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TMB / NWIP

TO THE ISO MEMBER BODIES

2013-01-23

New work item proposal – Management Consultancy
Dear Sir or Madam,
Please find attached a new work item proposal submitted by UNI (Italy) entitledManagement Consultancy. It should be noted that, if the NWIP is approved, the work is
proposed to be carried out in a Project Committee.
You are kindly invited to complete the ballot form (Form 05) which could be downloadedat www.iso.org/forms and send it, preferably in Word format, to the Secretariat of the ISO
Technical Management Board at tmb@iso.org before 23 April 2013.

Yours faithfully,

Sophie Clivio
Secretary to the Technical Management Board

Encl: NWIP (Form 04)
ANNEX 1: Items proposed for the study of ISO standard on "management consultancy"

BCL/TMB_NWIP_CL

NEW WORK ITEM PROPOSAL
Closing date for voting

Reference number(to be given by the Secretariat)

Date of circulation

ISO/TC
Secretariat

/ SC

N

Proposal for new PC

A proposal for a new work item within the scope of an existing committee shall be submitted to the secretariat of that committee with a copy to
the Central Secretariat and, in the case of a subcommittee, a copy to the secretariat of the parent technical committee. Proposals not within thescope of an existing committee shall be submitted to the secretariat of the ISO Technical Management Board.
The proposer of a new work item may be a member body of ISO, the secretariat itself, another technical committee or subcommittee, ororganization in liaison, the Technical Management Board or one of the advisory groups, or the Secretary-General.
The proposal will be circulated to the P-members of the technical committee or subcommittee for voting, and to the O-members for information.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Proposals without adequate justification risk rejection or referral to originator.
Guidelines for proposing and justifying a new work item are contained in Annex C of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1.

The proposer has considered the guidance given in the Annex C during the preparation of the NWIP.
Proposal (to be completed by the proposer)
Title of the proposed deliverable.
(in the case of an amendment, revision or a new part of an existing document, show the reference number and current title)

English title

Management consultancy

French title(if available)

FORM 4 (ISO) v. 2012

Page 1 of 5

New work item proposal

Scope of the proposed deliverable.

To prepare an ISO standard for organizations providing management consultancy services, working out
guidelines for the effective delivery of management consultancy services.
The service standard on Management Consultancy is entirely customer-driven. The
concern is‐ how the purchased service fits into the buying organisation;‐ how the latter decides its needs and supplies an external service, i.e. how to select, to manage andto judge potential consultancy service providers;‐ how to assess the result coming from the consultancy service.
The intention is to use best practices for a reliable provision of consulting services (with a managed andreduced risk to the client), and to increase the probability that the use of the management consultancy
service will enhance the capability and the capacity of both the client and the overall economy.
The standard is expected to be applicable to all organizations providing management consulting services
including public and private companies, government entities, not‐for‐profit organizations and internal
consultancy units and operations, regardless of their ownership, structure, size or sector.
The standard is expected to apply to any type of management consultancy assignment and to any type of client. It
may be of value to clients, but does not intend to place any obligations on them.
Recommendations for management consultancy assignments will be considered, including typical issues
such as:• Legal and ethical issues;• Management, communications and evaluation;• Client relationships;• Proposing and agreeing an assignment;• Planning and execution;• Closure of the assignment.
A European standard (EN 16114) is available and may represent a good basis for this proposed International Standard.
The standard aims at being independent from other Standards, such as:• The provision of support to small businesses (see CEN TS 99001);• Quality Management Systems (see ISO 9001:2008);• Procurement (see ISO TC 259 on ''outsourcing'');• Corporate Social Responsibility (see ISO 26000);• Project management (see ISO 21500);
even if it intends to take into due account all these documents while developing the works.
Excluded areas:
The standard will provide guidance to users and not seek to impose or interfere with any contractual
obligations or intellectual property rights. Therefore it will not require or imply a need for third‐party
certification and it is not intended or designed to be used as the basis for any personal ororganizational qualification or certification. This proposed new work will neither address nor cover the detailed aspects ofsupport to business.

