Abstract

TORRES CADENA, Gonzalo. Consulting Practices in Colombia: Should the Universities Engage in these Processes?. rev.ing. [online]. 2008, n.27, pp.93-99. ISSN 0121-4993.

University involvement in consulting practices is still a controversial matter among professional councils, consultancy firms, independent practitioners, faculty members and, even, university boards. Should a university concentrate exclusively in the teaching and research? If a university decides to offer consulting services to different prospects, Should it participate in public bids, then competing with other contestants? Should it pose an open competition to alumni when they act as consultants? Should it sign consulting agreements that seek a specific and measurable result, or instead, should it limit its action to customer coaching for the procurement of an adequate solution? Should it accept any consulting offering, no matter what the purpose to be accomplished is, only because the capabilities to give a response have been developed in the university? Should consultancy be an independent work, developed by faculty members during the time allowed by the university for that purpose, or should it be an institutional compromise where the university assumes all the responsibilities concerning the job? After reviewing the experience in the field of some renowned universities, we express the conditions under which a consulting program may indeed represent a contribution to the attainment of university's mission and goals.

Keywords : Consultancy; Engineering; University.

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