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Hyderabad , Dec. 8

HOW do you visualise a consultant? Is he a secret agent? Or a mysterious and shadowy figure that sneaks in and out of boardrooms?

No, says Mr Barry Curnow, Chairman of the International Council of Management Consulting Institutes (ICMCI). "They (consultants) are no longer secret agents. They are part of the good business management housekeeping of the 21st century manager, learning with our clients and helping each other to learn."

Mr Curnow was delivering the keynote address at the three-day Asia Pacific Conference of Management Consultants here on Monday.

"Economies grow when businesses grow and businesses grow when entrepreneurs envision, innovate and take the initiative as the title of this conference suggests. Entrepreneurs grow when they successfully face up to the challenges facing the 21st century managers. Professional management consultants qualified to CMC standard are integral to that process."

Talking on how consulting worked and when it did not work in economic development, Mr Curnow said consulting worked well when there was effective cross-border transfer of knowledge, skills and co-operation between local national and international consultants. "It doesn't work at all well when offshore consultants parachute in to a country undertake projects, write a report and fly out again."

Besides setting a single standard for the competent consultant internationally, ICMCI played an important role in the revolution that is taking place globally in consultancy education, he said.

The ICMCI standard is observed and promoted in nearly 40 member countries.

"The council has got two types of relationship in each country - a membership relationship with the professional institute that qualifies Certified Management Consultants to the ICMCI standard, and an academic relationship with learning partners."

He said China and Thailand were likely to join the ICMCI.

Inaugurating the conference, Mr Devender Goud, Minister for Home in the caretaker Government in the State, said a healthy environment was a prerequisite for healthy growth in economy. "There must be a healthy environment for enterprises to thrive," he said.

"Development of human resources, expanding markets with quality products and services, growth-driven policies and focus on technology management and innovation can bring about this healthy growth path and help enterprises to thrive and compete globally," he said, asking the management professionals to work for creation of such healthy environment.

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