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Authors: Cheng Hongyu and Yu Liqun from: China Marketing Communication Network, published in 2004- 10-2.
I. Introduction
With the perfection and development of market economy, business managers all over the world are always faced with all kinds of new changes, which leads to a series of unpredictable situations. Enterprises need to hire a large number of experts and consultants to solve internal disputes and make up for the lack of internal experience. In order to meet the needs of enterprises in these aspects, the consulting industry came into being and played an increasingly important role. Seeking consultation has become an important aspect for enterprises to use the external brain. For example, there are 1300 companies directly engaged in consulting business in the United States, with an annual turnover of $7 billion; There are 300-400 consulting companies in Britain, and there are more than 1000 overseas consulting experts, which are distributed in almost all countries and regions in the world. 1995, they increased British exports by1600 million pounds. There are more than 600 arc advisory groups and more than 80,000 "diagnosticians" in Japan, serving thousands of industrial and commercial enterprises every year. All these show that the consulting industry has great market potential and development potential.
At present, the consulting industry in China is developing rapidly. 1999 There are as many as130,000 consulting companies in industrial and commercial registration, China, providing various consulting services for enterprises. But overall, the consulting industry in China is still in the primary stage, and there are still many problems. On the basis of in-depth analysis of the connotation of consulting industry, this paper analyzes the problems existing in consulting industry in China, and puts forward corresponding solutions, so as to provide reference for the further good development of consulting industry in China.
Second, understand the enterprise management consulting
Consulting industry first appeared in America. 1926, a professor at the university of Chicago founded a consulting company named after himself, which marked the birth of management consulting industry. He is McKinsey, and no one expected it to become a famous McKinsey management consulting company at that time. As a result of professional division of labor in modern society, enterprises realize that it is impossible and unnecessary for enterprises to have experts in all fields. Enterprises can obtain professional management knowledge services through the market to ensure the efficient operation of enterprises. Consulting industry came into being because it can provide professional management knowledge for the market. Market demand determines the survival conditions of enterprises, and good business services and high-quality products ensure the survival and development of enterprises. In the consulting industry, international knowledge management consulting companies such as McKinsey, AXA, Deloitte, KPMG, Ernst & Young, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Boston and so on have all explained this point.
In fact, the understanding of "consultation" abroad is to use external brain resources and human resources to solve problems that they cannot solve. Management consulting is a process in which management consulting experts form a project team to help customers identify and analyze problems objectively and independently on the basis of investigating and analyzing the current situation of enterprise management, and finally propose solutions to the problems. What management consulting companies need to do is to help customers put forward good ideas, turn them into feasible solutions, and then implement them in the operation of enterprises. Consulting enterprises provide a kind of knowledge service product, the core of which is human capital, which has the characteristics of knowledge-intensive and intellectual industry.
Understanding management consulting also involves one aspect, that is, the content of management consulting, which can be classified in different ways:
1. Consulting can be divided into comprehensive services and special consulting services according to the content scope.
Comprehensive consulting service is to provide enterprises with more comprehensive and comprehensive consulting and services, which can include helping enterprises to formulate overall strategies and functional strategies, transforming disorderly management into orderly systematic management integration services, consulting services for enterprise reform and development, and long-term management improvement and promotion services;
Special consulting service is to provide a certain aspect of special consulting service according to the needs of enterprises, which can be divided into management information, human resources, marketing, finance, production operation and quality management, administrative logistics and so on.
2. According to the levels involved in consultation, consultation can be divided into basic level, core level and highest level.
Information consultation is the basic level of management consultation, which mainly includes: market information investigation, collection, collation and analysis services to provide accurate and perfect auxiliary information for enterprise decision-making;
Consulting in business fields of enterprise management is the core level of management consulting, including feasibility analysis, project demonstration, investment and financing consulting, human resource management, marketing management, financial accounting, management information consulting, ISO9000 ISO9000 certification consulting, etc.
Strategic consulting is the highest level of management consulting, which mainly provides strategic design, competitive strategy, business field analysis and planning and design services for enterprises, while some consulting companies mainly provide policies for the government.
It should be noted that an enterprise is an inseparable organic system, and the above classification is given to illustrate the problem. For example, with the development of modern IT technology, especially the arrival of e-commerce era, people divide the consulting industry into traditional consulting industry and modern consulting service. The latter refers to the consulting business that combines digital management theory with IT technology, especially Internet technology, to provide management consulting services for enterprises. No matter how it is classified, any successful consultation needs to have a comprehensive understanding of the enterprise and consider the design scheme from the whole enterprise.
