Welcome to CMCE

Gather around, esteemed colleagues, as we embark on a whimsical journey through the annals of history. Yes, my fellow consultants, it's time to…

Back in June I joined a Harvard Business Review webinar focusing on the launch of ‘The AI-Savvy Leader: Nine Ways to Take Back Control and Make AI…

The United Nations has defined a number of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which are an urgent call for action to end poverty, improve health…

The Centre for Management Consulting Excellence (CMCE) has just completed its latest study into factors that impact how management consultants…

On June 13th we hosted the final in our four-part series exploring the basic concepts of behavioural economics and how behaviour, emotions and…

What skills will consultants need to thrive in an environment where artificial intelligence (AI) is ubiquitous?  Will AI make the consulting…

At the end of May we hosted the third in our series of workshops exploring a few of the key concepts of behavioural economics. In particular, this…

Earlier this month I had the opportunity to join an event organised by our colleagues at Harvard Business Review and focusing on ‘Higher Ground.…

In May 2024 we held the second in our series of interactive workshops focusing on the fundamentals of behavioural economics and hosted in…

I once had a client who took exception to the fact that I had disagreed with him on a conference call: he was the boss and therefore I should have…

In June 2024 the International Council of Management Consulting Institutes (ICMCI) published a White Paper 'Navigating the Future - A Guide to AI…

Earlier this month we were pleased to host the first in our series of four interactive workshops with leading academics and practitioners aimed at…

I love it when you sign up for something and it turns out to be slightly different from what you expected but also so much better than you thought…

On 6 February, CMCE was delighted to welcome Professor Alex Hill to lead a workshop in which he shared the insights of research conducted into…

On 1 February, CMCE was pleased to host a forum on the Chartered Management Consultant accreditation.  A four-person panel gave their…

In May 2023, the Center for AI Safety (CAIS), a non-profit organisation whose mission is to reduce societal-scale risks from artificial…

We all want to do work we are proud of. The popularity in the UK of TV shows like the Repair Shop demonstrates the nation’s pleasure of seeing…

As part of its programme to review the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on management consultancy, CMCE was pleased to host a Showcase led…

Nick Bush, CMCE outgoing Director

As a management consultant, I’ve always been concerned with looking ahead, helping clients plan for…

Having being involved in several implementations aimed at creating more efficient processes, recovering productivity, and increasing marginality,…

The Doughnut Economics Action Lab has designed a tool that sets out how businesses can engage with Doughnut Economics and apply the principles in…

The Centre for Management Consulting Excellence (CMCE) held an event on 2 November to launch its latest report, on Management Consultant Value.…

In an increasingly challenging commercial and regulatory environment there is a far greater expectation that businesses will become more proactive…

Harvard Business School has published an informative working paper of a study into the impact of generative AI and Large Language Models (LLMs) on…

“With the right mindset, we can’t lose, we either practice what we’ve learned or we learn what we need to practice.” Noura

A few months…

The article “The End of Management Consulting as We Know it?” published in the Management Consulting journal, highlighted the increased client…

What are the specific social and emotional skills, the ‘soft’ behavioural skills that consultants need that differ from those required in…

The lockdown-induced hybrid working model changed the labour landscape significantly. However, as restrictions were relaxed, there was little sign…

Earlier this month, we announced the publication of the latest CMCE report ‘Measuring Management Consultancy Performance’ . It summarises the key…

      “Dressing well is a form of good manners.” Tom Ford

Back in 2018 then CMCE Director Calvert Markham wrote…

Hope, hype or hearsay...

There is a lot of speculation about the ways in which AI will change how management consulting services are…

Although it has been around since 1956, artificial intelligence is enjoying* an unprecedented level of attention. At CMCE we make no apologies for…

What motivates people to do what they do? For Daniel Beunza, Professor of Social Studies of Finance at Bayes Business School, it is curiosity. As…

Bruce Garvey and Adam Svendsen tested two commercial Generative AI products to see if they could be used to create Red Team scenarios. 'Red…

As a proud management consultant that has over a decade of experience in the profession and two decades working in financial services, I have…

Why does management consulting have such a bad reputation? (And what we can do about it.)

