A Guide to Consulting Firms in the Philippines

A Guide to Consulting Firms in the Philippines

In the Philippines, consultancy is a business wherein a single or collective group of experts provide professional advice to individuals or an organization. There is a wide range of industry-specific consultancy firms that cater to various fields. In today’s day and age, consulting firms in the Philippines are becoming more adept to the specificities of their clientele. More and more companies are continuing to look towards the different services of consultancy firms in order to maximize their capacity for growth and productivity.

There is a wide array of industry sectors in the Philippines. Consulting firms are an increasing enterprise that seeks to provide their analytical knowledge for the appropriate sector of expertise.

Arthur N. Turner’s article entitled ‘Consulting Is More Than Giving Advice’ from the September 1982 issue of the Harvard Business Review, lays out a categorical structure that identifies each benchmark for a consultancy firm’s Hierarchy of Purposes.

Turner explored this framework in terms of viewing the consultancy process as a series of sequenced phases that all relate to particular areas of expertise, such as competitive analysis, corporate strategy, operations management, etc.

Although the market has and always will continue to be in flux, consulting firms in the Philippines and all across the globe generally conform to this model of hierarchy.

These fundamental objectives are based on a client-consultant relationship. The final three entries that are higher up on the pyramid are more ambitious pursuits that call for more skillful executions built on a strong foundational client-consultant relationship, understanding, and agreement.

TRADITIONAL PURPOSES:

  1. Provide information
  2. Provide solutions to given problems
  3. Conduct diagnosis that may better identify a problem
  4. Provide optimal recommendations
  5. Assist in the implementation of solutions

ADDITIONAL AIMS:

  1. Build consensus and commitment towards prescribed solutions
  2. Facilitate client learning
  3. Improve organizational effectiveness on a permanent basis

Types of Consultation Firms Based on Operation Size

Types of Consultation Firms Based on Operation Size

There are many types of consultation firms in the Philippines. Here are some examples of consulting firms based on the size of the operation.

1. Mega-Firms

These firms operate on a large scale and serve a wide range of services that cover everything from strategic affairs to technical implementation. Mega-firms also function on a global level; they stem their services towards directions concerning management consultation, technology consultation, solution implementation, and outsourcing or human resources.

Due to their major clients, mega-firms structure their training methodology towards authentic exposure to different industries, work types, and even geographies. There are several benefits in line with opportunities for education sponsorship and travel.

One of the major benefits in working for these firms is that your network significantly increases while you are accumulating strong and diverse loads of work experience.

2. Boutique Firms

Boutique firms are essentially more highly-specified firms that commonly cater to very specific areas of practice. Fields such as corporate governance, innovation, and change management are generally covered by these firms.

These firms are ideal if you are set on specializing and fully-concentrating in a specific industry. Boutique firms vastly vary in size; from single digit employees to thousands of workers.

If you are looking to explore more niche areas of specificity, a boutique firm is the most suitable avenue to focus on unique skillsets with the option of working in more miniscule company environments.

3. Independent Firms

Independent firms are also known as freelance firms. These consultants work on individual and self-sustaining work operatives. Flexibility is the most notable quality of these firms. Many consultants that find themselves in the later stages of their careers, put into great consideration the option of turning to more freelance-type work.

Freedom for fixed organizational restraints is the most recognizable aspect towards the nature of independent consultation work.

Freelance consultancy work is more fitting towards those that have already accumulated years of experience and strong skillsets and are ready to hold their own in more flexible conditions.

Types of Consultation Firms Based on the Nature of Work

Types of Consultation Firms Based on the Nature of Work

Listed below are examples of consulting firms that are solely based on the nature of work.

1. Human Resource Consultants

These consultants are basically in charge of an organization’s workforce. This department handles factors that concern personnel and employment. The nature of human resource consultants revolves around management, issues on employment, learning, and development.

2. Strategy Consultants

Strategy consultants put great input into assisting organizations in how they go about their overall operations. These consultants focus on areas such as economic policy, government policy, and general functionality policies. They focus on both quantitative and qualitative analytics while overseeing general implementation.

3. Technology Consultants

The delivering of software solutions is crucial towards improving overall business performance. The strategic as well as nuanced understanding that technology consultants can provide significantly integrates the application of advanced technology into more optimal business-client proceedings. The development of an organization’s technological facets can grant them a strong competitive edge.

4. Public Relations Consultants

The connective tissue between an organization and the public is a delicate one. It is a public relations specialist’s role to always secure this connection. This type of consultancy job centers on building and protecting a company or individual’s reputation in most professional aspects.

5. Marketing Consultants

The development of strategies towards promotion, sales, and distribution are best handled by marketing consultants. On a larger scale, these consultants are geared towards the platform for which targeted consumers select their goods and services. Similar to public relations consultants, marketing consultation deals with the public eye and image. Marketing specialists, however, are specifically geared towards customer discovery and action.

6. Legal Consultants

Legal consultants serve the purpose of identifying, preventing, and finding solutions towards any legal issues that an organization is and could potentially face. Besides these measures, legal consultants are also in charge of regulative factors that are in line with legal matters such as tax, banking, employment, intellectual property, real estate, trust, corporate affairs, etc.

7. Information Technology Consultants

In line with technology consultants, information technology consultants are more specifically experts in terms of an organization’s digital workflow or performance systems. These consultants specialize in the development of network and software programs that work in matters concerning data management and communication.

