MPH_MZPO Management consulting

Faculty of Economics and Administration
Autumn 2022
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
Ing. Eva Švandová, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Ing. Eva Švandová, Ph.D. (seminar tutor)
Guaranteed by
Ing. Eva Švandová, Ph.D.
Department of Business Management – Faculty of Economics and Administration
Contact Person: Vlasta Radová
Supplier department: Department of Business Management – Faculty of Economics and Administration
Timetable
each odd Friday 10:00–11:50 S310, except Fri 16. 9.
  • Timetable of Seminar Groups:
MPH_MZPO/01: each even Friday 10:00–11:50 S310, except Fri 4. 11., E. Švandová
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.

The capacity limit for the course is 24 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 7/24, only registered: 0/24
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The course is implemented in cooperation with consultants working in the international consulting company Ernst & Young (EY). Management consulting is a sector where many graduates of business schools are heading. It offers diverse work, potential for personal and professional growth, but on the other hand not everyone can become a consultant. The course does not primarily aim to develop existing knowledge of the business process (Business Studies, Management, Economics of Organizations, etc.). For the development of the personality of a consultant, the subjects Project Management, Innovation Management are beneficial for learning creative methods in finding solutions, or Controlling, where students work with sotwars for presenting and reporting data (Power BI).

The aim of the course (from the student's point of view) is to create a picture of the possible action in advisory practice, including major decisions, to learn the consulting process from building a relationship with clients to presenting solutions, to spread a positive attitude towards advisory in corporate practice, all with the help of experts from the EY practice.

In the course we aim (from the teacher's point of view) to facilitate the students' entry, decision-making and actual operation in the consulting market, which has its own specificities, either as a consultant or as a client requesting consulting services. Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
Learning outcomes
With regard to the defined objectives, the learning outcomes can be defined in the following three areas:

1. Formulating a picture of one's own role in counselling practice
Students after completing the course:
- they will know what is the content of management consultancy, its development, types of consultancy organisations, the role of the consultant
- they will know the business models of selected consulting firms and will be able to analyze them in terms of risks
- be able to create their own business model for a consulting practice and define its risks
- gain knowledge that they will be able to apply in a "case interview"
- be able to assess their potential to become a consultant and formulate goals for becoming a consultant

2. Learning the counselling process

Students upon completion of the course:
- will know the phases of the counselling process and their content and objective
- they will be able to create a consulting proposal, plan a project, calculate the costs associated with the consultant's work and with the implementation of proposed solutions to the problem
- be able to carry out a structured problem analysis (decompose the problem) and propose a structured solution
- be able to create a consultancy proposal, calculate the costs associated with the consultant's work and the implementation of the proposed solutions to the problem
- be able to produce a final report, evaluate and close the project

3. To perceive and spread a positive attitude towards counselling in practice (not only by argumentation but also by "good" example)
Students after completing the course:
- will be able to communicate with clients in a structured way (pyramid principle) (normal communication, creating reports for clients including processing and active presentation of the project result to the client)
- argue constructively, responding to the (potential) client's comments and compiling a list of the benefits of the cooperation, based on knowledge of the possible reasons for a critical view of the consultancy
- know and be able to implement in practice the ethical principles of management consultancy
-be able to draw up