Compared with healthcare workers, train drivers…

Responses to two Golden Questions that clients and management consultants should ask themselves and each other.  How does generative AI…

How well can we understand a client’s culture to help them deliver change? How do new technologies impact the underlying moral decisions firms are…

A review of the CMCE Showcase 'Systems Thinking in Consulting - Why and How', given by Patrick Hoverstadt.

A couple of hours…

A review of The Big Con, by Professor Mariana Mazzucato and Rosie Collington

There has recently been a lot of interest and discussion…

In this podcast from Source, Paul Alexander, a senior procurement professional, discusses the pitfalls in procurement that sometimes trap…

‘In the sixties we put people on the moon with computers less powerful than a calculator. Today everybody has a supercomputer in their pocket and…

Things Can Only Get Better was a catchy 1993 song by pop band D:Ream that is famous for two things: being the theme song of the 1997 Labour party…

Strategy – or more accurately, how organisations approach strategy - is changing.

Long, long ago, back in the 1990's and early 2000's,…

Two panel discussions with the title ‘Management consultancy in 2032 – Time travel into the future’ were organised by the International Council of…

It is always good to reflect on the past, and how we can improve the future.  With this in mind I’d like to tell you the story of two little…

At first glance this may seem a matter of semantics but, as is often the case, terminology matters. And for the inquisitive mind, the question…

A PhD thesis presenting a comprehensive history of management consulting to the UK Government.  The abstract reads as follows:

"…

Last year marked the 100th anniversary since the foundation of the Harvard Business Review by Harvard Business School in 1922, an important…

How can a company like KFC maintain consistency and high standards across all its franchises? How are micro to small businesses able to…

At last month’s virtual Showcase, we were delighted to welcome an international expert, Dr Mark Wolf, from Quantinuum, the world's largest…

Now a regular fixture in the CMCE calendar, the CMCE Research Awards ceremony is an opportunity to celebrate research into management consultancy…

A great deal of consulting work focuses on improving the formal, by-the-book definitions of roles, structures, processes, or procedures. And yet,…

“O that a man might know
The end of this day's business ere it come!”

So said Brutus towards the end of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar…

As a result of a recent experience supporting two medium-sized companies with the implementation of back-office automation, I thought it would be…

The 2022 CMCE Research Awards provided an opportunity to celebrate some excellent research into management consultancy. The panel of judges felt…

In February 2022, I welcomed the opportunity to share the stage with working professionals having 30+ years of experience as a panel speaker in…

My last guest editorial, in May 2021, mentioned some of the many sources of knowledge and wisdom that I utilise when working with clients. On this…

A great deal of consulting work focuses on improving the formal, by-the-book definitions of roles, structures, processes, or procedures. And yet,…

Even before COVID-19, uncertainty was part of our daily lives. Climate change, migration and automation, just to mention a few of the factors…

We recently asked members of our community for their views on the capabilities required by consultants for a number of different roles.

…

‘If you’re going to live, leave a legacy. Make a mark on the world that can’t be erased.’ Maya Angelou

Over the last couple of weeks, the…

For anyone involved in planning and decision-making, combatting risk and uncertainty is a major part of their job. Politicians, corporates,…

The Centre for Management Consulting (CMCE) hosted a roundtable discussion on 10th June to explore the topics which influence Excellence in…

We learn by practice and the best practice is to follow a model of the virtuous person.’ Aristotle

Who plays a key role in the continuous…

Covid-19 has changed business forever. Technology innovation and implementation shifted from taking years to months as good business strategies…

Blue-chip client - these three words are catnip to any professional whether sole trader or major firm and play a significant role in many…

Business transformation, in particular digital transformation, is fashionable.  Advocates of business transformation emphasise the need to be…

CMCE Virtual Showcase 10 May 2022, write up by Past Master Denise Fellows

We are coming out of two years of pandemic lockdowns into a ‘New…

In June 2022, CMCE conducted a roundtable discussion on the subject of Excellence in Consulting

The discussion focused on four topics…

Reflecting on many years in and around management consultancy, I thought it might be useful to draw upon my personal experience of professional…

“‘In a wicked world, relying upon experience from a single domain is not only limiting, it can be disastrous.’” David Epstein

‘Equipped…

The latest CMCE research report shares insights on the role of academic research in the management consulting practice.

