ICMCI newsletter

Chairperson’s Message - Aneeta Madhok

Dear Readers,

I am absolutely delighted to present to you the first copy of e-newsletter which is the new avatar of the familiar Meridian which has been regularly reaching your mailboxes. We hope to bring you a shorter version of the e-newsletter with higher frequency and are looking forward to your support in the matter. Do respond regularly to our call for articles and news items with pictures to make this more interesting and successful. It’s a good opportunity to showcase your events and news.

You would remember London Congress for having awarded the Order of the Meridian to Peter Thomas of UK and Heather Osler of Canada. In the last issue of Meridian, Brian had shared his perspective on initiating the Order of the Meridian and we are really delighted that this issue sees a writeup from Peter Thomas, first recipient of the Order, sharing his sage words with us.

You also have the news of the very successfully concluded Euro Hub meeting of trustees and information on the CEN project, and outcome of a survey conducted by our New Zealand member, amongst regular features which you will see in every issue.

I am looking forward to the forthcoming Annual Conference at Jordan in September. You will find the announcement in this newsletter and a fuller brochure with registration details will reach you soon. Do block the dates and make your travel plans to come to the wonderful country of Jordan.
I hope you enjoy reading this issue. Feedback is always welcome.

Aneeta Madhok, GPHR. CMC.
Chairperson
India, April 26, 2010

Looking Back - And looking Forward - Peter Thomas

A Very Personal Perspective

Not long after I was made a founder member, at the London Congress, of ICMCI’s new Meridian Order (which, I may say, I view as a great honour and privilege), Aneeta asked me if I had any reflections on the dozen or so years of my involvement in ICMCI. This set me thinking. I know that nostalgia (as the old joke has it), nostalgia isn’t what it used to be – but nevertheless here goes, with a strictly personal perspective, looking both back and to the future of ICMCI. (read more)

ICMCI: Service Provider to the Developing World - Gabriel Al-Salem

This is the story of a friendship between people and institutions spanning continents who have shown how much can be accomplished when likeminded people work tirelessly toward goals that at first seem impossibly distant. When ICMCI and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) first got in touch, the idea of management consulting institutes and consultant certification in Central Asia was little more than a gleam in our eyes,

and now two institutes in the region have gained ICMCI membership and a third is well on its way. I have been privileged to play a role in this process and would be delighted if this story – as well as a few recommendations I put forward based on the experience – leads others in the international community to actively collaborate with ICMCI on supporting the development of world-class consulting institutes throughout the world in the interests of economic growth.(read more)

Management Consulting in New Zealand - It is a matter of certificiation, ethics and trust - Gordan Shaw

The Institute of Management Consultants Institute in New Zealand (IMCNZ) www.imcnz.org has recently undertaken a survey of to 187 state sector Chief Executives including Ministries, Departments, Commissions, Crown Entities, SOEs and Tertiary Education Institutes.

The purpose of the survey was to identify the thinking behind why CEO’s hire management consultants.

IMCNZ, President Mr Gordon Shaw states, “The results of the survey have given the institute an insight into what is important to clients who hire management consultants”.

“The results confirm our thinking that clients are looking for competent, certified management consultants who they can trust "The CMC (Certified Management Consultant) certification process gives a level of assurance to clients that certified consultants abide by a code of ethics and are required to undertake professional development to retain the CMC certification”.

(read more)

ICMCI Annual Conference Jordan, September 22nd - 25th 2010

IMC-Jordan has started full force in its arrangements for hosting the 2010 ICMCI Annual Conference under the slogan of “Evolving with the World”.

The upcoming conference of the ICMCI Trustees will be an important working meeting for all to attend. In addition to a number of committee initiatives that need Trustee review and engagement, a good portion of the agenda will be devoted to the:

Breakthrough Strategy initiative that is being discussed at the regional Hub meetings this year, to sharpen its direction and next step.
Professional Standards Committee offerings to the national institutes’ professional standards and guidelines that promote excellence in the consulting profession.

A post conference tour trip will be arranged for anyone who wants to stay and enjoy the beauty of our country, please register your intent of joining the tour which will include many touristic places; to list a few: Aqaba, Um Qais, a camping trip to Wadi Rum, as well as the Capital City of Amman. Awaiting receipt of your input to finalize full schedule as number of participants is crucial to calculating costs.

IMC-Jordan welcomes ICMCI Executive Committee, Trustees and Members to the 2010 ICMCI Annual Conference in Ma’in-Jordan.

For more information on the ICMCI Conference click here for the brochure.

European Standard " Management Consultancy Services" - Ilse Ennsfellner

The standard „Management Consultancy Services“ covers good practice for a Management Consultancy Services Povider (MCSP). It is based on a series of guiding principles for the effective, efficient and acceptable provision of management consultancy services and aims at providing recommendations for offering, execution and closure of management consultancy assignments. The rationale for the standard under preparation is to share European best practices in management consultancy.

The preparation of this service standard for management consultancy evolved during the last months. The Project Committee PC 381 met in September 2009 in Cambridge, UK, to prepare the draft CEN service standard “Management Consultancy Services for submission to Public Enquiry. After this meeting we faced the challenge to improve the standard from an editing point of view. With the support of a small task force and the Italian Standards Institute UNI we were able to finalize the draft standard, which has been sent to CEN in February 2010 and is now published for public comments within a six months period. The next meeting to evaluate the comments of the draft standard is planned for the second half of 2010.

The publication of the standard is expected in 2011. The agreed standard “Management Consultancy Services” is then mandatory for all CEN member countries and must supersede any existing national standards. (read more)

The European Hub meeting, Bucharest, March 18th-19th, 2010 - Sorin Caian

ICMCI made an important step forward at this year EuroHub meeting.

With 25 representatives from 16 national institutes, from 4 continents, the present and future activities of ICMCI were discussed at large, insights were shared, conclusions were dropped and new business and professional connections enabled.
The Romanian Management Consultancies Association, AMCOR, was the host of the meeting and I am proud of how the events went. (read more)

Newsletter, May 2010