Business Consultancy Course (Level 3 Diploma)

Overview

The Level 3 Diploma in Business Consultancy will particularly appeal to those who wish to enter the profession of Management Consulting.

This may be pursuing a career in an international consulting firm that offers business advisory services to clients or by taking up an internal consulting position within a business organization. The course equally provides a foundation for those looking at postgraduate studies in Management or Management Consulting or those seeking to study the subject at higher or further education.

Recent years has witnessed some re-alignment of the profession. In the United Kingdom the Institute of Management Consultants has allied itself with the Chartered Management Institute. On the international stage the CMC qualification is rapidly gaining status as the definitive qualification for recognizing practicing management consultants who abide by a professional code of ethics, are properly qualified and subscribe to a practice of Continuing Professional Development. The need for expert guidance has seen an increasing number of publications and job opportunities in this area.

This course together with its accreditation from NCFE and the Institute of Management Specialists promises to be an exciting and highly desirable qualification for all students.

What is Management Consulting?

Management consulting (sometimes also called strategy consulting) refers to both the practice of helping companies to improve performance through analysis of existing business problems and development of future plans, as well as to the firms that specialise in this sort of consulting. Management consulting may involve the identification and cross-fertilization of best practices analytical techniques, change management and coaching skills, technology implementations, strategy development or even the simple advantage of an outsider's perspective.

Why study Management Consulting?

Students will expect to derive the following benefits from the diploma course:

• Understand different business consultancy models and why organisations emphasize leadership, change management and business strategy
• Learn to determine the usefulness of management reporting, evaluate financial statements and receive tools to analyze and explain what these activities mean to upper management
• Develop skills to deal with Executives in terms of both relationship building and maintaining effective client relationships. Embraces concepts of effective report writing
• Gain an appreciation of the tools and techniques that Consultants use as part of their " toolbox" on client engagements
• How to properly manage and structure client assignments, manage project teams and report progress to Executive level clients
• Discover ways to improve organisational communications while utilising and developing human resources, group effectiveness and employee satisfaction
• Develop effective consulting skills and learn how to interact with Executives

COURSE KEY TOPICS 

Module 1 - Introduction to Business Consulting
Module 2 - The business of Consultancy and Advisory services
Module 3 - Effective Stakeholder Management
Module 4 - Key Consultancy Skills
Module 5 - Managing Project Assignments
Module 6 - Planning Consultancy Assignments
Module 7 - Data Collection and Analysis
Module 8 - Effective Report Writing Skills
Module 9 - Making Client Presentations
Module 10 - Rational Persuasion

HOME STUDY SUPPORT

You will be provided with comprehensive materials designed to provide you with everything required to complete your course of study. You will have your own personal tutor helping you with your course work and with any questions you may have. Plus you can contact our Student Advisors by email or phone for all the practical advice you may need – so we really are with you 100%.

What's more, you'll have access to the online student portal, where you can interact with other students, browse our resource library and manage your account.

COURSE ASSESSMENT

When you have completed the programme, your tutor needs to verify that you have worked through all parts of any Workbooks, Activities and Exercises successfully.

100% of the final mark is made up of an online multiple choice exam.

Upon verification of the activities, exercises and assignments, you will be awarded your diploma by OLQA as confirmation that your written work has met all of the learning outcomes and assessment criteria for the programme.

Description

COURSE DURATION

We recommended you spend approximately 200 hours of your time studying for the course name. Get started today, and you can earn your Level 3 Diploma in Business Consultancy in as little as six months, or take up to a year, if you prefer – the choice is yours.

This Quality Assured Level 3 Diploma in Business Consulting course is aimed at providing a foundation in business consulting skills. The widely recognised accreditation of this course will look great on a CV and be particularly appealing to prospective employers.

Module 1
Introduction to Business Consulting

• Students will gain an appreciation of:
• The business of consultancy
• Conducting consultancy projects
• Creating change
• Effective report writing
• Data collection and analysis
• Rational persuasion
• Making client presentations
• Training Sessions and Workshops

Module 2
The business of Consultancy and Advisory services

• Code of Conduct
• Consulting descriptions
• Types of engagements
• Professionalism - meaning of trust
• Professional membership
• International Consulting roles
• Consulting assignments
• Evolution of consultancy
• Impact of the information age

The course will look at sample work settings and provide suitable illustrations from the following business settings:

• Manufacturing and Industrial Organizations
• Banks and Financial Institutes
• Government and Public sector Organizations
• Education Sector
• Professional firms
• Medical Sector

Module 3
Effective Stakeholder Management
This course will be focused on how to build key client business relationships, maintaining confidence and trust of clients, delivering quality services, managing client expectations and achieving value-added contribution raising client satisfaction indicators.

Objectives for stakeholder management

• Building the client / consultant relationship
• Understanding the client
• Building trust and confidence
• Phases of the relationship
• Use of intervention
• Understanding problems
• The meaning and importance of quality
• Value-added contributions
• Maintaining the business relationship

The course will contain a number of additional learning modules made up as follows:

• Understanding client entry phase
• Purpose of the entry phase
• Stages of the entry phase
• Brief and scope of assignments
• Planning the project
• Putting together a proposal
• Presenting a proposal
• Gaining consent

Module 4
Key Consultancy Skills
This section is all about techniques and skills that the qualified Management Consultant will employ on business engagements.

• Different approaches to consulting engagements
• Use of proprietary methods
• Building your own toolbox
• The value of effective research
• No substitute for training in acquisition of skills
• Examination of key techniques and skills required

Students will gain an appreciation of:

• Conducting interviews
• Conducting Client meetings
• Presentations to Executives
• Problem Solving
• Decision Making
• Report Writing
• Preparing Summary Reports
• Types of research - conducting research
• The meaning of truth - honesty in reporting
• Instilling confidence
• Effective listening skills
• How to add value

Module 5
Managing Project Assignments
Project Management is best defined as Planning, Organization and Control in a structured and managed environment.

On successful completion of this course the student should gain an appreciation of:

• The fundamentals of Project Management
• An overview of the planning process
• Understanding sub contractor relationships
• Dealing with third party relationships
• Managing client engagement teams
• Project Controls - setting up a project
• How to manage risks
• How to establish change control procedures
• Configuration Management
• Aspects of due diligence
• Resource Management

Module 6
Planning Consultancy Assignments
This course will focus upon the Planning consultancy engagements, methods of costing assignments, how to manage the engagement. Students will gain an appreciation of:

• Project Planning techniques
• Use of Excel
• Use of Microsoft Project
• Estimating
• Managing resources
• Importance of critical path analysis
• Fixed duration contracts
• Incremental delivery
• Mitigating client risk

Module 7
Data Collection and Analysis
Techniques for collection and assessment of information / data.

• Types of information and data
• Determination of what data to collect
• How to determine the data capture method
• Analysis of data
• Presentation of data
• Dissemination of data
• Sourcing data
• Researching data
• Importance of Evidence
• Data Integrity

Module 8
Effective Report Writing Skills
Writing effective management reports, techniques for board room presentations.

Module 9
Making Client Presentations
The art of making efficient client presentations, use of software, technique of delivery, different types of presentations and techniques to use.

Requirements

Minimum 16 years of age. Educated to at least Grade C GCSE standard or above.