8. Social Media Consultants

Social media is currently one of the most integral fabrics that continue to dictate the direction of contemporary consumerism. The role of a social media strategist is to develop methods for search engine optimization and digital marketing. Similar to a personal relations representative and a marketing consultant, social media specialists focus on endeavors that build and cultivate a client’s online presence as a figure with approaches that are highly adept to the web trends.

9. Financial and/or Investment Consultants

These consultants are also known as financial advisors and financial analysts. There are strictly required licenses that authorize one to work as this type of consultant. Financial consultants are experts in market trends, stock values, and various economics-based matters; they are highly-valued with their input towards investments and expenditures.

Besides these core consultancy figures, there are also more niche brands of consultation such as those in the domain of advertising, environmental issues, energy issues, entertainment and media, political affairs, etc.

Roles Of Consultancy

Roles of Consultancy

Consultancy directly correlates to choice and flexibility. Consultants are a necessary asset that businesses rely on for key projects and operational initiatives. Hiring a consultant is an advantage towards companies that are in the process of expanding their business and may or may not be faced with high-risk situations that require professional guidance from a trained expert.

Consulting Jobs

Financial consultants are well-versed and highly-critical in these working positions:

  • Business systems and business performance improvement
  • Accounting and Finance
  • Operations Management
  • Taxation
  • Finance Optimization
  • Governance, Risk, and Compliance

Roles

Financial consultants that serve as corporate specialists are often called for their expertise in these roles:

  • Accounting Manager
  • Controller
  • Auditor
  • Internal Auditor
  • Financial Planning and Analysis Management
  • HR/Benefits/Payroll
  • IT Auditor
  • Senior Financial Analyst
  • Senior Accountant
  • Systems/Business Analyst

Required Skills and Experience

Businesses continue to struggle to keep up with the rapid paces of technology. There is a general need for consultants that are proficient and have a great grasp of the following:

  • Systems Conversion Projects
  • Integrated Financial Reporting Systems
  • Information Security and Data-Mining Tools
  • Enterprise Resource Planning Systems (ERP)
  • Cloud-Computing Platforms

Staff Support

Consultants are also called-in, hired, and integrated for their skills in aiding an organizations existing staff.

  • Interim Management

Consultants are hired to aid companies in their transitional endeavors by providing services in key management.

  • Project Management

These consultants are equipped with the knowledge, experience, and expertise that is required in leading projects that follow strict timelines and volatile variables.

  • Staff Augmentation

This type of consultancy is called for when companies experience drastic bursts in workload and need assistance in terms of lessening the strains of the staff.

Long-Term Implications of Consulting Firms in the Philippines

Long-Term Implications of Consulting Firms in the Philippines

Segments are known the types of advisory services that are used in varieties of organization and their operating countries. These target compliances with industry standard services. Services related to:

  • A company’s overall strategy addressed to the CEO.
  • Marketing, Communication, Sales, Public Relations as addressed to the CMO.
  • Management, Finance, Taxation, Accounting, and Regulations in accordance with the CFO.
  • Operations, Information Technology, Operations Management, Research and Development in accordance with the COO and CTO.

Providing Information, Problem Solving, Effective Diagnosis

Seeking information is the most common reason for an organization’s need for professional consultancy. Compiling information with the use of surveys, studies, analyses of competitive structures is continuing to grow and be more geared towards digital spheres. Consultants are becoming more well-versed in maximizing a company’s development by adapting to these technological trends.

Managers are mainly in charge of coordinating with consultants with regards to tackling the problems they are faced with. Many of the questions and pursuits that consultants embark on while attempting to remedy problems is branching towards aspects that concern change and the capacity to adapt: practicality, morale, internal communication, control, management succession in line with efficacy, etc.

Consultants are best relied on for their skills in diagnosis. The accuracy that consultants are well-trained in is utilized in successfully identifying what needs to be addressed in terms of business operatives.

Action Recommendation, Change Implementation, Organizational Effectiveness

When it comes to recommending actions, it is the consultant’s duty to be well-versed in all the details and intricacies that inform their diagnosis and prescribed steps of logical action.

There are many avenues in which a consultant can assist in the enforcement of change without overshadowing the duties of the manager. Consultants pose preliminary questions before installing a new system; the method is always prioritized to be collaborative in all efforts. One of the barriers that need to be overcome in order to have a successful relationship with a consulting firm is to build unshakable bases of trust, communication, and cooperation. These things of course, gradually developed with each and every engagement.

In the long run, concepts and acute implementation of ideas run like clockwork when dealing with roadblock tasks. Promoting long-term effectiveness is one of the landmarks of macro-level growth that healthy companies continue to strive for.

Finally, and most importantly, consultancy firms aim towards emphasizing progress. Both management and consultancy significantly take hold of the long-term goals in any organization—they need to get together like a well-oiled machine.

Success with SAGE Solution

Sage Solution is a tour de force in finding solutions for business owners in the Philippines. Consulting firms need the most knowledgeable foundations and experience when working with their incomparable clientele. Sage Solution is headed by the top management team in their industry and is capable of optimizing progress for both small-scale and larger-scale business owners, regardless of nature.

Sage is one of the most well-versed and highly reputable management consulting firms in the Philippines. They offer 3 essential programs for business owners and managers to get a greater grasp of their potential progress: Re-tooling Program, Pre-investment Program, and Investment Program.

Their wide-range of leaders are some of the most-esteemed individuals in the Philippines. Consulting firms are essential for maximizing long-term growth. Ultimately, Sage Solutions is objectively on track to being the most valuable of the consulting firms in the Philippines.

Click here for more on how Sage Solutions can significantly improve your business’ overall performance and growth.