Public and private sector organisations are spending huge amounts of money buying professional services, and most are doing it badly, without sufficiently rigorous procurement processes or an adequate understanding of the marketplace, resulting in wasted money and disappointing outcomes. Even among those organisations with formal procurement processes and techniques, many are applying them inappropriately and therefore achieve similarly poor results. On the other side of the fence, many professional services firms don't understand how the increasing application of procurement processes could affect the way they get business and work with clients, the way they charge and, ultimately, their profitability.

Furthermore, while they are working together, both professional services providers and their clients too often behave inways that reduce the potential benefits to both parties. Using real examples from a range of private sector firms, government departments and the professional services firms themselves, this book explores what users and providers of professional services need to do to ensure that the users' money is well spent and the providers' earnings are well earned.
 

Fiona Czerniawska and Peter Smith's new book, published by The Economist, is out now and is available to buy on Amazon. There are a limited number of places remaining at the official book launch, which will be held on July 6th (5pm-7.30pm) for Source subscribers at The Economist Group offices in London. To apply for a place, please email Joy Burnford.