Entrepreneurial learning, Vol. 2 No. 1, 2012.
Original scientific paper
Management Consulting as a Form of Entrepreneurial Learning and a Source of Business Knowledge
Anton Florijan Barišić
orcid.org/0000-0002-9566-7777
; Managing Partner Chronos Info Consulting, Zagreb
Abstract
Management consultancy, since its start as a profession and as a business 150 years ago, is expanding rapidly throughout the world. Management consulting is the rendering of assistance and independent advice about management issues. Management consultants have skills in research, analysis, communication and change management. They are able to identify problems, find relevant data, synthesize information, develop proposals for improvement, overcome resistance, transfer management techniques, and help clients to learn from experience. Besides traditional management consulting (e.g. strategy, organization, HR, change management, IT advice and project management) new service lines (e.g. development and integration excluding software development and outsourcing) also belong to this profession (Niedereicholz, 1996). Management consultants are agents in the dissemination of business knowledge thanks to their expertise and knowledge management practices. However, relatively few studies focus specifically on their role in projects with entrepreneurs and their organisations. Knowledge transferred by a management consultant consists of two main types:
• Explicit knowledge that can be transferred to an entrepreneur through different
media as reports, books, archives, databases and IT groupware technology
• Tacit knowledge that can be transferred to an entrepreneur through personnel contact and collaboration
In the paper the implementation of management consulting as a form of business knowledge source for entrepreneurs is explored. The framework for management consultancy in sense of entrepreneurial learning is based on extensive professional experience in the region, multi-year surveys, and a review of the literature. The paper highlights the important role of management consultants as disseminators of information and new practices, and of independent advice to entrepreneurs as a subset of manager’s population.
Keywords
entrepreneurship; entrepreneurial learning; management consulting; knowledge dissemination; JEL Code: L26, L84, I25
Hrčak ID:
130178
URI
Publication date:
1.6.2012.
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