Extract Value From Consultants » Media Coverage

Consulting Magazine Interview

Jenny Sutton — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 10:02:03 +0000

As a lead up to the Consulting Summit in Chicago on 5 May, this month’s Consulting Magazine features an interview with Gordon and I on the subject of making effective use of consultants.

We enjoyed the discussion with Joe and look forward to some lively debate on this topic in Chicago.

MIS Asia – How To Better Manage Consultants

Jenny Sutton — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 07:43:16 +0000

In this interview we highlighted some of the challenges for organizations that use consultants in Asia. Consulting, as is the case with most other business, is different in Asia. For example, we advise companies to be very specific about the actual consultants they want assigned to the team, because the talent pool is very shallow in most markets of the region.

MIS Asia – How to Better Manage Consultants

Economist ViewsWire – Lead consultants to exceed expectations

Jenny Sutton — Sat, 06 Nov 2010 02:08:09 +0000

The article we wrote for the Ivey Business Journal on how to control consultant and to focus them on value-adding roles was picked up by the Economist and included in this week’s Executive Briefing.

If you didn’t get a chance to read the original article, here it is again via The Economist’s ViewsWire.

Control and Expertise – the Keys To Extracting Value From Consultants (iveybusinessjournal.com)
Article in Ivey Business School Journal (extractvaluefromconsultants.com)

Talking about consultants on Malaysia Business FM Radio

Jenny Sutton — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 08:16:04 +0000

Jenny was interviewed last by Freda Liu on BFM89.9, a business radio station in Malaysia. They discussed the considerations for hiring a consultant and making sure that they deliver what they were hired for.

If you missed it, you can listen to the podcast version of this segment below.

Eurobiz interviews Jenny

Jenny Sutton — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 07:51:57 +0000

EuroBiz is the monthly publication of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China. Recently Jenny was interviewed by one of their journalists for an article in the October 2010 edition. In the interview, Jenny highlighted the challenges for both consulting firms and their clients in China.

20101001 Eurobiz Getting the Right Expertise

Article in Ivey Business School Journal

Gordon Perchthold — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 04:03:38 +0000

Ivey, (the Business School at the University of Western Ontario, Canada) is one of the leading business schools in Canada, and happens to be my alma mata. So I was pleased to be asked to write an article for the Ivey Business Journal.

In this article we “borrowed” the popular two-by-two matrix from the consulting industry to describe the keys for extracting value from consultants. We believe that successfully getting value from consultants depends on actively controlling the consultants (from initial interaction to engagement completions) and using them in appropriate roles (with emphasis on experts rather than resource augmentation). Get these two things right, and companies will be well positioned to realise value from the consultants they engage.

20100924 Ivey Business Journal – How to Lead Consultants to Exceed Expectations

Treat Them Like Employees – Interview with Contingent Workforce Strategies

Jenny Sutton — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 14:30:14 +0000

Jenny was interviewed by Contingent Workforce Strategies for their Summer 2010 Edition.

The title advises companies to “Treat Them Like Employees” because we believe that managers must monitor and direct consultants, as if they were an internal team, in order to get best value from them.

American Management Association Endorses Our Book

Jenny Sutton — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 00:15:53 +0000

We believe that education on how to use consultants effectively should be included in every management training program, business schools and management association. So we were gratified when the American Management Association included a write up on our book.

Getting Maximum Value from Consultants.

My Business Chronical – Four Keys to Extracting Maximum Value From Consultants

Jenny Sutton — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 00:04:05 +0000

This on-line journal, My Business Chronicle, published a short article on our book, reiterating our key points about how to get value from consultants:

- Define the problem for yourself-don’t rely on consultants to do this who may bias their definition of the problem towards one that they can most easily solve

- Decide which roles on the project team you need consultants to fill – don’t just hire the pyramid of proposed consultants

- Monitor the execution of the project as closely as if it was an internal project

- Link payment of fees to outcomes and results-not just hours worked

Clients should buy what they need, not what consultants are selling

Jenny Sutton — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 20:53:26 +0000

Gordon was interviewed for the attached article which was published in the Management Consultants International. It discusses how clients can take more control of consultants, getting them to deliver what the client needs, not what consultants want to sell.

20100701 Management Consultants International