TABLE OF CONTENTS In this book the Ten-Step Plan is presented as a guide to carrying out effective student fieldwork projects. It is derived from organizational consultancy practice and can also be used as a working framework in that context. Like all models, however, this template of the organizational consultancy process is a subset of the varied reality on which it is based.
The top priority for students is the success of their own field-work project, but those who wish to continue in the exciting profession of organizational consultancy will experience the limitations of this approach. There are consultancy situations in which the TSP model cannot be followed as it stands, and it must be possible to deviate from the plan made.
In this section, we discuss a number of situations that frequently arise in consultancy practice that cannot be dealt with by rigidly following the TSP model. The variations described here are all fundamentally linked to the relationship between the consultant and the principal. The TSP was designed to suit a fieldwork project situation, with the following characteristics:
The issue involved is relevant to the company, but rarely so critical that the continued existence of the company is at stake.
The company normally makes an agreement with the student and/or the educational establishment to pay a specified, generally modest, remuneration for the period in which the student is working on the project.
Students are generally given the freedom to develop their...
