| Articles About: Business - Consulting | ||
Associate Consultants: the intelligent staffing solution for the consulting industry? Research indicates that the four main pipeline challenges facing consulting firms today are their desire to grow, volatility in the market, staff turnover and the increasing demand for specialist expertise. In June 2005 a survey was conducted using 21 consulting Firms, including boutiques, strategy houses and large generalist consultancy companies to analyse how they are currently meeting these challenges and how they could adapt to adopt a more efficient approach to secure their position in this increasingly competitive market. Flexible staffing, in the form of Associates could provide the answer. Challenges to the consulting pipeline 1. Increased staff utilisation Over the last year, staff utilisation amongst consulting firms has shown a marked increase, jumping....... Future of EDA There is an interesting recent article in EE Times called “Are ESL and DFM false hopes?” Richard Goering poses the question whether Electronic System Level Design (ESL) and Design for Manufacturability (DFM) software can save the EDA industry, seemingly caught in a spin cycle of same ol’ same ol’, fierce price competition, high cost of sales, and an overall unattractive future. Here are four things that I think ought to happen: First, Mentor needs to cease to exist (chopped up and sold off by an LBO firm), thereby releasing some of the unnecessary price-competition in EDA software. Magma needs to be acquired by one of the other two EDA giants, Cadence or....... Autodesk gaining in 3D ... Adobe? Autodesk buys Alias, a privately held developer of three-dimensional graphics technology, for $182 million in cash. Toronto-based Alias posted revenues of $83 million for the year ended June 30. Its customers include car makers BMW and General Motors Corp. and game maker Nintendo. Alias is a leader in the Industrial Design Tool category, and also has offerings in 3D Animation / Entertainment Graphics Tools, where it competes with Autodesk. Just about a year back, Alias was spun out of SGI by Accel-KKR in a deal valued at $57.5 Million (1X revenue; 7X net income). Good deal for Accel-KKR, for sure. Whom else is it a good deal for? Well, it is a....... Cost Effectiveness of IT Outsourcing Small businesses have been contracting computer consultants to fix their computers for many years. Usually this is because they have a small number of computers and hiring someone full time to maintain these small networks is not economical or efficient. This article will focus on the three main benefits that companies experience when they choose to outsource their computer services through a third party. They may even employ or have employed their own IT staff in the past. #1 Save Money & Time. Computer consultants are very cost effective, efficient and time saving, especially if you contract them on a retainer basis. A retainer is a prepaid service fee, usually paid monthly........ So, You Want To Be A Consultant! 4 Steps To Take On The Pathway To Success. Copyright 2006 The National Learning Institute During my career as a manager and since I myself became a consultant in 1987, I have had many colleagues and acquaintances move into the consultancy profession. Sometimes this move was by choice as a genuine career move. In the late 90s however, the proliferation of consultants was exacerbated by the downsizing of organisations and so, people who had been “cut” and who were unable to find a similar role in another organisation tried the consulting path – often with little success and a great deal of pain. The following suggestions on becoming a consultant have been developed as a result of my own experience, my....... How To Select A Consultant The Three Imperatives Copyright 2006 The National Learning Institute As a manager many years ago when faced with my first challenge of selecting an external consultant, I found myself all at sea. Fortunately for me, I intuitively hit two of the three selection targets. The project was to produce a communication video, so it was relatively easy to see and compare what each consultant had previously produced. I had a number of consultants to choose from, but finally chose the one that I felt most comfortable with and whose work impressed me most. The project was succesful and in the process, I learned a lot. Since that time, I have had to employ a....... Are You an Underearner? Copyright 2006 Jaya Schillinger One of the main topics business owners want me to coach them on is profitability. For the most part, the kind of people I work with don’t have money as the #1 thing on the list of values. It’s important to them of course, but usually they’re more motivated by personal or spiritual values, like making a positive difference in the world. I’m a person like that myself. But as a business coach, I’m also privy to the inner- dialogue, the self-esteem issues, and the confounding defense systems that cause roadblocks to financial solvency. These deep wounds and doubts can sabotage business profitability far better than a....... Tenant Screening Service The association between a landlord and renter is extremely significant. It has never been easy to trust one’s property to tenants. However, with E-Renter.com it’s become extremely easy and convenient to make sure that your property is in safe hands. You can take the risk out of renting and sleep well. E-Renter.com provides high quality services to clients who require information about tenants, and potential employees. Commercial accounts have 24/7 instant access to consumer credit reports, criminal records, eviction records and a wide range of other instant reports. Property Managers also have access to Business Credit Reports online and can even submit debtors into collection online Individual landlords have access to reports....... Guide To The Most Popular Forms Of Management Consulting Management consulting has grown rapidly since the first consulting company in the 1890's. In leaps and bounds it grew over 20% in the late 1980's and 1990's. It trickled off in the early 200's and has since maintained steady growth, with revenues up 3% in 2004. Management consulting has a long and varied history. The first consulting agency was developed in the early 1890's by Arthur D. Little, an MIT professor who recognized a growing need for management and strategic advice for growing companies. He was followed by the Booz Allen Hamilton Consulting Firm, who took management consulting one step further and began to service government clients in addition to purely....... What s the point? Why hire consultants? And How can you get the best out of them? Moving from organizational life to consulting life didn’t seem like a big deal to me. I’d been doing internal consulting for more than a decade. I’d been bringing consultants into my organisation as an “extra pair of hands” or as experts to present programs or coach executives. What I found as an internal customer was that hiring a consultant can be tricky. Through a trial and error process of discovery I found that the nature of the consulting relationship is the key to whether the company is going to get what it needs or throw money down a consulting black hole. Although a company is “borrowing” talent, not “buying” it the....... |
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