Quality management in consulting

–areas in which standards will be applied (technical, client relations, cost, time, etc.);

–the name of the person or persons with overall responsibility.

The policy statement should be authorized by senior management, and communicated to all staff and subcontractors. It should be subject to regular review.

The quality programme needs to be supported by an appropriate quality organization and requires a clear focus. The steps to achieving this are:

●review all activities – preferably using client feedback;

●establish priorities for quality improvement;

●determine approaches to achieving improvement (procedures, best practice, training, etc.);

●ensure that training, appraisals and performance measures support the agreed priorities.

Small consulting firms and sole practitioners

The principles of this approach to quality management can be applied equally well to small practices and sole practitioners as to large firms. Independent review is more difficult for a small practice, and a sole practitioner will need to rely on self-generated review procedures. A questionnaire with a series of written observations against each question is a more powerful procedure than a checklist with uniform ticks. Customer review and sign-off of reports is a particularly valuable discipline for the small firm.

32.3 Quality certification

In recent years there has been considerable debate among management consultants about the relevance of externally audited quality standards to their firms. Movement towards seeking certification has been at the pace dictated by the marketplace, including in some cases direct pressure from public sector clients, who see certification as a necessary reassurance of attention to quality. As a result, many large consulting firms have started preparing for, and gaining, certification for at least some sectors of their business. The origins of this movement lie in several countries of the European Union, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom in particular.

ISO 9001:2000 quality assurance standard

The international quality standard ISO 9001:2000 was discussed in Chapter 21. These standards require the applying organization to have a quality policy and a documented quality system and supporting procedure, and to provide evidence that the procedures are being used, conformance is being monitored and there are regular reviews.

733

Management consulting

A quality audit must be undertaken by an independent certification body (such as BSI Quality Assurance, Bureau Veritas, Det Norsk Veritas). These bodies are not management consulting firms, but their function is to audit businesses and organizations in many sectors. They are accredited by government accreditation bodies.

In theory, the quality management system (QMS) should require no more than a well-run business, which takes quality seriously, should be doing already. In practice, the disciplines of a rigorously applied QMS can necessitate substantial shifts in organizational culture and work habits.

Seeking certification should not be an end in itself; there is plenty of anecdotal evidence to support this view. A superficial approach is likely to result in rejection by the consultants involved and non-conformance being readily exposed by the external auditor. It is important that the QMS reflects the needs of actual practice and, therefore, deals with real quality issues. It is also essential to involve the staff in its preparation, so that it is not seen as a bureaucratic imposition.

The assignment model (e.g. lead/enquiry, proposal preparation, assignment plan, monitoring and controlling, and completing/closing) is well suited to the application of ISO 9001:2000 standards. It has been shown to be applicable to all sizes of consultancy practice.

Clearly, ISO certification is not sufficient in itself as a guarantee of meeting client requirements. It provides independent certification that a quality management system is in place and that the practice is conforming with its requirements. But there is much more to do. Quality certification by itself is not a measure of client satisfaction, although the QMS should require that there are procedures for obtaining client feedback, and that these are in operation.

Selecting a certification body

Fees charged by certification bodies are negotiable. As there are ongoing costs of surveillance, it is worth paying particular attention to the value you will derive from the guidance of these bodies and checking out that their auditors are going to understand your business. Remember that many certification bodies are new to the auditing service and professional businesses.

Questions to be asked of certification bodies include:

●Have you been, or are you expecting to be, accredited to assess management consulting firms?

●Who recognizes your certification?

●Do you have a customer care programme?

●What are your fees?

●Can we see the curriculum vitae of your quality auditors?

●Can you provide relevant references?

The quality auditor will check the documented quality system against ISO 9001:2000 and the applicable guidelines. He or she is likely to carry out an

734

Quality management in consulting

internal audit and management review, and also needs to agree on the scope of the certificate, i.e. which parts of the practice (activity areas) are to be included. Three or four months’ records based on the documented quality system are necessary before the conformance audit can be undertaken.

Problems encountered in seeking certification

It is still relatively early days to assess the real value of quality certification to management consulting firms (as indeed to other firms providing management and business services). However, there is a growing view that once the initial difficulties have been overcome, there is considerable benefit in better working methods and higher client satisfaction.

Some of the problems that have emerged are:

●resistance by partners and staff resulting in implementation being a painful process;

●overcomplicated and excessive bureaucracy;

●failure to adhere to documentation requirements;

●failure to provide feedback and use information properly, e.g. on lost tenders;

●slowness of certification bodies to receive accreditation enabling them to certify management consultants.

Some small firms and sole practitioners have expressed strong views that ISO 9001 quality standards are excessively bureaucratic, and an unnecessary burden. However, in issuing the 2000 edition of the standards, ISO has tried to simplify the procedure and the paperwork. Experience has to show whether this will benefit consultants seeking certification.

The time spent in preparing a quality manual and implementing a QMS can be considerable, and external assistance can provide expertise and resources. It is often helpful to have an external consultant examine the system before finalizing it for assessment. Points to note are:

–before employing a quality consultancy, check its track record and take up references;

–ensure that its consultants work with your staff, so ownership is in house;

–make sure that they do not overspecify your requirements.

32.4 Sustaining quality

In conclusion, client pressure and growing competition have moved quality higher up the management consultants’ own agenda. Increasingly, service quality constitutes the consultants’ competitive advantage. For long-term development and growth, both large and small consultancies will need to be proactive in working with clients on quality issues. As with any such development, clarification of objectives, standards, roles and responsibilities is

735

Management consulting

an essential first step. ISO 9001:2000 contributes by providing standards that are externally certificated. Both clients and consulting practitioners need to share the aim of achieving continuous improvement in service delivery, and to be proactive in sustaining this.

A formalistic approach to quality must be avoided. There is a real risk that some firms will be happy to have and to exhibit an elaborate procedure, the “bureaucracy of quality”, and that some clients will be unduly impressed by the formal side of quality management. No control and certification procedure can become a substitute for the quality of people in a professional firm, for their genuine concern for the clients and for their sense of professional responsibility.

The decisions concerning quality management and assurance, and the measures taken to enhance quality, depend on the firm’s attitude to quality and its determination to achieve high standards. As Deming said of total quality management, “You do not have to do this: survival is not compulsory.”

1 See “A service quality programme”, in D. H. Maister: Managing the professional service firm (New York, The Free Press, 1993), Ch. 8.

736