Finalists and Winners of the prestigious CMCE Consulting Research Awards announced
One of the aims of the Centre is to promote academic research that is of value to the practice of management consultancy. To that end in 2019 with the support of the British Academy of Management, the Consulting Research Awards were launched and are awarded annually to recently published papers and books of outstanding value and relevance to the profession. The Centre presents Awards for research in three main categories:
- Client-consultant relationships: issues around governance, trust, integrity, social responsibility and ethics and the implications of these for consultancy.
- Technology and consulting: the application of new technologies and their relevance to consultancy.
- The Changing Environment of the Consultant: the demands that changes in society and the business environment are placing on consultants
The assessment of this year’s excellent nominations has led to five Finalists, from which two Award Winners were selected by an Assessment Panel composed of experienced management consultants, and announced during the Conference:
This year’s Finalist in the category ‘Client-consultant relationships’ was:
Aristotle and the Management Consultants: Shooting for Ethical Practice
The Assessment Panel’s comment was: ‘A very useful paper as this topic is a perennial theme for management consulting. The paper brings a new perspective to important ethical issues in consulting that have a direct impact in terms of reputation’. The author of this paper Dr David Shaw, Queen Mary, University of London said: ‘I am delighted that the Assessment Panel has selected as a Finalist this paper, which explores what our most modern of industries can learn from the philosophy of Aristotle. As management consultants we need to be aware of, and to examine, the assumptions that we bring to our work, and challenging us to do this is one of the great contributions of the philosophers of ancient Greece.’
This year’s Finalist in the category ‘Technology and consulting’ was:
The secret to AI is people
The Assessment Panel’s comment was: ‘This is a well-researched paper bringing practical insights into how to manage one of the trickiest challenges to digitisation. It is relevant to a major area of practice and of considerable practical value’. The authors of this paper are the Distinguished Professor Nada R Sanders, McKim School of Business at Northeastern University and John D Wood, partner, Green Klein & Wood.
This year’s Finalist in the category ‘The Changing Environment of the Consultant’ was:
Management Consultancy Insights and Real Consultancy Projects
The Assessment Panel’s comment was: ‘This book provides relevant insights into management consulting as an industry and profession. It is well presented with a good scope and balance between theory, experience and lessons learned, which will be valuable in training consultants. The authors of the paper are Associate Professors Graham Manville, University of East Anglia and Julian Campbell, University of East Anglia and Professor Olga Matthias, Leeds Beckett University, who said: ‘It’s a real privilege to be awarded for our work in the field of consulting. We pride ourselves on bridging the practice:theory divide and welcome the CMCI’s recognition of our contribution, and that all of all the authors in our book, from worldwide consulting practices and universities.’
This year’s Winner in the category ‘Client-consultant relationships’ was:
Management consulting: Towards an integrative framework of knowledge, identity, and power
The Assessment Panel’s comment was: ‘This paper provides a relevant and useful framework and a helpful insight into the client-consultant relationship, that will be of particular use in training management consultants.’ The authors of the paper are Professors Laura Empson, Cass Business School, City, University of London and Jean-Pascal Gond, Cass Business School, City, University of London and lead author Dr Szilvia Mosonyi, Queen Mary, University of London who said: ‘I am excited for our paper to receive the CMCE Research Award. Our objective for writing it was to synthesize knowledge on consulting in the management literature in the past three decades. We hope that apart from academics, consultancies and consultants will also find our framework of consulting useful in their daily practices. The award is a wonderful way to convey our framework to a larger practitioner audience.’
This year’s Winner in the category ‘The Changing Environment of the Consultant’ was:
Barriers To Successful Early Growth For Small Management Consultancies: Evidence And Solutions
The Assessment Panel’s comment was: ‘This well-researched paper is highly relevant and of great practical value. The insights into what it takes to run, and grow, a management consulting business are well presented and show a good understanding of the profession.’ The author of this paper Professor Joe O’Mahoney, Cardiff Business School said: ‘It is an honour to receive this prestigious award from CMCE. The focus on high quality research which helps consultancies, their clients, and wider stakeholders is very welcome’.
All the 2020 Finalists and Winners will be featured in the CMCE Academic Showcase programme of evening seminars in 2021.
About the Centre of Management Consulting Excellence
The Centre for Management Consulting Excellence is a learned society established to facilitate sharing of know-how and to promote research of value to the practice of consultancy. The Centre serves the community of all who are interested in management consultancy – including not only practitioners but also clients, academics and students – through a programme of events, an on-line knowledge exchange; and by undertaking research, usually in collaboration with business schools, into topics of interest in consultancy. (For details see the web site at www.cmce.org.uk.)