FACULTY OF MANAGEMENT PROFESSIONAL CONSULTING MGMT 3901 Y SPRING 2016

Transcription

1 FACULTY OF MANAGEMENT PROFESSIONAL CONSULTING MGMT 3901 Y SPRING 2016 Tuesdays, 6:00pm-8:50pm Room: S4027 INSTRUCTOR OFFICE HOURS Shawn DeGreeve [email protected] Tuesdays 5:00-5:50pm by appointment COURSE MATERIALS Required Textbook: Wood, Donald M. (1999). Handbook for Canadian Consultants (Paperback) Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson ISBN-13: (Order through bookstore.uleth.ca) PREREQUISITES/ CO-REQUISITES/EQUIVALENTS Pre-requisites: Management 2030 Co-requisites: Management 2020 and Management 3050/Political Science 3420 COURSE DESCRIPTION Students will gain an understanding of the field of management consulting through an examination of the management consulting process, issue and problem diagnosis, management consulting approaches and styles, client-consultant relationships, management of change and professional codes of conduct and ethics. MGT 3901 Y Spring

2 Knowledge and information have become critical components of a company s competitive advantage. Consultants provide companies facing rapidly changing environments with an important means of developing, acquiring, and processing much needed know-how. Increasingly, then, consultants are a vital strategic weapon that companies rely on to improve their competitiveness in a world characterized by technological convergence, strategic consolidations, and growing interdependence. The consulting industry is itself very diverse. Management consultants provide wide-ranging advice to managers at all levels and across most functions, including strategic planning, information systems, marketing, organization, finance, and human resources. Although most consultants work as independent entrepreneurs, a growing number of the most prominent corporate advisors work in either large consulting firms or as staff employees of public companies. COURSE LEARNING OBJECTIVES Students will gain and demonstrate an understanding of the following: - The structure and make-up of the consulting industry. - Customer Relationship Management CRM Lead Generation. - The skills required to be a consultant. - The management consulting process. - The models used by consultants to handle engagements with small and large sized clients. - Principles of issue diagnosis. - Ethics and professional codes as they relate to the consulting industry and development of a personal code of ethics. - Elements of proposals and what differentiates effective proposals from others. - Key areas for consulting presentations to clients. - Key elements of client-consultant relationships. - Facets of project management processes as they relate to consulting engagements. - How strategic management principles impact on consulting work. - Issues that need to be addressed to run your own consulting business. METHOD OF ASSESSMENT ASSIGNMENT VALUE DUE DATE Service Offering Ind. Presentation 10% January 26, 2016 Proposal Writing Grp. Presentation 25% April 12, 2016 Mid-Term 30% March 08, 2016 Final-Exam 35% April 19, 2016 Total 100% PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENTS 1. Individual and Team Projects 2. Mid-term and Final MGT 3901 Y Spring

3 GRADING SCHEME Percent Mark Letter Grade Percent Mark Letter Grade A A A B B B C C C D D 0-49 F COURSE POLICIES 1. Prerequisites. It is the responsibility of students to check the prerequisites for courses before registration. If students are found to be registered in a course for which they do not have the prerequisites and they have not received prior permission from the appropriate program chair, they can be de-registered. If this occurs after the drop/add date, tuition will not be refunded. 2. Mid-term Examinations and Quizzes. Alternative arrangements for writing a missed midterm examination or quiz may be made at the discretion of the instructor. Deferrals may only be granted in extenuating circumstances beyond the student s control. 3. Final Examinations. Students who fail to write final examinations must provide satisfactory evidence of illness or extenuating circumstances AND must have the approval of the Dean for a makeup exam. Work commitments, holidays or traffic are not considered legitimate reasons for missing an exam. For unsubstantiated missed final exams that are not approved for makeup by a Dean, a grade of F (0 marks) will be given. Deferred final exams can only be written at times set by the school and instructor. Please note that if a final exam deferral is granted, the date will be set by the instructor and department. Students who fail to write a deferred final examination must provide satisfactory evidence of illness or extenuating circumstances AND must have the approval of the Dean for a makeup exam. Work commitments, holidays or traffic are not considered legitimate reasons for missing an exam. For missed deferred exams, a grade of F (0 marks) will be given. 4. Conduct of Examinations: The instructor may articulate regulations for late entry to and early exit from the examination room. Instructors may also prescribe or restrict materials that may be used during the exam. No material aids including such items as: mobile phones, computers, or other digital devices, may be brought into the examination site without prior approval from the instructor. Please see additional examination policies in the 2015/2016 University Calendar page 80 ( 5. Academic Dishonesty and Plagiarism: Academic Dishonesty and Plagiarism will not be tolerated and will automatically result in a zero grade for the submission. Any student caught plagiarizing may also be subject to additional University sanctions. The University of Lethbridge subscribes to an electronic plagiarism detection service. Students may be required to submit their written work in electronic form for plagiarism checking. 6. Student Conduct: The University s policies are described in the calendar and all students are expected to read, familiarize, and comply with them. Special care should be taken to understand the Student Discipline Policy for academic and non-academic offenses as listed in part 4, sections 4 through 8 of the 2015/2016 Academic Calendar ( MGT 3901 Y Spring