FORM 4 (ISO) v. 2012

Page 2 of 5

New work item proposal

Purpose and justification of the proposal.

There is a growing need for clarity about what clients can expect from a management consulting
organization they contract with. Clients increasingly insist on more transparency with regard to the services
provided by the management consulting organization and the process used to provide the management
consultancy services.
Clarity in the way management consultants work and how the process of consultancy develops can leadto successful outcomes. The need for clarity has resulted in management consulting becoming aninternational professional community with its specifications, ethics, education, qualification, codes ofconduct and professional institutes. The consulting competency shall be broadened in order to include the necessary skills
to support organizations so that the "everyday business" may effectively run.
Today, clients want more value for the money they pay for management consultants and the latter have to keep to this, if
they take their job seriously and contribute to the client’s corporate governance. Clients no longer accept the “one size fitsall”‐approach or standardized solutions, they would rather seek tailored made solutions and long term utility of implemented
concepts.
This means:‐ support from “advising” to implementation;‐ reduced “time to solution”;‐ productivity and return on investment;‐ innovative and global thinking;‐ professional competency.
Management Consultancy is a service which, if successful, can considerably enhance the effectiveness andefficiency of the organizations using management consultancy and the relevant costs can be remarkably turned into benefits.
Developing a service standard for organizations providing management consultancy would contribute to the success, ethics
and transparency of the management consulting profession.
If a draft is attached to this proposal,:Please select from one of the following options (note that if no option is selected, the default will be the first
option):Draft document will be registered as new project in the committee's work programme (stage 20.00)
Draft document can be registered as a Working Draft (WD – stage 20.20)
Draft document can be registered as a Committee Draft (CD – stage 30.00)
Draft document can be registered as a Draft International Standard (DIS – stage 40.00)
Is this a Management Systems Standard (MSS)?
Yes

No

NOTE: if Yes, the NWIP along with the Justification study (see Annex SL of the Consolidated ISO Supplement) must be sent
to the MSS Task Force secretariat (tmb@iso.org) for approval before the NWIP ballot can be launched.
Indication(s) of the preferred type or types of deliverable(s) to be produced under the proposal.
International Standard

Technical Specification

Proposed development track

1 (24 months)

Publicly Available Specification
2 (36 months - default)

Technical Report

3 (48 months)

Known patented items (see ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1 for important guidance)
Yes

No

FORM 4 (ISO) v. 2012

If "Yes", provide full information as annex

Page 3 of 5

New work item proposal

A statement from the proposer as to how the proposed work may relate to or impact on existing work, especiallyexisting ISO and IEC deliverables. The proposer should explain how the work differs from apparently similar work,
or explain how duplication and conflict will be minimized.

The proposed standard can support or can obtain benefits from the application of standards or works of other committees:- the guidance given by ISO 21500 (Project management);- the opportunities offered by the outsourcing, studied in ISO TC 259 "Project committee: Outsourcing";- the management of human resources, covered by ISO TC 260 "Human resource management";- the learning aspects, specified in ISO 29990:2010 "Learning services for non-formal education and training -- Basicrequirements for service providers" and in the activity of ISO TC 232 "Learning services for non-formal education andtraining";- ISO 10667 "Assessment service delivery - Procedures and methods to assess people in work and organizational settings".
Management systems for safety, quality, environment, social responsibility are important issues, already addressed inInternational Standardization and therefore they will not be dealt with in the proposed standard.
No overlap is supposed or expected with other ISO activities and no standards similar to this proposal are now available inISO.
A listing of relevant existing documents at the international, regional and national levels.
EN 16114 published by CEN TC 381 "Management consultancy services"

A simple and concise statement identifying and describing relevant affected stakeholder categories (including small
and medium sized enterprises) and how they will each benefit from or be impacted by the proposed deliverable(s)Considering the six basic categories:
A. Industry and commerce: very interested and very affected, especially small and medium enterprises;
B. Govermnent: interested and affected. The standard aims at being applicable to government entities as well;
C. Consumers: not directly affected, because the proposal is for a business-to-business (B2B) standard and not for abusiness-to-consumers (B2C);
D. Labour: partially and indirectly affected, because the 'role of persons' is to be considered in any case; to be consideredlater, if the discussion proves that a specific research is needed or if the results of a research are collected and assessed;
F. Standards application;
G. NGO: interested and affected. The standard aims at being applicable to NGO as well.
Liaisons:

Joint/parallel work:

A listing of relevant external international organizations
or internal parties (other ISO and/or IEC committees) to
be engaged as liaisons in the development of thedeliverable(s).

