AD ALTA
JOURNAL OF INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH
APPROACHES TO EDUCATION IN THE FIELD OF MANAGEMENT, MARKETING AND
ENVIRONMENTAL CONSULTING
a
EVA HANULÁKOVÁ ,
b
FERDINAND DAŇO,
c
PETER
DRÁBIK
¹Faculty of Commerce, University of Economics in Bratislava,
Dolnozemská cesta 1, 851 32 Bratislava, Slovak Republic
email:
a
eva.hanulakova@euba.sk,
b
ferdinand.dano@euba.sk,
c
peter.drabik@euba.sk
The contribution is part of the scientific project VEGA no. 1/0380/17 "Economic
efficiency of electro mobility in logistics", conducted at the Faculty of Commerce of
Economics in Bratislava.
____________________________________________________
Abstract: By their nature, consulting companies – as operators of the consulting
services market – represent professional firms. Strategy for education and personal
development of consultants should be a part of the consulting company strategy.
Educational activity in the field of management, marketing and environmental
consulting represents a continuous process that is factually and logically linked to
other corporate processes. It requires strategic and systematic approach.
Keywords: consulting, education, strategic approach, consulting skills.
_______________________________________________________________
1 Introduction
The effect of environmental issues on companies’activities and
solving these issues are the most debated topics of today. Issues
related to environment lead, on the one hand, to the increase of
business costs. On the other hand, they create new business
opportunities and possibilities for creative and innovative
companies to enter new markets.
Companies can address these issues individually or use the
services of external consulting companies. In addressing
environmental issues they can use the services of economic
consulting (e.g. environmental accounting or accounting for
sustainable development), services of management (e.g. circular
business models) and marketing consulting (environmental
marketing [5], [16], environmental attitude and behaviour of
consumers, environmental marketing strategy, environmental
marketing audit, environmental product, its packaging and
trademark, environmentally oriented price, reverse distribution,
environmentally oriented communication, circular marketing,
eco-innovations, start-ups etc.) and/or environmental consulting
services (assessing strategic documents, assessing the effect of
business activities on the environment, environmental audit and
due diligence, environmental management, environmental
planning, environmental monitoring and the like).
The aim of this contribution is to point out the importance of
strategic and systematic approach to education and individual
development in the field of consulting while focusing on the
approach of consulting companies towards the education of
consultants in the field of management, marketing and
environmental consulting.
2 Strategic planning model of education in consulting
2.1 Principles of education in consulting
In general, consulting means providing services and/or passing
on the know-how in some field by qualified experts or by
specialized consulting companies. It is carried out on the basis of
the rigorous systematic and conceptual procedure using the
diagnosis of relevant fields, activities and problems and
consequent assessment of different options of solving the given
problem or task.
Consulting is a profession with the following essential
characteristics:
1.
Existence of a systematic theory which serves as a base for
practical dimension of a profession – this means that
acquiring a profession is connected to the mastering of the
adequate theoretical preparation. Graduation from a
university is the inevitable requirement for pursuing a
profession.
A certificate testifying the obtained
qualification (a diploma) is the inevitable requirement for
granting a privilege (a permit, a license etc.) to carry out
professional experience.
2.
Professional authority – it is based on mastering such
expert knowledge which an ordinary person (a layman)
does not have. An expert is able to specify what is good for
a client, what decision should be made etc. In the given
field, experts have monopoly on competence.
Consulting services and individual consultants represent
consultancy and provide consulting services. As professionals,
consultants monitor major trends in theory and practice. At the
same time, they create specialized group with its own approach
to work, individual set of behaviour standards and working
procedures. Consultants diagnose, analyse, plan, assess, suggest,
manage, implement and coordinate. To manage all these tasks on
a professional level, they have to complete the corresponding
university education based on mastering a systematic theory.
By their character, consulting companies, being the operators of
the consulting services market, represent professional companies
which are characterized by 4 features [14]:
1.
More than 50 % of emloyees are professionals.
2.
Great emphasis is put on professional intentions including
altruistic solutions of clients’ problems.
3.
High respect of professional standards is being shown.
4.
Great emphasis is put both on producing and application of
knowledge.
Consulting activities have their own requirements on expert
education and professional development. Many consulting
companies earn their good reputation exactly thanks to quality
education of their consultants based on strategic and systematic
approach.
2.2 Strategic framework of education in consulting
It is obvious that the strategy of education and personal
development of consultants has to be a part of corporate strategy
of a consulting company. Together with knowledge-based
strategy, they form part of the human resources management
strategy.
Strategic aspects of corporate education in consulting
Human resources management strategy as a superior strategy
provides an answer to the question whether there are
corresponding posts established in the organizational structure of
a company and in what ways the incongruity between the
demand for posts and the real qualification of staff has been and
will be solved [3]. Human resources management strategy is a
starting point for strategic management of human resources
which is a process of decision-making on intentions, goals and
methods for their achievement, concerning people as a
substantial part of an organization [6]. Strategic management of
human resources can be therefore considered as an approach for
solving long-term matters concerning people. It deals with those
personal activities which serve as a support for competitive
strategy of a company [1].
Education and development of employees is a planned effort
with the aim of teaching employees to behave in a way that
would lead to the increase of their performance. The education
itself is goal-oriented, based on experience, it influences the
behaviour and learning and changes it brings are relatively stable
[22].
Mihalčová characterizes education as a continuos process
during which a person not only acquires, but also develops new
knowledge and skills and simultaneously adapts to changes of
work behaviour [13]. Koubek perceives the education of
company’s employees as a personnel activity that includes
adaptation of employees’ occupational skills to requirements on
a post – deepening the qualification (further training); increasing
the employability of employees on different posts – expansion of
occupational skills; retraining processes (retraining); adapting
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