Management of a consulting firm

Abstract

Introduction. The paper examines the prospects of management of consulting firms in Ukraine. In the 21st century, there is almost no area of business that cannot be linked to consulting. The purpose of the paper is to study the theoretical and methodological principles and scientific and methodological approaches to the management of consulting firms. Results. An empirical study was conducted in the form of a survey of Ukrainian companies on the use of consulting services. The study was conducted in the fall of 2020 throughout Ukraine. The developed questionnaire contained 21 questions. With a response rate of 24%, 194 valid, completed questionnaires were received, which were processed using descriptive statistics. Respondents are quite satisfied with the consulting services they have purchased, but there is a relatively high proportion (40%) of organizations that question the value for money, and 12% have failed to implement the consultant's offer. When choosing a consultant, the surveyed companies pay attention to three main criteria: the cost of services (34%), professional previous relationships (26%), the reputation of the consultant (18%). When asked why they plan to use consulting, 34% of respondents said that this is necessary due to the expectations of various institutions (banks, international grants, etc.), 36% of respondents plan to hire external consultants because the company is too small to have its own internal staff. each area, and 13% would use external consultants in exceptional cases (crisis, restructuring, large investments). Conclusion. According to the survey, the most common reason why Ukrainian companies turn to management consulting is to increase efficiency and finance (investment, project financing, liquidity, etc.). The challenges posed by the growing pressure of the digital revolution in Ukraine will soon give new impetus to the development of consulting services. Further research will focus on comparing trends in Ukraine with other Eastern European countries.