In 2021 CMCE…

A couple of years ago a friend of mine had an idea for a board game and wondered what I thought about it. Not knowing much about game development…

“Success has to do with deliberate practice. Practice must be focused, determined, and in an environment where there's feedback” M. Gladwell…

CMCE Virtual Showcase 10 May 2022, write up by Past Master Denise Fellows

We are coming out of two years of pandemic lockdowns into a ‘New…

The recent CMCE Next Gen series of discussions on the post-pandemic world of work addressed very important questions that will certainly define…

There is a second tradition of consulting to organisations that has developed in parallel to management consulting.  Organisational…

As the impact of the global pandemic and the acceleration of digital technologies continue to disrupt the business landscape, many organizations…

Report of the CMCE Virtual Showcase 8 February 2022

Any lecture that begins with a question “Are you familiar with Heraclitus and…

The CMCE Next Gen series of discussions on the post-pandemic world of work consisted of 7 consecutive conversations on Clubhouse, every Thursday…

The CMCE Next Gen series of discussions on the post-pandemic world of work consisted of 7 consecutive conversations on Clubhouse, every Thursday…

Many consultants seem to be attracted to personality tests.  I have taken part in many professional gatherings where participants have…

We are often reminded that to see different results we must do different things.  Yet as management consultants we know that change isn’t…

Virtual working is something that we have all had to get to grips with over the last two years and, in some ways, we’ve stumbled into it without…

Report of the CMCE Virtual Showcase 8 February 2022

Any lecture that begins with a question “Are you familiar with Heraclitus and…

“Mistakes are the portals of discovery.”  J. Joyce

Have you ever heard of the term atychiphobia? Put simply, it is what we commonly…

Just before Christmas we launched our CMCE Next Gen initiative, a series of discussions on the post-pandemic world of work that will consist of 7…

All sectors and industries face a non-return path due to Digital Transformation (DX): the development of AI, machine learning, mobile, IoT (…

If, like me, you have children who are well into adulthood you may have had the realisation that at some point they became “proper” grown-ups with…

Intellectual Capital is an intangible asset comprising human capital, relationship (social) capital, organisational (structural) capital and…

Missing items on the shelf of your supermarket fuelled by the driver shortage is a topic which has been covered thoroughly by our industry experts…

In the last of this series of articles Calvert Markham, former Director of the Centre, focuses how to manage your consultancy business…

“The measure of intelligence is the ability to change.” A. Einstein

Before you wonder whether there is a mistake in the way the title is…

The papers shortlisted for the CMCE Consulting Research Awards 2021 in each of the three award categories are listed below.  In each case…

A crucial part of undertaking a consultancy assignment, especially with a new client, is the interpersonal dynamics.

Importantly, can I…

This research study investigated how clients and consultants approach embedding standard practices in specific organisations.

The paper…

Two programmes I’ve watched recently mentioned ‘sunk cost fallacy’, a tendency to continue to do something because we’ve already invested a…

“Mastering others is strength. Mastering yourself is true power.” Lao Tzu

Leadership is a much-debated concept that is surrounded by many…

In this series Calvert Markham, former Director of the Centre, is providing basic guidance in developing your consultancy business.

…

When carrying out an assignment, consultants may only be with a client for a limited period of time, be it a number of days per week or a fixed…

In future management consultants will need to have a combination of technical and what we could define as soft skills, e.g. cultural adaptation…

Thus far in this series, Calvert Markham, former Director of the Centre, has provided basic guidance on deciding your consulting service and…

One of the best examples of industrial self-sufficiency was the Ford motor company. Their Rouge web site tells us that:

“Henry Ford’s…

Two programmes I’ve watched recently mentioned ‘sunk cost fallacy’, a tendency to continue to do something because we’ve already invested a…

In this series, Calvert Markham, former Director of the Centre, provides basic guidance on starting and running a consultancy business.