Third, the management consulting industry in China
In the early 1980s, with the spring breeze of reform and opening up, China consulting industry came into being. It's been 20 years now. After two major changes in content and theme, it has developed from the earliest "brain teaser" idea to the organic connection of hundreds of ideas, and has become a logically linear idea. So far, it has integrated strategic management, financial management, asset operation, CI planning and so on.
(A) the history of development
In the past twenty years, the management consulting industry in China has undergone two major changes:
First, the change of consulting subject is mainly reflected in the change of ownership nature of consulting enterprises. In the early 1980s, the government began to establish consulting enterprises. As a new thing, the consulting industry has developed rapidly under the vigorous promotion of the government, and various types of consulting companies have mushroomed and thrived, relying on the rights of the government to survive. It was not until the 1990s that these consulting companies gradually began to decouple from the government, and non-state-owned consulting enterprises developed rapidly, and the consulting subjects changed from state-owned to non-state-owned. At the same time, famous foreign consulting companies have begun to enter the consulting market in China.
The second is the change of consultation content. From initial information consultation to comprehensive management consultation. In the early 1990s, foreign and private information consulting and market research companies began to appear, and consulting services gradually turned to standardization. In the mid-1990s, with the entry of foreign consulting companies, China consulting companies entered the stage of total management consulting, and multinational consulting companies such as McKinsey and AXA entered during this period. With the growth of domestic consulting companies, the primary consulting enterprises that rely on providing ideas gradually disappear and are replaced by real management consulting. For example: strategic management, financial management, asset operation, CI planning, marketing management, and their integration.
(ii) Status quo
Consulting industry is the product of market economy, and the perfection and development of market economy will inevitably lead to the development of consulting industry, which is mainly reflected in two aspects: First, the increasingly fierce market competition makes enterprises urgently need to improve their competitiveness, so there will be higher requirements for enterprise management level and greater demand for consulting industry. Secondly, the birth of management consulting industry shows that there is a demand for management knowledge in the market, and the development of management consulting industry further shows that the demand for management knowledge in the market has great potential. With the advent of the era of knowledge economy, people have realized the importance of information and knowledge, resulting in more demand for consulting, and the social status of consulting industry has also improved accordingly. Management consulting has sprung up in China, showing a broad development prospect.
1. Market demand analysis
At present, the market demand of China consulting industry is in full swing. Compared with the market situation of 1999 and 1998, the reality of management consulting industry in 2000 caught many companies off guard. According to conservative estimation, the whole industry exceeds 50%, and some companies exceed 100%. The reason is:
(1) As the largest shareholder of state-owned enterprises, the state actively requires state-owned enterprises to carry out management innovation. 1September, 1999, the central plenary session first wrote management consulting as a professional intermediary service into the central document. In the second half of 2000, the State Council issued a document requesting strategic planning.
(2) The accelerated pace of China's entry into WTO and the increasingly definite schedule have made many private enterprises that grew up in the irregular competition of market economy during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period feel the pressure of internationalization. In order not to be eliminated by the new round of competition, they turned their attention to management consulting (borrowing wisdom) and second-board market (borrowing capital).
(3) During the development of management consulting for 20 years, some companies in every industry hired management consulting companies and got professional services from them. After tasting the sweetness of consulting, they promoted the consulting needs of other customers through word of mouth.
(4) There are more and more MBAs who have graduated from China or returned from studying abroad. Their new awareness of market economy management and recognition of management consulting companies have further increased their demand for consulting after they took up leadership positions at all levels in other companies.
(5) With the further acceleration of the localization process of multinational corporations, in the new round of "shift change" at a higher level, middle and low-level managers from China or China are promoted to senior management positions in the Asia-Pacific region or China. While continuing to use global consulting companies, they are also trying to use various local consulting companies.
2. Service product analysis
Similar to the development law of many industries, the consulting industry provides a kind of service product with knowledge to reflect its value. Therefore, like other industries, once the management consulting industry is fully launched, the diversification and all-round service products will be presented. Generally speaking, the service products of consulting industry have changed from low-level services to advanced and more subdivided professional products.
The following are the contents of consulting and services provided by a consulting company: (1) Provide advice on the overall business development strategy, talent strategy, technology development strategy, market expansion strategy and marketing strategy of the enterprise, and participate in the formulation of the enterprise strategy with its consent. (2) Provide suggestions and solutions for the problems in the daily management or organizational development of enterprises. (3) Provide suggestions and solutions for product development, market expansion, market share and customer satisfaction. (4) assist enterprises to establish labor system and incentive system, assist enterprises to train the quality and skills of managers and employees at all levels, and provide suggestions and professional advice for the evaluation and preparation of human resources in enterprises. (5) Assist enterprises to establish scientific and standardized management mode and marketing system, and formulate various management rules and regulations and distinctive corporate culture. (six) to assist enterprises to design, establish and carry out e-commerce activities on Internet websites. 7) Organize various training and management experience exchange and discussion activities.
