Quality assurance of consulting engagements in engineering industries

Abstract

The global consulting industry has become a significant contributor to economies worldwide due to the growing requirement for specialised skills, but the industry encounters tense flaws and pitfalls. These pitfalls are related to the increasing amount of consulting engagements that fall short of their desired goal. The inability to fully achieve the goals agreed upon yields questions regarding the quality of service provided within the industry. It is believed that this inability to perform and to meet goals is due to gaps that occur within the consulting process. This research aims to determine whether there is a lack of quality in the full spectrum of the consulting process, which ultimately hampers the success of the consulting engagement. A non-empirical and qualitative research method was used to investigate the nature of the gaps and the main reasons for these gaps within the consulting process. A framework was developed in order to assist the researcher in understanding whether quality methods can successfully address or narrow the gaps in the consulting process that inhibit the success of consulting engagements or the ability to meet all requirements of consulting engagements. Validation was carried out through interviews with experts in the consulting industry. After a study of current literature it was clear that the fields of project management, change management and knowledge management are imperative when running a consulting engagement. Results of this study indicated that the framework is a viable quality methodology that can indeed be applied to address gaps in the consulting process. This is acquired through an interaction of fields such as systems thinking, audits, customer focus, corrective action and quality awareness. The framework was designed to add value and attempt to assure that the goals of consulting engagements can be fully achieved. Suggested further research includes the implementation of the framework in small consulting firms to investigate its practical usability and feasibility.