Using Consultants
The difference between and is most evident when you consider the contribution of a consultant called into an organization to aid management.
Consultants always explicitly repudiate responsibility for the organization and its outcomes. 
Why?
So what are consultants responsible for? They must accept a responsibility for using one of the in a highly expert fashion. Whether or not they do so expertly and effectively is left up to the client to determine. By looking closely, you can determine whether they offer the that meets your needs.
Use of the is explained below using illustrative examples of the distinctive consultancy service.
Specifying Outputs-t1 Service
A consultant may be engaged to review existing plant security and provide recommendations for the management to implement. Those recommendations are for an internal manager to (if they are followed).
When a service is out-sourced, the required outputs must be specified to ensure value for money. As usual, that requires adequate understanding of the work—otherwise the manager-client is likely to be exploited. A wise manager always engages a consultant by that he can understand e.g. of a cleaning service for me". The manager then uses the consultant's report to call for tenders in which suppliers may be expected to re-phrase the output specifications.
Devise Responses-t2 Service
A manager may want expert assistance in a particular area and use a consultant for their professional or technical expertise. So a consultant may be engaged to resolve a networking issue within the company's IT system, or to improve a building's heating and ventilation system while reducing its energy costs.
Continuing the outsourcing example, a t2-consultant may be engaged to handle the tendering and negotiating process for cleaning services. The output specification used in the tender may have been defined by the manager, by the t2-consultant engaged, or by a different t1-consultant.
Introduce Methods-t3 Service
Structuring systems may be complicated and require much discussion with staff to get engagement and understanding. These methods typically require clarity about business objectives. (Review affinities.)
BPM (business process management) is a method aiming to increase efficiency usually including computerization, and TQM (total quality management) is a method aiming to increase quality and reduce defects substantially. Consultants specialize in providing the necessary analysis and offer assistance with implementation of systems.
To criticize these consultants for the impersonality of their proposals and the orientation to control is to misunderstand the nature of complicated work situations.
Implement Programs-t4 Service
While implementation can never be fully assigned to an external consultant, managers often hope for this and the consulting industry responds with alacrity. Many consultant services are oriented to the provision of project management and commonly promise to roll up their sleeves and help drive the program through to successful completion—e.g. a full-time on-site project coordinator may be provided.
These consultants analyse the situation so as to produce control documents or project charters with detailed objectives, staffing analyses, activity schedules, milestones, deliverables, and costings. They ensure there are steering arrangements involving senior managers and stakeholders; and develop standard reporting, with metrics and templates. Computer technology is used or upgraded to ensure sophisticated collection and use of relevant information.
Shape Evolution-t5 Service
Managers do desire assistance in how to grow their enterprise in a naturally complex and challenging environment. For example: should a competitor be acquired? how can a global supply chain be revamped? will off-shoring generate more trouble than it's worth? what sort of festival can strengthen the city's attractiveness? It is evident that when this method is required, there are no easy answers or obvious solutions.
Some consultants specialize in strategy i.e. how an enterprise should evolve given the myriad of factors and forces in its current situation. (Note, however, that there can be no certainty here: perhaps it might evolve as proposed, but perhaps not.)
An example is Boston Consulting Group. While consultants specializing in and typically come with a package of best practices and seek information to adapt them, a consultant can only have a theory or framework to apply and needs a conceptual understanding to contribute effectively. So it is natural that Boston Consulting Group has set up a Strategy Institute, which includes academics and researchers as well as practitioners.
Impose Guidance-t6 Service
This method may be useful in relation to providing guidance to a specialist division of the organization, given adequate supervision by a line-manager or CEO. Again, useful input depends on the consultant having a solid conceptual grasp of the work of that division and how that business sector is developing more widely.
McKinsey is the most famous example of a firm that specializes in the provision of strategic objectives for large corporations. The problem here is that this work is precisely what the Chief Executive is employed for and why a Board of Directors exists.
Alien input that touches on the raison d'etre of a firm can easily destroy it: either the CEO is incapable of introducing the recommended changes, or key stakeholders revolt, or staff engagement is neglected, or the world moves on and last year's guidance is suddenly inappropriate—but who in the organization knows this?
Set Parameters-t7 Service
Sometimes a manager requests consultants to set parameters for an initiative that seems too diffuse. The result here is that an outside entity is assigning challenging work, and the manager remains responsible for creatively moving forward and making all choices. That is welcomed by the best managers.
Consulting by The SIGMA Centre provided THEE-based frameworks for designing management structures, for developing policies, and for much else. (I usually had to adapt these frameworks to the sector.) Managers were left with full responsibility to adopt the offered frameworks, and for the vigour, manner and details of their application. The provision of such commitment released their creativity.
Originally posted: 27-Nov-2013