'An Introduction to Management Consultancy' receives upgrade

Associate professor and former strategy consultant Marc Baaij has released a second edition of his book ‘An Introduction to Management Consultancy’. The book for practitioners and students provides essential management knowledge as applied by the world's top management consulting firms.

With almost four decades of experience in the professional services and education sectors, the Dutchman Mark Baaij is currently an associate professor of strategic management at the Rotterdam School of Management (RSM).

Prior to his academic career, Baaij spent time with a number of leading professional services firms, including seven years at IBM and four years with Boston Consulting Group (BCG).

Having worked for one of the biggest names in global consulting, Baaij is well positioned to impart expertise to those looking for background and insights into the world of consulting. In 2014, he sought to do just that, with the first edition of ‘An Introduction to Management Consultancy’; a 600-page text supplying invaluable management knowledge and skill-sets across strategy, change, analytics, problem-solving, solution implementation and decision-making.

Including resources for lecturers and students, as well as early-stage consultants, the book outlines the key skills to succeed in consultancy, and is built around learning objectives to empower understanding of the 'what', 'how', 'when' and 'why' at macro and micro levels of management consultancy. The book also gives engaging real life examples and extra web materials for study.

Speaking the first edition, Sander van 't Noordende, a former board member at Accenture, noted, “I have never seen such a book about management consulting before: this sets a new standard. This book is extremely thorough and addresses all of the relevant topics.”

As comprehensive as the initial copy was, however, the eight years since its release have brought with them a whirlwind of changes. As such, best practices as applied by the world’s top management consulting firms, such as McKinsey & Company, Boston Consulting Group and Bain & Company have also had to shift quickly.

Having updated his text to accommodate for the world after a period of disruption, Baaij has released a long-awaited second edition of ‘An Introduction to Management Consultancy’.

Along with the latest developments in management consultancy firms’ methodologies, updates to this new edition include; a more elaborate step for step guide to structured problem-solving, the introduction of more recent methods like ‘Design Thinking’ and ‘Agile Process Models’; and more detailed discussion of solution development and implementation.

Making the upgrade

Speaking about the new edition, Baaij stated, “During my 20 years of research into the industry, I have worked with managers, partners, senior alumni and most of the world’s leading consultancy firms. Based on training thousands of people, and coaching hundreds of field projects, I have refined my approach to fit the needs of inexperienced consultants.”

The second edition has already been warmly received by academic and industry teachers (who use the book in their onboarding programmes), students, and industry figures alike. According to Andreas Werr, Professor of Management at Stockholm School of Economics, the book’s “detailed and insightful presentation of the management consultant's tool-box and problem-solving methods” will be “an invaluable resource for every aspiring management consultant.”

Anthony Buono, Professor in Management at Bentley University, argued that the book could be “equally valuable for those interested in entering the consulting industry as well as new managers for whom working with consultants is a novel experience.”

Meanwhile, in an Amazon customer review of the text, independent consultant Colin Savage remarks that it provides “detailed, easy-to-read… insight into the secretive and opaque world of management consultancy.”