4 Students will respect the basic standards of intellectual integrity, including, but not limited to, refraining from plagiarism, cheating or duplicating someone else s work. In addition, students are expected to take an active role in encouraging other members of the academic community to refrain from academic dishonesty, and are asked to advise the instructor if they are aware of any such violations. This provision applies to any work submitted as a group project. CLASSROOM EXPECTATIONS Group collaboration and insights are expected during class discussion. Respect and ethical conduct for all stakeholders, in and out of the classroom, is essential. All exams and assignments are mandatory; omission of one assessment will result in an incomplete for the course. ***Late assignments will be assessed a 10 percent penalty per-day. CLASS SCHEDULE Below is a tentative outline. Recognizing that teaching excellence requires a degree of flexibility and responsiveness to both students' needs and emergent circumstances, adjustments to the course outline may sometimes be necessary, provided that no student is disadvantaged by the change. Wk 1 Jan 12 DATE TOPIC PRE-CLASS READING Introduction- What is a Consultant? Independent, group, agency. Chapter 1 Examples of consulting Wk 2 Jan 19 Consulting Process Chapter 2 Wk 3 Jan 26 Assignment #1 DUE (10%) Service Offering Individual Presentations Wk 4 Feb 02 The Consulting Relationship Chapter 3&4 Wk 5 Feb 09 Ethics, Responsibility & Accountability Chapter 8 Feb 16 Reading Week, No Class Wk 6 Feb 23 Proposal Writing Chapter 5 & Appendix Wk 7 Mar 01 Hand-out for discussion- Group Work Wk 8 Mar 08 Mid-term Exam (30%) Wk 9 Mar 15 Project Management Chapter 6 Wk 10 Mar 22 Facilitating Strategic Thinking/Conversations and Chapter 7 eliciting/providing options for action Wk 11 Mar 29 Proposal Tutorial. Collaborate on Effective sale strategies Wk 12 April 05 Setting up a Consulting Business (Business Plan Pro) & preparing yourself to consult. Marketing as a consultant Wk 13 April 12 Assignment # 2 DUE (25%) Proposal Writing Presentation Team April 19 The Final Exam (35%) This exam will cover all materials from the course as a whole. As with the midterm, there will be both short answer and essay questions. MGT 3901 Y Spring

5 Mid-term Exam (30%) This exam will be based on lectures and the textbook. The primary focus of this exam will be on the consulting process, the consulting relationship, and ethical conduct. There will be both short answer and essay questions. The exam will be held during class. Alternative arrangements for writing a missed exam may be made at the discretion of the instructor. Deferrals may only be granted in extenuating circumstances such as extreme illness or other serious circumstances beyond the student s control. Work commitments, holidays or traffic are not considered legitimate reasons for missing an exam. The Final Exam (35%) This exam will cover all materials from the course as a whole. As with the midterm, there will be both short answer and essay questions. This Final Exam will be scheduled during the University s final exam period. Students who fail to write final exams must provide satisfactory evidence of illness or extenuating circumstances AND must have the approval of the Dean for a makeup exam. For missed exams, a grade of F (0 marks) will be given. Exam policies: For security reasons, students may not leave the examination site during the first thirty (30) minutes nor enter after the first thirty (30) minutes. Data or internet-enabled phones (i.e. Blackberry, i-phone etc.), laptops or other electronic devices may not be used during examinations without prior approval of the instructor. Please see additional examination policies in the 2015/2016 University Calendar, page 80. The instructor will forward the names of selected students for consideration in the Applied Consulting Course (MGT 4901). Students will be selected based on their grasp of the consulting concepts taught in this course. Only those students selected by the instructor will be invited to participate in the Applied Consulting Course following completion of this course. Assignment Descriptions 1) Service Offering The purpose of this project is to allow students to learn more about the consulting business and focus on an approach and style that they are particularly interested in. Example: Students are required to communicate their field of expertise for a consulting practice. The information shared will include services, credibility, and potential outcomes of using your consulting. The information will be presented to the class in a 5-10 minute presentation and a short paper (max. two pages) will be handed in. The consulting practice presentation can include but is not limited to: What services you provide? Management, Financial, Human Resources, Accounting, Marketing, Lean Manufacturing Who will benefit from your consulting service, target market (TM)? How the TM will benefit? Why your consulting service is needed? MGT 3901 Y Spring

6 2) Proposal Writing This assignment provides students with experience in writing a proposal for a client and presenting the proposal. Example: For this assignment you will work within a group. Your group must find a client in the community for whom a proposal can be written. The client can be anyone associated with an organization in the community, or an entrepreneur wishing to start a new venture. For example, your client may be a person associated with a business, a not-for-profit organization, etc. Your client must have an opportunity or a problem for which he/she would like the assistance of a management consultant. Your group will develop a proposal that addresses the client s problem or opportunity. This proposal will be presented by the group to the class in a 20-minute presentation. Each group member will assess the contribution of other members as it relates to the group s overall work. This assessment will be a factor in determining an individual student s grade. The proposal is to be written for the potential client. The consulting proposal presentation can include but is not limited to: Problem identification Service offered Fees Schedule Expected outcomes Plagiarism: to steal and pass off the ideas and words of another as one s own (Webster s). Plagiarism will not be tolerated and will automatically result in a zero grade for the submission. Any student caught plagiarizing may also be subject to additional University sanctions. For the current university policy on Academic Offences, please consult pages of the 2015/2016 University of Lethbridge calendar. The University of Lethbridge subscribes to a plagiarism detection service. Students may be required to submit their written work in electronic form for plagiarism checking. MGT 3901 Y Spring