3. Analysis of employed companies
Due to the full start of market demand, coupled with the main obstacle to the formation of barriers in management consulting industry-MBA personnel (graduates and transferred from other industries) have increased a lot, and the number of companies engaged in management consulting industry in China has increased sharply, which is generally divided into three levels:
The first echelon: an international multinational company with McKinsey as the leader and typical representative, with its rich experience and outstanding talents occupying the main body of the market. McKinsey, Andersen, roland berger and other international consulting companies account for more than 50% of the market.
The second echelon: a relatively stable consulting company with more than 5 years experience in China, which constitutes the main force of China consulting company at present. This includes Xinhua letter, CITIC Consulting, Paili Marketing and other consulting companies. Companies in the second echelon are also dividing. Some companies have developed rapidly due to clear strategies, while others have entered a period of slow development due to various reasons. The market share of this branch is estimated to be 10%-20% of the total market.
The third echelon: there are many emerging companies in China that have been established for less than three years, with a large number and relatively clear segmentation. These companies can be divided into: consulting companies specializing in venture capital-related consulting; Consulting company specializing in IT computer related technologies; Companies specializing in human resources; Companies specializing in marketing planning; Companies specializing in training account for about 35% of the market.
4. Analysis of the problems faced
As far as the current market situation in China is concerned, the lack of competitiveness of most enterprises is a common phenomenon. The main reason is that the management of enterprises can't meet the requirements of market economy, and with the arrival of the new economic era, when the traditional management model and the management model of industrial economy era can't meet the needs of modern economy, the reform and innovation of enterprise management becomes more important. However, at present, the thinking and technology of most domestic enterprises are still difficult to achieve these changes, and it is necessary to introduce the intellectual support of consulting companies. It can be seen from the growth process of enterprises in western countries that the development of enterprises cannot be separated from the support of management consulting. However, China's management consulting industry is still difficult to undertake such an important task, and China's management consulting industry still has such problems:
(1) Academic consultation is very difficult. Academic consultation is also common in western developed countries, and its most obvious advantage is the precipitation of theory and thought. However, the main problems are shown in two aspects: first, although the consulting scheme is systematic, it lacks effective operability, and the ultimate goal of management consulting is to enable enterprises to implement it effectively. Second, it lacks the necessary organizational system and human resources system for a real consulting company. Tutors usually lead several students to do consulting for enterprises, but they lack a core system of information, research and development, consulting, training and development that consulting companies must have.
(2) Apart from academic consultation, there are various consulting companies active in China's management consulting market, but there are also many problems.
Lack of consulting experts, lack of business management theory and experience. Consulting companies use their knowledge, wisdom and long-term accumulated experience to help others succeed, which requires consulting companies to have enough expert groups and expert networks to meet the consulting needs. Therefore, consulting experts are also the key elements of consulting enterprises. However, due to the short history of the consulting industry in China, the lack of talent accumulation in the development process, and the lack of talent in the consulting industry in China, the resulting lack of business management theory and experience has become very serious.
B Most management consulting enterprises lack core competitiveness. Every industry has its own unique competitive factors. There are many factors that determine the competitiveness of consulting industry, but values and market positioning are very important. Values are the core of consulting companies, such as McKinsey & Company's professional ethics concept of "customers' interests are above everything else". Market positioning is also very important, which represents the product positioning provided by consulting companies. For example, McKinsey has positioned the customer base at the decision-making level of leaders such as CEO. Looking at the domestic management consulting industry, there is no obvious trend in this regard.
Lack of corporate brand. There is a strange phenomenon in the consulting industry in China: there are ten planners in China, but none of the consulting enterprises are blurted out by the insiders. There are thousands of consulting enterprises in China, but so far there is no widely expected management consulting authority.
D consulting company's service is not standardized. There is still a certain gap between domestic consulting companies and large foreign consulting companies, with no formed consulting system, no consulting case base and insufficient dynamic information sources. In this way, at least one enterprise cannot provide rigorous, meticulous and standardized stylistic expression, so the obvious feeling of the consulting demander is that the product has no grade.
(3) The lack of supporting environment and operating rules is also an important factor restricting the development of management consulting industry and enterprises. This includes:
A there are differences in the understanding of management consulting enterprises in the national industrial and commercial system; B the national statistical system has not established a correct and complete statistical index system, which is either mixed in the service industry or summarized in the information service industry; C. The news media reports on the consulting industry are also vague; As a result of the above policies, the consulting industry does not have its own industry organization, operating rules, values and professional ethics. It is precisely because the whole industry has no operating rules, the interests of enterprises lack effective protection, and enterprises also lack responsibility constraints and moral constraints. In this case, it is impossible for enterprises to continue to grow and develop, and it is normal to have no well-known enterprises.