…

I am a Terry Pratchett fan. I love the Discworld novels, which are latter-day comedies of manners. His fiction is of the same ilk as Douglas Adams…

In this series, Calvert Markham, former Director of the Centre, provides basic guidance on starting and running a consultancy business. Previous…

Last month we left Antonia, our fictional consultant, deciding on whether to accept a job offer that was made to her by one of her current…

Apart from an abiding passion for rugby, I’m not a massive sports fan but I do like to take a good dip into big sporting occasions when they…

In this webinar, Calvert Markham and Aneeta Madhok discuss the opportunities and challenges of being a consultant and Calvert shares some advice…

In this series we confront readers with ethical dilemmas and ask: what would you have done?

In the mid-1990s Paul Lynch, who was later to…

In this series, Calvert Markham, former Director of the Centre, provides basic guidance on starting and running a consultancy business. Previous…

Early in my consulting career I was assigned to the south of Sudan to train senior members of the local ministry of agriculture in the mysteries…

…. We are all crew.” says the Canadian philosopher Marshall McLuhan. Bigger than the threat of COVID, climate change is challenging us…

In this series, Calvert Markham, former Director of the Centre, provides basic guidance on starting and running a consultancy business. Previous…

I had to write a thank you letter the other day. By which I mean, I had to get a piece of paper and compose and write the letter using a pen…

In this series we confront readers with ethical dilemmas and ask what you would have done

These dilemmas are based on a series written in…

As I write this, it is a little over a year since we first went into lockdown and pretty much all forms of contact and communication turned…

In this series, Calvert Markham, former Director of the Centre, provides basic guidance on starting and running a consultancy business.

A…

Have you ever thrown away a book? I don’t mean disposing of a book as a form of critical comment such as the Nazis did in burning books of Jewish…

In this series we confront readers with ethical dilemmas and ask: what would you have done?

In the mid-1990s Paul Lynch, who was later to…

When we set consultant Jim Foster off on a quest to determine the value of consulting firms, he unearthed some interesting findings that pointed…

In this series, Calvert Markham, former Director of the Centre, provides basic guidance on starting and running a consultancy business. First you…

Business has much to learn from the Christian church. It has been around for much longer than any single commercial organisation and so has…

In this dilemma our ubiquitous consultant Antonia was undertaking an attitude survey for medium-sized family-owned service business which employed…

Mass Observation is the name of a social research writing project about everyday life in Britain, capturing the experiences, thoughts and opinions…

Organisations of all sizes change over time, necessitating considerations regarding organisational structure and people’s roles within it. …

While devastating to the Service Sector, the pandemic is allowing Management Consultants the chance to catch up on trends relevant to their…

Many years ago, our ubiquitous consultant Antonia had a project to conduct an appraisal of a medium-sized, family-owned service business which…

My name is Simon. I’m a change management consultant and I have a mental health issue.

We live in a volatile, uncertain, complex and…

This case described how the mythical and multi-talented consultant Antonia had been recruited by Alpha Associates, a professional services firm,…

A fear of newbie consultants (well, at least of this consultant when young) is being asked a question which you can’…

Ahhh, the week between Christmas and New Year's Day.  A chance for Jethro to put his feet up and relax.  No invitations to tender with a…

In this series we confront readers with ethical dilemmas and ask: what would you have done?

In the mid-1990s Paul Lynch, who was later to…

This article summarises the history of the Institute of Management Consultants (IMC) as described in a paper by Nick Butler and David Collins of…

An introduction to online resources for consulting to charities

The Worshipful Company of Management Consultants (WCoMC),…

Members of the Worshipful Company of Management Consultants give their time to provide pro bono consultancy and mentoring support to charities.…

Understanding the difference between outputs and outcomes is essential for effective charity management.  Outputs are the products or…

In addition to outputs and outcomes, charities often monitor impacts of their activities.  Impacts are long term high-level effects,…

Impact is meaningful, lasting change for beneficiaries of a charity that can be attributed to a specific intervention.  It is notoriously…

No one expects all of their predictions for the year ahead to be correct, but that was especially true for 2020.

