Since the inception of management consulting, management consulting agencies have focused upon building bridges across industries, and they have succeeded in many areas. In order to build these bridges across industries, however, management consulting firms have used a large number of tools and techniques.

Because it would take an article far longer than this one to name them all, the objective of this article is to present the three most common and popular approaches to management consulting and decipher what they are used for.

These three approaches include operations management, strategic management, and industrial engineering.

Operations Management

Operations management refers to the business area that focuses on producing large amounts of goods and services to customers and how businesses can make this a more efficient process. This approach to management focuses on strategies and techniques that ensure that a business's operations are effective and well-organized.

According to the Association for Operations Management (APICS), operations management is defined as "the field of study that focuses on the effective planning, scheduling, use and control of a manufacturing or service organization through the study of concepts from design engineering, industrial engineering, management information systems, quality management, production management, inventory management, accounting, and other functions as they affect the organization" (APICS Dictionary, 11th edition).

Strategic Management

Strategic management focuses on developing plans and policies that achieve the goals a business lays out. First, a business specifies the goals and objectives they'd like to achieve. Second, plans and strategies are developed around these goals with an eye on completing them as efficiently as possible.

Third is the allocation of resources to carry out the plans and strategies already developed In essence, strategic management determines where you are now, where you want to be, and how you're going to get there. A company's CEO and executive team are typically in charge of strategic management.

Industrial Engineering

Industrial engineering is a concept that, unlike other forms of management, is applied to virtually every form of industry. First focused solely on manufacturing strategies and techniques, it has grown to include any and all industries. It is also known as production engineering, manufacturing engineering, and management engineering. It is concerned with improving a company's design and development, evaluating their organizational structure, and implementing strategies and techniques to effect positive and targeted change.

Examples of the ways in which industrial engineering might be applied is in an office setting to increase the effectiveness of workers, making previously expensive products cheaper and more widely available, streamlining operations, and more. In essence, industrial engineering attempts to reduce the waste of materials, money, energy, and time.

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