Assessing the effectiveness of business consulting in operations development projects

• Published in: International journal of productivity and performance management Vol. 58; no. 6; pp. 523 - 541
• Main Authors: Ajmal, Mian M, Nordström, Fredrik, Helo, Petri
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bradford Emerald Group Publishing Limited 24.07.2009
• Subjects: Knowledge; Literature reviews; Management consultancy; Management consultants; Organization theory; Organizational effectiveness; Project management; Roles; Studies; Theory of constraints; Management consultancy; Organizational effectiveness; Project management
• ISSN: 1741-0401; 1758-6658
• DOI: 10.1108/17410400910977073

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to address the question of the effectiveness of business consultants in operations development projects. It does this by analysing the results of collaboration between a multinational firm and business consultants who applied the theory of constraints to a series of development projects.Design methodology approach - Following the presentation of an overview of business consultants and the need to measure the effectiveness of business consulting practices, the paper presents empirical data on the return on investment achieved from 20 development projects in the multinational company under study.Findings - The findings indicate that the involvement of business consultants in development projects has a positive impact on outcomes and can be justified in financial terms.Research limitations implications - The generalise ability of the results in service sector companies remains to be tested. The data is limited to a set of internal operations development consulting projects within one multinational company. Management consultants and managers will benefit from the results of study.Originality value - The study provides important insights into the assessment of the effectiveness of business consultants in operations development.