E-Consulting in Virtual Negotiations

In the e-world where many of us live and work, virtual work arrangements will become increasingly commonplace. This paper reports on an exploratory study into the way in which consultants can ply their trade virtually with clients whom they never meet. US-located e-consultants provided advice to Hong Kong-located web site developers on the interface and content aspects of a website that was being developed for an international audience. Extensive analyses of the communication between the consultants and developers is undertaken, in parallel with an analysis of survey data obtained from the two sets of stakeholders. Lessons are drawn for future research and practice.     

Assessment and selection of management consultants: A comparative cognitive study between small- and large-scale companies

This paper explores alternative ways of evaluating and ultimately hiring a generalist consultancy for short- and medium-term projects, and how this is shaped by the size of the clients’ company. What buying factors do managers of small and large firms have in mind when hiring consultants for their projects?Instead of employing surveys incorporating predefined buying factors based on what the researchers think would be important, a cognitive mapping methodology - the repertory grid technique - is applied to investigate the underlying phenomena. Using the repertory grid technique to draw mental models is a novel research technique within the supply management field. Recent behavioral supply chain management research found the behavior of managers to be critically influenced by mental models: the lenses through which managers perceive, simplify and interpret the world.Results show differences between the buying factors used in small- and large-scale companies: managers of large companies are more ‘reputation and outcome-oriented’ and managers of small businesses are more concerned with ‘how the services are rendered’. However, both constituents stressed the importance of expertise, quality and the relationship between the client and the management consultancy, although the character of such a relationship differed between small- and large-scale firms. Results also point out criteria that managers of small and large companies employ to discriminate between good and poor performing consultancies and to judge service delivery. The practical implications for both companies hiring consultancies and the consultancy companies are discussed. For consultancies, our findings can help tailoring their efforts to a differing clientele when marketing and selling their services. For companies hiring consultancies, fixating too much on particular buying factors may lead to biased decisions.     

基于贝叶斯网络的咨询公司ERP咨询项目风险评估

针对咨询公司ERP咨询项目风险的特点和风险定量评估要求,提出了基于贝叶斯网络的ERP咨询项目风险评估方法。在风险辨识的基础上,根据风险之间的相关性,建立了贝叶斯风险网络模型;依赖领域专家的主观判断并借助项目经验确定网络中的概率参数,通过专家信息融合克服主观判断的缺陷;运用贝叶斯网络推理工具定量估计风险的发生概率及其影响,进一步评估风险强度并对其进行排序,以确定整个网络图中各风险的控制优先级。最后通过实例验证该方法的有效性。     

工业工程在企业咨询中的实际应用

简要阐述了工业工程的基本方法及其特征,模仿中医诊病的过程,以实例介绍了工业工程在上海汽车股份公司下属一些企业的管理咨询项目中的应用情况。     

Keeping Public Institutions Invested in Tobacco

Increasingly through the 1990s, tobacco control advocates questioned the practice of public institutions investing in tobacco company stocks. The questioning was framed in at least three ways. First, is it ethical to fund public expenditures with profits from a product that causes addiction and disease? Second, is it sound social policy to derive public income from a product that increases healthcare costs and reduces worker productivity? Finally, is it sound fiscal policy to invest in an historically profitable industry facing multiplying legal and regulatory challenges? While the tobacco industry preferred to restrict discussion to the fiscal question, and offered an affirmative answer, its position was weakened by depressed stock prices brought on by actions of the industry as much as by tobacco control activism. As part of a campaign to restore its credibility as an investment vehicle with public fund managers, Philip Morris (PM) commissioned a report from the influential investment managers/advisors Wilshire Associates. However, Wilshire had only recently conducted such a study for the Washington State Investment Board (WSIB), assuring the board that the value tobacco stocks added to an investment portfolio – if any – was too small to be measured. Nonetheless, within a year, Wilshire produced a report for PM which appeared to laud the investment value of tobacco and to dismiss tobacco-excluded investment alternatives. This paper examines how Wilshire produced apparently diametrically opposed reports for clients with different interests. It reveals a pattern of potential conflicts of interest among tobacco companies, financial analysis firms, investment authorities, and institutional fund managers. It demonstrates substantial violations of two generally accepted ethical principles of business consulting: veracity and transparency.     

工程咨询企业国际核心竞争力评价指标体系研究

本文阐述了建立工程咨询企业国际竞争力评价指标体系的必要性基本原则,确定了适合我国工程咨询企业国际核心竞争力的评价指标体系,运用ISM模型,对各因素进行分级评价,将工程咨询企业国际核心竞争力的评价指标划分成最终指标、高级指标、次高级指标以及基础指标的四级递阶系统,为我国工程咨询企业提升竞争力的评价研究,提供一定的参考依据。     

低质量数据下的知识获取方案研究

数据挖掘已经成为重要的知识来源。随着信息化的深入,企业对数据挖掘有了较大的需求,但数据质量差往往会造成数据挖掘的结论可信度低,从而影响了数据挖掘的应用。本文以可拓学方法,通过系统分析产生脏数据的原因,提出了基于学科链方法的数据清洗方案。通过数据挖掘手段发现数据质量差距,追溯到软件设计、实施、维护等上游环节,提出从来源环节解决问题的系统方法,并提出通过数据挖掘应用咨询促使数据质量改进的措施,从而降低数据清洗的工作量,使数据质量不高的企业也可以实施数据挖掘项目,获取决策支持所需的知识。     

G_1法在管理咨询业顾客满意度评价中的应用研究

从管理咨询业与顾客满意度的接触点入手,依据咨询服务质量指标构建的原则建立了一套顾客满意度评价指标体系。考虑到综合评价过程中权重设置问题,引入了无需一致性检验的G1法,并用G1法对指标体系权重计算做了算例,以验证方法的有效性。     

Learning from the world? Horizontal knowledge flows and geopolitics in international consulting firms

This paper examines the nature of the contemporary multinational corporation (MNC) through a study of the use of knowledge management systems (KMS) in four major international consulting firms. In particular, we explore whether and how such systems facilitate horizontal (inter-subsidiary) flows of knowledge, as described in the network view of the MNC. Our analysis reveals the presence of horizontal flows within the four firms, but flows that are contextually constrained and partly shaped by geopolitical power relations. Thus, our study gives some support to the image of the MNC as a network whilst highlighting the contextual limits of horizontal knowledge transfer and, importantly, the geopolitical conditions under which such knowledge transfer takes place. At the same time, it challenges the claim that consulting firms are model organizations in the area of knowledge management as well as the more negative view that questions the ability of KMS to facilitate knowledge transfer.     

我国工程造价咨询行业发展现状与建议

工程造价咨询企业可以利用其专长与经验,为工程建设企业提供高质量的项目管理与造价咨询等服务,确保项目实现最大的经济效益社会效益和最小的成本。