MKH_MZPO Management consulting

Faculty of Economics and Administration
Autumn 2019
Extent and Intensity
13/0/0. 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
Sat 12. 10. 16:00–19:50 P104, Sat 14. 12. 8:00–11:50 P104
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
Management consuting is a dynamically evolving area in a highly customer-oriented service sector, even sometimes considered more as rhetoric than expert discipline. With the growing awareness of the managers on which the management consultancy is focused on, there is a need to deepen the specialization of consulting companies. With growing specialization accompanied by other social phenomena such as globalization and digitization, there is a need for integration or co-operation of consultants with other consultancy or technology companies, often across countries. In the client enterprise itself, there is a change in the integration of enterprise functions, as well as integration of the client with the environment. The goal is to seek integrated management solutions. Crucial consultancy emerges though in the field of strategy and inter-company cooperation, information technology, as well as the management of company efficiency, all with regard to the effort of the company to gain a competitive advantage. With the deepening digitization of the company, companies gain access to so called biga data that needs to be further processed. Consulting projects often become complex with the need to apply knowledge of project management.
The content responds to the above mentioned facts. The aim of the course is to introduce students the consulting process from the perspective of project management, to teach students a structured approach to data analysis and structured design of solutions and implementation. The use of a structured approach to the counseling and project management methods leads to the systematic work of the consultant, which is necessary with regard to critical approach to management consulting. Students will be informed about the criticism of consulting and thus will be able to respond to a negative approach better. The consulting projects will be seen as a research project. Possibilities of using information technologies and systems during the whole consultation process, as well as the possibility of processing large data, will be presented to the students during the course.
The course is not intended only for students who want to offer consultancy services externally, but also for students who may stand on the demand side for external consultancy services (for example, in the position of the company where they will have the competence to choose a consultant or to cooperate with him, the also area of ​​internal consulting that is experiencing a certain boom, is interesting).
Learning outcomes
After the course, students:

- will know what is the content of the management consulting, the importance of it; as well as the critical point of view on consulting, which is a prerequisite for the ability to persuade the client of the necessity to hire consultant in the case of a negative attitude towards consultancy
- will be aware of the ethical principles in the consulting and will use them in their counseling practice
- will know the phases of the counseling process and their content and purpose, including knowledge of project management methods and procedures in the various phases of the counseling process
- get an overview of software solutions that are usable during the project and will be able to use them in project
- will know the specifics of management consultancy in its various specializations (in the area of ​​strategy, organization, operational management, marketing, finance, information technology, etc.)
- know the prerequisites for successful management of an advisory firm; based on this knowledge will be able to establish and mainly manage their own business
- be able to conduct a structured analysis of the problem, structured solution and implementation of the solution; in the course they will apply knowledge about data collection and analysis.
- will be able to create a consultancy proposal, calculate the costs associated with the work of consultant and implement the proposed solutions to the problem
- will be able to evaluate the consulting project economically
- will be able to process reports for the client including the processing and active presentation of the project results to the client, using the knowledge of project management methods
- will be able to communicate with the client throughout the project
- will know the creative methods that will be able to apply within the project both in finding causes of problems and finding solutions
- verify the functioning of teamwork on the project.
Syllabus
  • Thematic plan of lectures:
  • 1. Basic definition of management consulting; cousulting as a service; introduction of the management consulting sector and its past and possible future development
  • 2. Ethical principles in managerial counseling
  • 3. Critical view of management consulting
  • 4. Management of a consulting organization, including its marketing
  • 5. Consulting process; entrry phase of the counsulting process
  • 6. Structured diagnosis, solution and implementation of the project
  • 7. Specifics of managerial consultancy in selected areas (Strategy, IT, Finance, Human Resources Management, etc.)
  • Thematic Plan of Seminars (POTs):
  • 1. Creating a business model of a consulting organization
  • 2. Creation of consulting offer, assignment and consulting contracts; project planning.
  • 3. Structured diagnosis
  • 4. Structured solution and implementation of the project
  • 5. Methods supporting creative thinking in a consulting project
  • 6. Reports and final presentation of the project
Literature
    required literature
  • BAAIJ, M. G. An introduction to management consultancy. First edition. Los Angeles: Sage, 2014, xix, 580. ISBN 9781446256138. info
  • HODGES, Julie. Consultancy, organizational development and change : a practical guide to delivering value. First published. london: KoganPage, 2017, ix, 308. ISBN 9780749478636. info
  • WICKHAM, Louise and Jeremy WILCOCK. Management consulting : delivering an effective project. Fifth edition. Harlow, England: Pearson, 2016, xx, 330. ISBN 9781292127606. info
  • ANDLER, Nicolai. Tools for project management, workshops and consulting : a must-have compendium of essential tools and techniques. Third revised and considerab. Erlangen: Publicis, 2016, 488 stran. ISBN 9783895784477. info
    recommended literature
  • BIGGS, David. Management consulting : a guide for students. Andover: Cengage Learning, 2010, xviii, 409. ISBN 9781408007914. 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
  • Management consulting : a guide to the profession. Edited by Milan Kubr. 4. vyd. New Delphi: Bookwell, 2002, xxiii, 904. ISBN 9788185040448. info
Teaching methods
The lectures are in the form of lectures within individual blocks, which are supplemented in each block by the practical application of selected methods on a specific counseling project. Selected topics (application examples) students process within POTs. The lectures are in the form of theoretical preparation of the students within the individual topics (according to the curriculum). Even in lectures, students are involved in the subject matter in discussion.
Assessment methods
The course is finished by the exam. Students have to process 3 POTs during the course, which are required to be admitted to the exam. The exam is in the form of written test. The test contains a combination of closed questions (20 questions) and open questions (5 questions). Closed questions check the student's knowledge. Every question has just one correct answer. The student can get 1 point for the correct question answered, in other cases 0 points (for closed questions). For closed questions the student can get a total of 20 points. Open questions verify the student's abilities, specifically to offer a specific solution to the problem. Each question is evaluated by a maximum of 3 points. For open questions, you can get a maximum of 15 points. The maximum number of points for each of the two types of questions is therefore 35. The minimum for successful mastery is 60% of the correct answers, ie. 21 points. Any recording, recording or taking of tests, the use of illicit devices as well as means of communication or other impairment of the objectivity of the exam (credit) will be considered as non-fulfillment of the conditions for completing the subject and for gross violation of the study regulations. As a result, the student passes the exam in the IS with a mark "F" and the Dean initiates disciplinary proceedings, which may result in termination of studies. "
Language of instruction
Czech
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Study Materials
The course is taught annually.
Information on the extent and intensity of the course: Tutorial 8 hodin.
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2020, Autumn 2021.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Autumn 2019, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/econ/autumn2019/MKH_MZPO