(4) The lack of understanding between enterprises and consulting companies also restricts the development of consulting industry to some extent. A Because consulting service provides an intangible and dynamic knowledge product, and the consulting fees paid by users are tangible and static, both the supply and demand sides must make joint efforts in transaction, development and fairness. For consulting service providers, it is necessary to refine the consulting scheme as much as possible to improve operability, and at the same time pay attention to establishing credibility and enhancing the confidence of buyers by shaping successful cases; For the demand side, it is necessary to evaluate the work of consulting companies with forward-looking, phenomenal and innovative value scales. Correctly evaluate the important role of innovative planning concept, scientific management, methods and marketing model in optimizing enterprise resource allocation, improving efficiency, reducing costs and improving benefits under the new economic conditions. However, many enterprises often see tangible material wealth, and their understanding of the overall penetration and restriction of intellectual assets such as innovative management concepts, scientific management models and mechanisms in the process of creating tangible material wealth is still very vague. B there is also a certain gap between the two before and after consultation. Consultation demanders don't know what they need to consult, and who to choose to provide consulting services. The distrust of both parties and the deviation of time, cost and consulting objectives in the consultation process greatly reduce the success of consultation.
(3) Development countermeasures
(1) Establish trade associations as soon as possible, strengthen exchanges and joint cooperation, form industry self-discipline and implement industry norms, establish industry supervision departments, improve laws and regulations, and establish certification systems to create a good external environment for the healthy development of China's management consulting industry. Including: a. Qualification and qualification certification standards of consulting enterprises and consultants. B. standards and methods for performance evaluation of consulting enterprises. C. consulting the enterprise promotion plan. D. consulting enterprise professional ethics code.
(2) Local consulting institutions should take measures as soon as possible to improve their own quality.
The first is to establish a better core business positioning. If consulting companies want to do their own business well, they should first make an accurate analysis of users' needs, and then fully integrate and give full play to their expertise to provide users with the services they need. Generally speaking, user needs are classified as follows: 1. Information, such as market demand information, funds, talents, technical information, etc.; 2. Ideology, such as decision-making thought and management mode design concept; 3. Practical experience and skills, such as technology, experience and skills included in marketing planning and brand creation. Consulting companies should first make clear that they have advantages in information, planning and design concepts, experience and technology, establish their own core business, establish their own market positioning, and cultivate their own core competence with their own advantages, but they must be their own advantages, otherwise they will only deceive themselves and be unpopular with enterprises.
The second is to improve the consultant's understanding of consulting, and then strengthen the standardized operation of consulting and optimize the business process and standards of consulting. Excellent management consulting companies in the world have clear regulations in this respect. For example, roland berger not only has its own business philosophy, but also has specific provisions on its service details, procedures, methods, working methods and work requirements, so roland berger has become the largest management consulting company in Europe after McKinsey in the world. China's management consulting companies should improve greatly in this respect.
Thirdly, in order to solve the problem of talent shortage in consulting companies, on the one hand, consulting companies should step up recruitment from outside, on the other hand, they should strengthen the training of consultants. As a knowledge-intensive and highly intelligent industry, its personnel must have high quality.
(3) improve the quality of enterprise operators and managers, and improve their ability to choose and use consulting institutions. At the same time, it is necessary to further deepen the system reform, speed up the marketization process, and bring the consulting industry into the market process and system as soon as possible.
(4) Pay attention to the influence of IT development on management consulting industry. The development of information technology not only redefines the management consulting industry, but also challenges the previous management methods of enterprises. As mentioned above, after the new economy represented by information technology has become the main theme of the times, the traditional enterprise organization mode, internal operation process, operation rules and distribution system need to be innovated, and the original management consulting theory and experience can no longer meet the needs of the new economy. Moreover, for the management consulting company itself, it should also be a knowledge-based enterprise with a close combination of IT and knowledge, and the application of information technology is the inevitable development of management consulting enterprises. Perhaps it is these changes that make Andersen, a new consulting company focusing on information technology consulting services, surpass traditional strategic consulting companies such as McKinsey in scale.
(5) Correctly handle the relationship between learning from foreign management consulting experience and carrying out management innovation in combination with China's national conditions. After decades of development, foreign consulting industry occupying China's high-end consulting market must have its advanced methods and experiences. The consulting industry in China should learn from each other's strong points according to China's national conditions, and turn foreign new management ideas, management methods and management consulting experience into their own use.
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