In looking ahead to 2021…

Organisations, including charities, have a natural lifecycle.  Eventually they may lose their relevance or run out of resources.  Sadly…

This newsletter’s main article (Selling Consultancy into Large Organisations) reminded me of my time in a ‘big4’ consultancy (PwC) selling into…

In this series we confront readers with ethical dilemmas and ask what would you have done?

These are based on a series written in the mid…

On November 3 CMCE hosted a showcase where we shared the results of Prof Joe O'Mahoney's ongoing research that has examined how some consulting…

The Concise Consultant, a series of videos providing an introduction to management consulting and basic consulting skills, has been produced by…

The Consultancy.uk website recently published the results of a survey of over 900 independent consultants worldwide, including in the UK. …

The opening sentence of L. P.Hartley’s The Go-Between “The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there” is well known. But is the…

A useful summary of the disadvantages of working from home, reporting the findings of a survey in the US.  The biggest challenges to working…

This article summarises the history of the Institute of Management Consultants (IMC) as described in a paper by Nick Butler and David Collins of…

The banking sector is one of the major adopters of AI, and predictive analytics is a key application.  H.P. Bunaes, industry veteran and…

A report on the skills that management consultants will need to sell and deliver assignments in the future.

In 2018 the Centre for…

In an article published in the Harvard Business Review, Nada R. Sanders and John D. Wood argue that the most important factor in successful…

A study of how remote working affected managers’ and employees’ work, well-being, and productivity during the Covid-19 epidemic was reported in…

An interesting case study of a hospitality sector business that has flourished during the COVID-19 pandemic: https://go.cmce.org.uk/qdp .

In an earlier article (‘Do you understand the mind of your buyer’, April 2020) I explained why consulting firms need to ready themselves to deal…

In this series we confront readers with ethical dilemmas and ask: what would you have done?

This month our case study places Antonia as…

It is said that a consultant needs three kinds of expertise: a general understanding of management and organisations, knowledge of a specialist…

One of my colleagues says that if you rearrange the letters of the word ‘consultant’ it spells ‘scapegoat’.

In Biblical times the…

These cases are based on a series written in the mid-1990s by Paul Lynch for Management Consultancy magazine in which he posed ethical dilemmas…

Slides from a seminar on 'Making a success of Home Working' can be found here.  They include some excellent points and useful tips as well as…

CMCE was pleased to host its September 2020 Showcase: Building the AI Highway: Opportunities and challenges in data and analytics. The guest…

Hamlet never had to deal with pandemic restrictions.  Thank goodness.  He had other issues to tend to.  And yet the return to the…

In this series we confront readers with ethical dilemmas and ask: what would you have done?

Our ubiquitous management consultant Antonia…

So as we workers get ready to emerge from lockdown and go back to our offices (realising some are already back, some have a while to wait, and…

Every crisis is an opportunity, including a pandemic. While we are seeing many positive adaptations to our ways of working – plus a number of…

In this series we confront readers with ethical dilemmas and ask: what would you have done?

In last month’s dilemma, our versatile…

CMCE held its first virtual Showcase on July 28th on the very popular topic of cyber-resilience, with two expert speakers on our panel: Mr Kevin…

Consultants must embrace professionalisation to survive
 
Whenever I tell people that I’m a member of the Worshipful Company of…

In this series we confront readers with ethical dilemmas and ask: what would you have done?

Background

A medium sized company had…

The use of technology during the Covid-19 pandemic has led to significant speculation about its role in the Post Covid-19 “New Normal”. Will we…

In this series we confront readers with ethical dilemmas and ask: what would you have done?

These are based on a series written in the mid…

The City Values Forum worked to embed the principles of trust and integrity in the financial and business services sector and to improve business…

In this series we confront readers with ethical dilemmas and ask: what would you have done?

