Management Essay: Value Creation in Consultant-Client Relationship

This critical reflective essay examines the key driver of value creation in the consultant-client relationship. The essay begins by discussing the fundamental expectations of both consultants and clients, setting the stage for an analysis of the relationship's impact on value. It explores the consultant's role in providing solutions, fostering understanding, and developing strategies, while also highlighting the divergent perspectives of consultants and clients regarding the value of consulting services. The essay delves into different models of the consultant-client relationship, such as expert, social learning, and critical models, and emphasizes the importance of trust, communication, and collaboration. It also addresses potential obstacles in the relationship, such as a lack of client skills and unwillingness to change. Ultimately, the essay concludes that a strong, trusting partnership built on mutual understanding and effective communication is crucial for value creation.

Critical Reflective Essay
Management
Topic:
What is the key driver of value creation in the consultant-client relationship?

Introduction
Everyone has seen or knows that there is damage to the relationship between two or more
people when they have different opinions. After it, there are usually two cases, one of them
being strengthening of the relationship due to mutual understanding and solving of the issue,
and other is the ending of the relationship due to their lack of understanding. In the nineteenth
century, mostly the second half, many people like Bandura, Maslow and Skinner have
discussed these problems, their causes, and effects. In most of the cases, these researchers
have identified two reasons for this type of problems, the genetic factors, and the
environment in which they were raised. In this essay, we will discuss the importance of a
relationship between a consultant and their clients, where mutual efforts are important for a
strong connection. In the beginning, the basic and main expectations for the consultant and
the client are to be discussed, which will provide us with brief knowledge about the base of
the relationship. Then we will analyze the facts to find the links between the relationships and
values needed. Lastly, we will discuss the main details of the relationship of a client and
consultant which will help in the creation of the values necessary.
Body
It is the primary task of a consultant to help their clients by discussing the problems of
business and then providing solutions to them, this certainly will help them to overcome
those problems. In addition, consultation not only provides solutions, but also helps in
creating the ability for understanding the main cause of those problems, to build concepts of
similar situations, and create models which will help us to identify the thing needed to do for
the betterment of the company. According to Levin, Thaichon and Quach (2016), there are
many dimensions to create values. Their included reason for the client’s need of a hired
consultant is that they lack in employees with the skills needed for creative thoughts and
having a subjective view. The clients expect that the consultants have better knowledge and
expertise, and can help in the development of objective solutions with huge capacities as they
have experience in many fields. The consultants encourage different ways and frameworks of
appropriate communication which includes MECE and issues various models including the
tree model and encourages them to bring change by explaining those different points of view.
However, the perspective of the consultants and the clients are very diverging. For example,
70% of the total consultants think that their knowledge is of value to the company, whereas

only 30% of the clients believe that their knowledge is valuable. These differences are
important for more collaboration and its mentality of the clients and the consultants.
Schön in 1983 describes that there should be an interpersonal relationship between the clients
and the consultants which will result in an effective success of consulting. Neither the clients
nor the consultants but the consulting firms have great concern if a strategical project fails. Its
consequence leads to an assumption of encouraging work together in an honest way, both by
the consultant as well as the client. But these assumptions are not as easy as it sounds.
There are three forms of client and consultant relationship and have also suggested three of
the important practices which would help in a successful consultant-client relation. It was
published in their journal paper. The models were the expert model, the social learning
model, and the critical model. These practices involve impressing, problem-solving and
negotiations (Mangan, Lalwani and Lalwani, 2016). In perspective of Gustafsson, Swart and
Kinnie (2018), the basic goal of consultation, 20 years ago, was to provide the expertise with
sharp concepts and analysis, which was, in fact, a secondary option. In the recent market,
clients use the consultant’s experience as the primary focus for their vast knowledge of most
of the things around many levels, as the values of the consultants will be important (Keegan,
Rowley and Tonge, 2017). The main work of the consultants is to provide the clients with
solutions from their basic knowledge, implementation of new ways, and the execution of the
strategies which were developed previously (Duboff and Giulioni, 2017). Due to the skills of
the consultants, they must be sure that they have properly understood the needs of the client.
There are a vast amount of tools important for communication which will help in grasping the
problems of the clients properly. For example, the issue tree helps in the better understanding
of the problem, followed by a few questions which will determine the type of problem and
possible solutions (Holmemo, Rolfsen and Ingvaldsen, 2018). Thus during the first consulting
of clients, the consultant can make out the core problem in the business, the personality of the
client and the culture of the organization. In the consecutive sessions, they can discuss the
issues and the solutions for the betterment of the organization.
It is very important for client and the consultant to work closely and maintain their
relationship intact through interaction and trust (Bednarek, Burke, Jarzabkowski and Smets,
2016). Moreover, trust is a very precious tool, which will help to know the information in
details and it is also very important for security cooperation. Maintaining a good relationship
between the client and consultant can be done by creating a harmony of the same level,

excluding the main actions, and by the permanent improvement of the effectiveness of the
organization. Consultants should know that the clients have different expectations, goals and
different ways of approach, for better understanding the client, for the different types of
clients according to Breidbach and Maglio (2016). Their recommendations are that the
consultants have to believe that they can create a healthy relationship if they can understand
the client’s perspective.
In 2002, Schaffer shows us a gap between a consultant and a client, where the client wants to
use the recommendations of the consultant, but cannot do due to the lack of skill in that area.
There are five critical factors of success that may have an obstructive effect in an honest
client-consultant relationship. In brief, Schaffer says that the consultants will deliver the
solution to a problem, but they will not share the way to solve it effectively, and the new
strategies of the business are made just to solve the problems that a company faces, but the
clients are unwilling to change. Moreover, he says that the projects do not approach increased
levels of success but are mostly intended for only one solution. He also criticises the
partnership between the consultant and client, as they are not firmly established to demand
trust and due to the suspense of the outcome of the projects and its responsibility. Schaffer’s
last factor declares that the projects are of theoretical use, and not used in a leveraged way.
Barthélemy (2017), recommends that the consultants must make it clear with their clients that
the solutions are only a theoretical way of problem-solving, and that the client may
implement it in various ways according to the business. The consultants must make it clear
with the clients that there could be potential risks and unfavourable outcomes, so that the
clients may see the solutions from a different perspective. He said that this is the most
constructive way to build an honest relationship.
Conclusion
This essay has helped to point the important aspects of maintaining a good relationship
between a client and consultant and how to create values. There are different approaches for
developing a healthy relationship between a client and consultant, which will help in a good
connection in work too. The links are based on various models of relationships and styles,
and with diverse practices, they can be improved. The most important aspect of a good
relationship is through a trust which is earned by many factors. Thus, the key driver decides
the involvement in the upcoming events, and the consultants should use different skills to

make those factors possible.
Thus, the consultants must be proud of their knowledge and expertise of problem-solving and
must impress the clients with their experiences that will help the organization to solve its
problems.
The consultant must discuss the expectation of the clients at an early stage to avoid problems
and misunderstanding in the future. The relationship between the client and consultant is pure
of partnership and trust and is based on teamwork, as they are not business partners.
Consultants should learn to differentiate between the clients as many clients want a partner
for consultation, whereas others want a salesman. It is very crucial for a consultant to
understand the client’s need and viewpoint.

References
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