| The modest offices of the Management Consultancies Association belie its influence, says Mick James. He talks to newly elected president, Alan Russell, about the MCA’s growing links with industry and government and its role in facilitating the interchange of ideas |
| MCA punches above its weight in a growing arena
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| | Association occupies
some grand stone-built
edifice. Instead they
find a modest suite of
offices which
nevertheless acts as the
hub for an organisation
which represents one of
the most influential
industries in the
country, commands the
ear of government as
well as industry and
brings together, not
just consultants, but a
wider constituency of
all those interested in
progress and change in
organisations.
As director of
LogicaCMG’s consulting
unit, incoming president
Russell brings a big
firm viewpoint which
will act as an
interesting counterpoint
to that of his
predecessor, David
Bailey of Impact Plus.
That the MCA is able to
draw its leadership from
firms of such widely
differing scale says a
lot about both the
diversity of the
consulting industry and
the common ground that
unites all consultants.
While the MCA has
undergone some changes
in recent years, there’s
a continuity of purpose
which Russell traces
back to 2001, a
watershed year.
“We were having
discussions with our
members and looking to
put our rates up,” he
says. “That galvanised
us – we realised we do
have to justify our
position as a trade
association to our
members, we’re not here
by right and if we’re
not doing a good job
they’ll get rid of us.” | |
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This stimulus, says
Russell, “worked like a
charm”.
“The organisation had
been in a set pattern,
but we started to look
at ways to get more
value into what we do,
we got a lot smarter,
looked at ways to do
things to attract more
interest, to attract
more members.”
Shortly the MCA will
be signalling its
continued progress by
moving to new, slightly
larger premises, but as
Russell says, these will
“not be ostentatious – a
massive office sends the
wrong message to the
industry”.
What could have
threatened the MCA were
the upheavals of the
early years of the
century which fragmented
and scattered the
industry. But with the
remainder of the
renascent Big Four firms
waiting in the wings,
the Association has done
a good job of reuniting
its scattered children.
“The only people we
really would like that
we haven’t got are the
strategy firms, and they
won’t join as a matter
of policy,” says
Russell. Otherwise the
MCA represents the
lion’s share of a very
diverse industry, with
some members spanning
the whole gamut of
strategy advising, IT
and outsourcing
consultancy.
In the wider world,
change is such a
constant in industry,
that consultancy methods
have become a part of
management practice
while almost every | |
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| | product on offer comes
embedded in a web of
services and
“consultative” support.
This has posed a dilemma
for the MCA.
“We have turned down
some significant brand
names,” says Russell.
“Everyone is dipping
their toes in the
consultancy water, but
we do have some very
clear guidance – they
must be sufficiently
independent to do a
piece of consultancy
work without being
biased.
The easiest way to do
that is to ring fence
your consultancy
business, he says.
“In my own
organisation we say to
people on the first day,
you will be responsible
for some of these issues
– we never want you to
be in a position where
you give bad advice
because of other
services we offer.”
For the time being
“consultants” who are,
for example, rewarded on
sales of a particular
software product cannot
be members, but the MCA
does debate whether it
should recognise their
consultancy work with a
separate class of
membership.
The MCA is a broad
church, and one which
thrives on the diversity
of opinions and input it
receives.
“I wouldn’t say that
consultants were
incestuous but they
network for Britain,”
says Russell. “We have a
lot of good
conversations here. When
people come to the MCA
there’s no sniping, no | |
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| | point scoring, while
we’re here we’re
developing the MCA’s
strength, increasing the
size of the cake for
everybody.”
The MCA has always
endeavoured not to be an
inward-looking body, and
goes from strength to
strength in developing
its contacts in both
government and
industry.
“Consultancy is a
little better understood
than a few years ago,”
he says. “There are also
now a lot of people who
have moved from the
consultancy industry
into very important
positions in government.
We’re leading some
quite powerful
initiatives, taking
views from people who
purchase consultancy.”
This interchange of
ideas is feeding back
into the increasing
maturity of the
industry, and helping
develop new ways of
engaging with clients
that simultaneously
decrease the risks of
consultancy engagements
while making the value
they deliver more
visible.
At 50 years young,
the MCA remains a model
trade association. We
may not know what firms
will make up the
consultancy industry in
50 years’ time, or what
exciting things they
will be doing for their
clients, but it’s a fair
bet that the ones that
matter will be in the
MCA.
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| | Consultancy is such a
mercurial industry that
it’s always something of
a shock to realise that
it has a past, and a
tradition, and even a
few people who remember
bits of it. I was
reminded of this when I
recently visited the
MCA, and was handed some
of the materials that
have been produced to
celebrate its 50th
anniversary. Ah, ancient
history, I thought,
turning its pages. And
then, hang on, I know
half these people. So
I’m not going to stop
describing consultancy
as a young profession,
though I would have to
agree with Alan Russell,
newly elected president
of the MCA, that it is
one which has attained a
certain maturity:
So too has the MCA,
an organisation which,
as Russell puts it,
“punches above its
weight — the leverage is
phenomenal”.
Even to those who are
familiar with the MCA,
it’s always something of
a shock visiting their
offices in Whitehall.
For first time visitors
it’s a revelation,
assuming as they do from
the address that the | |
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