Gregory Long
April 3, 2015
MG 417 Management of Change (20347)
Professor Cynthia Bryant
Internal and External Consultants, How They Differ
Introduction Some would say that internal and external consultants have a lot of the same characteristics when it comes to helping clients with problems and overall improving business and organizational results. There are significant differences between internal and external consultants and the way they perform their duties. Internal consultants traditionally are members of a company and their main job is to assist others working throughout the company. Typically they work for larger organization in the human resource departments. According to McNamara (2013), “The typical small business …show more content…
When it comes to internal consultants probably the most leading advantage is that they already have an inside understanding of the company, its politics, its policies, the culture, and the way it conducts business. Externals consultants have limited insight in the organization’s culture, meanwhile internals are able to navigate with ease across the organization. At the end of the day, as stated by Cerisano (2014), “In other words, internal advice comes from a background of seeing problems occur within the company on a regular basis”. Totally opposite of externals, internals will only stay with a project until they present the conclusion. Internal consultants are able to support the implementation of their suggestions, assist in any changes that will be made, and make changes along the way of the process. Bennett (2015) said it best, “Having a consultant on hand who understands your system and can respond instantly to get it up and running may be the most valuable person on your staff”. The one noticeable disadvantage of an internal consultants is their uncertainty with their role within the organization. Often job descriptions are not totally specified. Besides that many internals have no idea to whom to report their finding or whom to make their suggestion …show more content…
The advantages of having an external consultant is their ability to have an external objectivity and expert status. Being an outsider when it comes to an organization, some would say that an external’s perspective would be more objective, not saying what everyone wants to hear. The experience of working with other companies will be helpful when it comes to giving a bias opinion. External consultants are able to apply previous experiences into current project and engagements. Probably the most looked over advantage is that externals are regarded to as experts and a peer of someone within the organization. Externals are hired for their expertise and their ability to perform changes for a specific business function. One of the disadvantages of external consultants is that they can come into an organization, not truly understand the organization and try to enforce a one size fits all approach. What works for one organization does not always work for another. External have to open to changes all the time. The most discussed of the disadvantages are the subject of cost. “Although savings on costs is often one of the reasons cited for outsourcing non-core functions, outsourced training services can be expensive”, according to Basu
April 3, 2015
MG 417 Management of Change (20347)
Professor Cynthia Bryant
Internal and External Consultants, How They Differ
Introduction Some would say that internal and external consultants have a lot of the same characteristics when it comes to helping clients with problems and overall improving business and organizational results. There are significant differences between internal and external consultants and the way they perform their duties. Internal consultants traditionally are members of a company and their main job is to assist others working throughout the company. Typically they work for larger organization in the human resource departments. According to McNamara (2013), “The typical small business …show more content…
When it comes to internal consultants probably the most leading advantage is that they already have an inside understanding of the company, its politics, its policies, the culture, and the way it conducts business. Externals consultants have limited insight in the organization’s culture, meanwhile internals are able to navigate with ease across the organization. At the end of the day, as stated by Cerisano (2014), “In other words, internal advice comes from a background of seeing problems occur within the company on a regular basis”. Totally opposite of externals, internals will only stay with a project until they present the conclusion. Internal consultants are able to support the implementation of their suggestions, assist in any changes that will be made, and make changes along the way of the process. Bennett (2015) said it best, “Having a consultant on hand who understands your system and can respond instantly to get it up and running may be the most valuable person on your staff”. The one noticeable disadvantage of an internal consultants is their uncertainty with their role within the organization. Often job descriptions are not totally specified. Besides that many internals have no idea to whom to report their finding or whom to make their suggestion …show more content…
The advantages of having an external consultant is their ability to have an external objectivity and expert status. Being an outsider when it comes to an organization, some would say that an external’s perspective would be more objective, not saying what everyone wants to hear. The experience of working with other companies will be helpful when it comes to giving a bias opinion. External consultants are able to apply previous experiences into current project and engagements. Probably the most looked over advantage is that externals are regarded to as experts and a peer of someone within the organization. Externals are hired for their expertise and their ability to perform changes for a specific business function. One of the disadvantages of external consultants is that they can come into an organization, not truly understand the organization and try to enforce a one size fits all approach. What works for one organization does not always work for another. External have to open to changes all the time. The most discussed of the disadvantages are the subject of cost. “Although savings on costs is often one of the reasons cited for outsourcing non-core functions, outsourced training services can be expensive”, according to Basu