We introduced the series with The Case of the…

The case examines the need for B2B sales teams to delve into a customer’s real requirements before proposing a solution.  Accepting the…

Source Global Research published a detailed report on the UK Consulting Market in 2020, researched before the Covid-19 pandemic.  An extract…

A tool for helping businesses manage a portfolio of innovation projects has been developed by the originators of the Business Model Canvas. …

COMATCH is an online market place where clients can find independent consultants.  What it means for established consulting firms is analysed…

Aristotle's approach to ethics provides useful insights for management consultants.  It suggests virtues that consultants should adopt in…

Transparency Lab’s mission is to develop a model of ‘automated consultancy’.  The company’s main focus is on licensing its technology to…

An essential guide for the boards of financial services companies, enabling them to provide robust, rigorous leadership and effective oversight of…

A unique training course and qualification designed to equip current and aspiring financial services managers with the core skills and knowledge…

A guide for senior management, HR professionals and line managers, showing how to embed values and their associated behaviours in every aspect of…

A brief but powerful modern statement of personal commitment which can be used in a wide range of contexts to express what the individuals and…

Calvert Markham, Director of the Centre, introduces the Historical Archive:

We aim to gather items in the Centre’s historical archive that…

A timeline of management ideas, prepared by Professor Bob Garratt and showing the development of management thinking from 1950 to 2000, can be…

Richard Popple is one of the first contributors to this section of the web site, and in the related correspondence noted that he became President…

The text of Professor Bob Garratt's presentation to the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Corporate Governance can be found here.  Professor…

Richard Popple, past President of the Institute of Management Consultants (IMC), remembers how the IMC introduced a more rigorous system for…

A guide to board leadership in purpose, values and culture: click to download document pdf.

A timeline of management ideas, prepared by Professor Bob Garratt and showing the development of management thinking from 1950 to 2000, can be…

Some questions a board might ask of itself and the executive team: a practical tool.  Download here.

A Roadmap for Governing Culture: a practical tool.  Download here.

This is the first in a series in which we confront readers with ethical dilemmas and ask: what would you have done?

In the mid-1990s Paul…

In this series we confront readers with ethical dilemmas and ask: what would you have done?  Each dilemma is followed up with a commentary.…

Today’s marketplace requires dynamism and agility. Buying organisations are becoming increasingly knowledgeable about their options and much more…

'Professional occupations and organisations' by Daniel Muzio, Sundeep Aulakh and Ian Kirkpatrick is a comprehensive and accessible introduction to…

This is what the future of consulting may look like at entry level.  Today’s data scientists are leading the way.  One aspect of the…

Useful tips for new consultants based on a survey of 50 partners in top firms can be found here.

This is what the future of consulting may look like at entry level.  Today’s data scientists are leading the way.  One aspect of the…

University courses on management consultancy are available at the following universities in the UK, Europe and North America:

 …

Management consultants and academics studying management share a common topic.  In principle, the insights of each should be helpful to the…

A list of the most recommended books on consulting, based on a synthesis of 20 of the supposedly most valuable lists of best consulting books…

Useful websites for consultants and students:

www.top-consultant.com/  (UK based Industry insights as well as trainings and webinars…

Useful websites for consultants and students:

www.top-consultant.com/  (UK based Industry insights as well as trainings and webinars…

A list of the most recommended books on consulting, based on a synthesis of 20 of the supposedly most valuable lists of best consulting books…

Brief descriptions of 20 useful consulting tools and techniques and some helpful concepts.

Distinguishing complex from straightforward…

Human Resources (HR) are the people employed by an organisation, and Human Resource management is those aspects of management specifically…

Bain carries out a regular survey of management tools and techniques and has published a booklet with definitions of the 25 most important…

The main news items that appeared in Management Consultancy magazine month by month were as follows:

September 1993

The topic of Systems Thinking and Managing in the Context of VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity). is deep and wide, and…

Karol Szlichcinski presents a different view.

The earlier blog draws a distinction between the quality of consultants and consulting firms…

With the launch of this new Centre for Management Consulting Excellence, this is a relevant question.

There are plenty of standards for…

Joe O’Mahoney and Calvert Markham (2013) Management Consultancy. Oxford University Press. It is aimed at students of…

Mick James looks at the past – and perhaps the future – of the big consulting practices.

Recent corporate scandals have…

“I could tell you were a management consultant as soon as I saw you!”

This was the director’s greeting when I arrived on set for a…