Possible joint/parallel work with:ICMCI, International Council of Management Consulting
Institutes;
FEACO, European Federation of Management
Consultancies Associations;
ISO/TC 232 Learning services for non-formal education andtraining
ISO/PC 259 Outsourcing
ISO/ TC 260 Human resource management

FORM 4 (ISO) v. 2012IEC

(please specify committee ID)

CEN(please specify committee ID)

Other(please specify)

Page 4 of 5

New work item proposal

A listing of relevant countries which are not already P-members of the committee.
Preparatory work (at a minimum an outline should be included with the proposal)
A draft is attachedAn outline is attachedAn existing document to serve as initial basis

The proposer or the proposer's organization is prepared to undertake the preparatory work required
Proposed Project Leader (name and e-mail address)

Ilse Ennsfellner
Kreuzwiesensteig 22
A 2384 Breitenfurt
Austria
ie@ennsfellnerconsulting.eu

Yes

No

Name of the Proposer(include contact information)

G.L. Salerio
UNI - Ente Nazionale Italiano di Unificazione
Via Sannio 2
20137 Milano - Italy
gianluca.salerio@uni.com

Supplementary information relating to the proposal
This proposal relates to a new ISO document;This proposal relates to the amendment of existing ISO document
This proposal is for the revision of an existing ISO document;This proposal relates to the adoption as an active project of an item currently registered as a Preliminary Work Item;
This proposal relates to the re-establishment of a cancelled project as an active project.
Other:
Annex(es) are included with this proposal (give details)

Annex 1 - Items proposed for the study of ISO standard on "management consultancy"

FORM 4 (ISO) v. 2012

Page 5 of 5

Annex 1
Items proposed for the study of ISO standard on "management consultancy"

Introduction
1.

Scope

2.

Normative references

3.

Terms and definitions

4.

Principles

5.

Offering

6.

Execution

7.

ClosureAnnexes

Introduction
Management consultancy services make a substantial contribution to the economy.
The aim of a standard is to improve transparency and understanding between clients and management
consultancy service providers (MCSPs). This should lead to better results from consultancy projects and reducebarriers to cross-border trade in management consultancy services.
Successful application of this document should enable MCSPs to provide better value for clients and reduce risk inmanagement consultancy assignments. By improving the quality, professionalism and interoperability ofmanagement consultancy, this document is intended to enhance the effectiveness of the management consulting
industry and accelerate the development of the profession.
It includes recommendations to improve the specification, execution, acceptance and closure of management
consultancy services, based on research and the experience of a wide range of MCSPs and their clients.
This document applies to all MCSPs, whatever their size or specialism, but does not place requirements or
obligations on individuals.
Innovation and differentiation are important parts of an MCSP’s value proposition. The proposal focuses only on
the outputs and outcomes; MCSPs are free to use their own methods and approaches.
This document:a) is written as guidance;b) does not require certification;c) focuses on MCSPs, not on clients;d) focuses on MCSPs, not individual internal resources;e) is applicable to all MCSPs;f) is based on outcomes;g) protects innovation and differentiation;h) emphasises importance of understanding clients’ needs;i) is easy to understand.

1. Scope
This document gives guidelines for the effective delivery of management consultancy services. It isapplicable to all MCSPs: public and private companies, government entities, not-for-profit organizations andinternal consultancy units, regardless of their ownership, structure, size or specialism.

