What is a consulting firm

Consulting is a type of professional consulting services that are provided to corporate clients to optimize business processes or achieve strategic development goals.

What tasks do consulting companies solve

The world's largest consulting companies today include PricewaterhouseCoopers, Deloitte, Ernst & Young and KPMG (KPMG). They are also called the Big Four.

In most cases, the services of consulting companies are used by managers, administrative staff, and department managers.

Companies can resort to the services of external consultants in two cases. Firstly, when the company is small and is at an active stage of its development. In this case, she does not have her own structural units that can solve the task.

Secondly, the services of consulting companies are often used by large corporations. The fact is that the withdrawal of the consulting unit to outsourcing is due to considerations of economic feasibility and can reduce the cost of maintaining staff.

Typically, a consulting company is contacted in difficult crisis situations. For example, with a drop in sales, a loss of market share and a decrease in the competitiveness of products. Consultants can help redirect the business to more promising niches for development or develop a marketing strategy for a company or a strategy for competition. But solving critical situations is not the only function of a consulting company.

Often its customers are companies that involve business development and the search for new directions of development. For these purposes, consultants conduct market research, determine the most promising niches for its development, analyze the activities of competitors, make a pre-investment assessment of business projects, and forecast the development of market segments. They can also conduct an internal audit of the company to identify problem areas within the organization.

External consultants can solve internal problems of the company by providing management with a plan for optimizing business processes, building a management structure in the organization, staff motivation, etc. They can also directly participate in the management of the company, and carry out strategic and tactical planning.

The main goal of HR consulting is to increase the efficiency and individual productivity of employees.

Another area of ​​activity of consulting companies is the development and implementation of information systems, as well as system integration.

A new area of ​​consulting is the so-called personal consulting. Unlike traditional psychological consultations, it is aimed at developing strategies for personal development, forming a system of relationships.