IMCA supported a Client Survey by Smurfit Business School M. Sc. in Management Consultancy students under the direction of Kathy O’Reilly who is Programme Leader and also one of 25 Academic Fellows appointed by the international body ICMCI. The IMCA Board initiated the survey as a means of starting to gain objective feedback on the profession from its clients.
The survey is a pilot for one to be repeated more formally in future years. A total of 36 firms was surveyed across a range of sectors and firm sizes, mainly by online questionnaire with some follow up interviews. The survey was supported by desk research.
The response was reasonably positive – 81% of respondents saw the value created from consultancy as greater than or equal to fee costs and 78% were satisfied or very satisfied with the work carried out. Sector networks and other client referrals were seen as the most important sources of consultancy. Areas for improvement included more innovation, client focus, tailored solutions and specialisation; clearer lines of communication and less emphasis on ‘business fads’.
We would like thank the students who completed the survey – Aoife O’Neill, Karl Aherne, Kevin Haines, Maria Safronova, Saheed Oyefeso and Nguyen Hai Yen.
The findings were presented on May 1st 2015 – copy of presentation available here.