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WHAT IS CONSULTANCY?
A niche area of banking and finance is the consultancy industry. Consultancy firms vary in their specialities and are largely dependant on the quality and knowledge of the consultants who work there.
Consulting advice in the Banking and Finance sector encompasses a wide variety of management issues that can be divided into the following categories:
- Strategy Consulting or Business Strategy Consulting:
- development of corporate strategy
- new market entry
- business case development
- growth strategy
- commercial due diligence of potential acquisitions / disposals
- long range planning
- re-organisation of a company’s structure
- rationalisation of services and products
- a general business appraisal of the company
- Investment Consulting - Provide consultancy for institutional investors and high-net worth individuals to aid in devising appropriate asset allocations for large funds and selecting investment managers to fulfil these roles, monitoring the chosen investment managers services.
- Operational Consulting, Banking and Finance Business Services:
- assist in process improvement
- cost reduction
- productivity and incentive schemes
- address quality control problems
- Marketing Consulting: conduct market research and business forecasting, implement sales force training.
- Financial Consulting and Management Controls:
- installing budgetary control systems
- profit planning or capital and revenue budgeting
- office reorganisation
- administrative arrangements.
- Human Resources Consulting:
- assist in organisational design
- organisational restructuring
- talent and rewards strategy
- advise on HR/Personnel policy
- manpower planning
- job enrichment
- job evaluation
- employee relations
- Technology Consulting or Information Technology Consulting:
- development of technology architecture
- technology infrasctructure
- complex programming
- defining information needs
- the provision of software
- systems analysis and design
- computer feasibility studies
- implementing computer applications
- computer hardware evaluations.
- Applications Consulting: advice provided on issues related to large scale implementation of data software applications such as Oracle, SAP and Siebel
- Environmental Management Consulting: urban area and regional development planning, international economic research, cost benefit and social analysis studies, physical, economic, ecological and sociological studies for the encouragement of quality of lifestyle.
- Quality Management Consulting: setting of policy and strategy, customer satisfaction, performance measurement, people management and processes.
- Outsourcing Consulting: management of outsourcing projects such as IT, HR or finance.
All consultancies have their own specialisms. The Banking and Finance sector use consultants for a range of activities. Nowadays it is common for large firms to provide several, or even all, consultancy specialisms.
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