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Syllabus
  • Thematic plan of lectures:
  • 1. Consultancy industry, Consultancy process, Entry phase, Business model of consultancy organization
  • 2. Structured Diagnosis,
  • 3. Structured solution
  • 4. Data presentation, project closure
  • 5. Case interview, basic counselling skills, counselling approach, working with the client
  • Thematic exercise plan:
  • 1. Personality of the counsellor
  • 2. Formation of consultancy proposal, assignment and consultancy contract, project planning;
  • 3. Problem decomposition; Structured diagnosis
  • 4. Structured solution
  • 5. Presentation of the solution, creation of the final report for the client
  • 6. Presentation of the consulting organization's business model or evaluation of the existing one and proposal for change; case interview, developing relationship with client
Literature
    required literature
  • BAAIJ, M. G. An introduction to management consultancy. First edition. Los Angeles: Sage, 2014, xix, 580. ISBN 9781446256138. info
    recommended literature
  • BILLINGHAM, Vicky. Project management : how to plan and deliver a successful project. 2nd edition. Wales: Studymates, 2017, 288 stran. ISBN 9781842853238. info
  • CROWTHER, David and Geoff LANCASTER. Research methods : a concise introduction to research in management and business consultancy. 2nd ed. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 2009, viii, 292. ISBN 9780750689533. info
  • BISWAS, Sugata and Daryl TWITCHELL. Management consulting : a complete guide to the industry. Second edition. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2001, xii, 336. ISBN 9780471444015. info
Teaching methods
The course consists of. Basic ideas will be presented in the form of presentations, and the main ideas will be discussed in class; at the same time, there will be work with the text in the form of short case studies to deepen understanding in the context of practice. Each of the lectures will be led by an expert in the field.
The seminars will be led mainly by experts from practice - representatives of EY's faculty partner. Students will go through the consulting process practically while solving a consulting project assignment in class. The work will be mostly team-based in class.

Students will be given assignments in seminars, which they will work on continuously (ideally in seminars). In addition, one homework assignment will be given, which students will work on independently, then discuss in pairs and present in the final seminar (a proposal for a consultant business model or a proposal to change the business model of an existing consulting organization).
In case of change of epidemiological conditions and transition of the course to online mode, the group assignment will be replaced by the elaboration of assignments. Lectures will go into on-line mode and will be recorded.
Assessment methods
Two key areas enter the final evaluation:

1. Points for work in seminars
A) Points for completing tasks assigned in seminars by the instructors from practice and worked on mainly in seminars (Creating a consulting proposal; decomposing a problem; designing a solution; creating a final presentation; creating a final report; personality of the consultant). If a student does not attend the seminar, a substitute assignment will be given (analogous to the assignments given in class). The assignments in class will be worked on mostly in groups. The student may receive 50 points.
B) Points earned for creating or proposing a change to the consulting organization model and presenting it. Will be worked on individually, discussed in groups. This is a total of  20 points the student may earn.

2. Points for the final exam
The final examination will have a) a written and b) an oral part. For the written part, students will answer approximately 5 questions that are created by the students themselves during the semester and submitted to the instructor. The latter will adapt the questions into an appropriate form and about 5 questions will be selected at random. During the oral exam, the student will randomly choose from brief assignments for a consulting project (defined consulting problem) for which he/she should be able to propose the phases of the consulting process, define a procedure for analyzing the problem and possibly proposing a solution, identify the risks of the project and propose possible solutions; draw up a consulting contract including a procedure for determining the final fee and propose a procedure for determining the fee. Case studies will be made available to students in advance. Students may earn 10 points for the written portion of the exam and 20 points for the oral portion.

Thus, in total, a student may earn 100 points. To pass the course, a student must earn 60% of the points in each of the two main parts, i.e. 60% for the activities in the tutorial and 60% for the activities in the examination.

Students have the opportunity to earn extra points for activity in seminars that are not part of the budgeted 100%. They can improve their final grade.

Any copying, recording, or taking tests, use of unauthorized aids as well as communication devices, or other interference with the objectivity of the examination (credit) will be considered a failure to meet the requirements for completion of the course and a gross violation of course regulations. As a result, the instructor will close the examination(credit) with a grade of "F" in the IS and the Dean will initiate disciplinary proceedings which may result in termination of the course of study."
Language of instruction
Czech
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Study Materials
The course is taught annually.
Information on course enrolment limitations: Minimální počet pro otevření předmětu je 10 zapsaných studentů. / The minimum number of enrolled students to open the course is 10.
Teacher's information
https://teams.microsoft.com/l/team/19%3a6e81979fe556491890fde4e96d00a8a5%40thread.tacv2/conversations?groupId=178b5937-c30b-4166-9f51-6cab4bbe4d99&tenantId=11904f23-f0db-4cdc-96f7-390bd55fcee8
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2020, Autumn 2021, Autumn 2024.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Autumn 2022, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/econ/autumn2022/MPH_MZPO