It applies to any type of assignment for any type of client. It does not place any obligations on the client.
It provides recommendations for carrying out management consultancy services, including:• legal and ethical matters;• management, communications and evaluation;• client relationships;• proposal and agreement;• planning and execution;• closure of the assignment.
This document does not impose upon or interfere with any contractual obligations or intellectual property
rights. Also, it does not require or imply a need for third-party certification. It is not intended for certification,
regulatory or contractual use, and it is not intended nor designed to be used as the basis for any personal ororganizational qualification.
Any offer to certify, or claims to be certified, to this document would be a misrepresentation of the intent andpurpose and a misuse of this document. As this document does not contain requirements, any suchcertification would not be a demonstration of conformity with this document.
It is not intended to provide a basis for legal actions, complaints, defences or other claims in any
international, domestic or other proceeding, nor is it intended to be cited as evidence of the evolution ofcustomary international law.
2. Normative references
To be defined
3. Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.
3.1
management consultancy service, MCS
serviceset of multidisciplinary activities of intellectual work, within the field of management activities, which aim
to create value or promote changes, by providing advice or solutions, by taking actions or by producing
deliverables
3.2
management consultancy service provider, MCSP
enterprise providing management consultancy services
3.3 …
Other terms to be defined. See EN 16114:2011

4. Principles

4.1.

GeneralThis document is structured to reflect the typical phases of a consultancy assignment. It also describes a
guiding policy framework, and includes guidelines for on-going evaluation and improvement.
Offering phase:

The first phase of a consultancy assignment is Offering. The MCSP and the client reach a clear agreementon the service to be provided and commit to working together. Transparency is critical to avoid
misunderstanding and minimise risk.
Execution phase:Once agreement has been reached, the second phase of the assignment is Execution. The MCSP
implements the service, following the agreed approach and plan. To achieve a mutually positive outcome,the MCSP and the client need to collaborate with confidence, fairness and mutual respect.
Closure phase:
The final phase is Closure. After completion of the deliverables and assessment of the outcomes, theassignment is completed by resolving any open items and meeting all contractual and legal obligations. It is
critical that the MCSP gains acceptance from the client that the assignment is complete.

4.2.

Policies

MCSPs should maintain an appropriate level of awareness of the relevant laws, policies, rules, regulations
and standards that govern their services. To ensure clarity these should be identified, if necessary, in theagreement.
Clear understanding between the client and the MCSP is critical for the success of the assignment. Effective
communication maximizes understanding, creates confidence and minimizes risks. An effective
communication strategy and policy should exist for the duration of the assignment.
A professional code of conduct and business ethics should be observed in order to guide the professional
conduct of MCSPs.
A statement of values should exist to guide the professional conduct of MCSPs.
A statement of corporate social responsibility should exist to guide the professional conduct of MCSPs.
The MSCPs should only accept those assignments that they are able to fulfil in a professional manner inaccordance with this document.
If an MCSP has reason to believe that the agreed outcomes of the assignment will not be met within theterms of the agreement, the MCSP should, without delay, inform the client of its findings and renegotiate theagreement.
The MCSPs should consider preparing a quality plan to anticipate, manage and quantify risks and issues.
MCSPs should negotiate and agree the conditions of any guarantee of the services to be provided.
A statement of health and safety should exist to guide the professional conduct of MCSPs.

4.3.

Ongoing evaluation and improvement

The purpose of evaluation is for the MCSP to assess the assignment. The MCSP should establish a
structured process for proactive evaluation. This allows the results of the assignment to be recorded andassessed.
Evaluation also allows the client and the MCSP to:• diagnose the effectiveness of the assignment;• make recommendations for corrective action;• implement new processes and methods.
The effectiveness of evaluation should be assessed. An effective evaluation strategy and policy should exist
for the duration of the relationship between the client and the MCSP. Even if no evaluation is included in theagreement, the MCSP should have a process to learn from the work it undertakes. If evaluation is requiredfor contractual reasons to determine the fees paid, the MCSP and the client should agree the mostappropriate method of evaluation.
5. Offering
See EN 16114:2011.
6. Execution
See EN 16114:2011.
7. Closure
See EN 16114:2011.
Annexes
Examples can be proposed in informative annexes (as per EN 16114:2011)••••

Ethical guidelines for MCSPs
Values for MCSPs
Content of a corporate social responsibility statement
Evaluation criteria---