tested methods and deal with several areas of management, focusing on their interaction, coordination and integration.

Generalists carry out problematic consulting of a process or a project. They usually deal with preliminary organizational diagnostics, negotiations with clients, planning and coordinating assignments, drawing up conclusions, presenting final proposals to clients, etc. The generalists perform supervisory and managerial functions. When consulting a project, the consultant diagnoses the problems and proposes his solutions.

With the catch phrase "An organization can only achieve what its staff can achieve" they work mainly process consultants, which carry out diagnostics of the client organization and propose methods of jointly identifying and solving organizational problems. Generalists provide consulting in the following main areas:

The goals of the organization; organization strategy; organizational structure;

organizational culture; type of development of the organization; leadership; conflicts.

In management consulting, the universal creates such a situation for the organization's personnel so that he himself reveals his condition, and, having realized it, understood the problem, found ways to solve it, and discovered new ideas.

However, the point is not in opposing generalists and specialists, but in combining their skills and abilities to achieve a greater total effect. Many consulting firms have both specialists and generalists, between whom there is a certain division of labor.