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Katz & Associates

This article was published in the Boston Business Journal, February 1, 2002.

By L. William Katz, CMC

You have decided that your business needs assistance from an outside professional, knowledgeable about your industry to help you address a business issue or problem. Maybe you hope to enter a new market or decide whether to exit one. Perhaps you want to increase sales, decrease the costs of sales, reduce sales staff turnover or increase productive capacity. These are all good reasons to hire a consultant.

Owners and executives use many advisors – bankers, lawyers, accountants, insurance and investment brokers and management consultants. Large firms frequently have staff to perform these functions but smaller businesses often struggle without qualified help from outside experts. Though they generally possess unique expertise of their own, small businesses can easily find themselves facing critical new areas, in need of expertise in domains they have little to no experience in, and without which, they could fail.

But how can they know who is credible, objective and skilled to meet their particular objectives? On the web can be found hundreds of consultants who would seemingly meet their needs, and a web search can of course also be restricted by specifying location, industry or issue. In today’s environment, "consultants" however are often as likely to be out of work executives between jobs as truly qualified experts who understand how to produce for a company satisfactory and positive results.

A broader web search can and should include the various professional associations that represent experienced consultants. Nationally, select management consultants belong to the Institute of Management Consultants, or IMC USA, first established in 1968. IMC has 28 chapters nationwide including a local one here in New England (IMCNE). Another such source in our area is called the Society of Professional Consultants.

The advantage of being certified

Advisors in many professions are qualified by outside accreditation boards or certification bodies, and the same holds true for management consultants. By applying for certification from IMC USA, consultants can earn their Certified Management Consultant (CMC) designation. Recognized worldwide by the International Council of Management Consulting Institutes ((ICMCI), this "mark of excellence" functions on a par with certifications in other professions such as CPAs granted by the AICPA, admission to the Bar for attorneys, and the "CFP" marking on a Certified Financial Planner. As a result, twenty thousand consultants from over twenty nations have been awarded the CMC by one of the certifying institutes comprising the ICMCI since the process began over two decades ago.

Earning a CMC

To qualify for and earn a CMC, candidates must be highly experienced and credible, and meet the following peer-reviewed standards establish by IMC:

• "Have at least three years of experience in the full-time practice of management consulting, with major responsibility for client projects during at least one of those years."
• "Provide multiple references, most of them officers or executives of clients served. These references have been investigated to assure that the consulting relationships were satisfactory".
• "Provide written summaries of five client assignments."

If the above information meets IMC’s criteria for certification, the CMC candidate next must advance through two final steps: 1) a qualifying interview conducted by three senior CMCs in which the candidate must demonstrate professional competency and currency in his/her areas of specialization and an understanding of the management consulting process; 2) a written examination applying the IMC USA Code of Ethics to hypothetical scenarios. Following these steps, IMC USA reviews the results and decides whether or not to award the CMC designation.

CMC Recertification. Every three years CMCs must requalify by providing evidence to IMCUSA that they have completed at least 30 hours of professional education, continued to consult and supervise consulting projects (a minimum of 2400 hours in 3 years), and actively participated in professional activities including authoring articles for professional journals or books, serving as an officer or committee member in a professional nonprofit organization and/or consulting pro bono for a not-for-profit or government group.

CMC’s "real value"

While achieving a high level of professional recognition may be important to the individual consultant, "the real value of a CMC is to the client," says Alan Weiss, CMC, President of Summit Consulting Group, Inc. (East Greenwich, RI) and a member of IMC USA’s Board of Directors. Thus, by selecting a CMC-designated consultant, companies obtain:

• an assurance of "conformance to ethical and professional norms"
• availability of a professional group (IMC USA) to whom the client can appeal if results of an engagement are poor
• a consultant connected to an information-and-best-practices network
• a consultant who has demonstrated an ongoing commitment to self-development

Consulting professionals who have earned their CMC have worked hard to do so. The end result, in most cases, will be heightened benefits to these consultants’ clients. For that reason, searching specifically for a CMC to handle a future consulting assignment may be the wisest investment a company can make.

, CMC, President of Katz & Associates, Inc., a health care management-consulting firm in Southborough, MA, serves on the Board of the Institute of Management Consultants/New England chapter.

Updated 9/26/02

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