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In a consulting project, a typical consulting firm will start by coming up with a hypothesis about the problem facing the client. It will then gather information from various sources including market research and data provided by the client. The firm will analyse this information using statistics, consulting methodologies, and industry experience. The firm will then provide recommendations to the client supported by its analysis. A consulting firm's analysis will often be reliable. But it has its limitations, such as the consulting firm may have limited data on which to base its conclusions, or the consulting firm may hide the limitations of its analysis in order to justify the high fees it charges to the client. However, even if the analysis undertaken and recommendations made are sound, this does not guarantee that they will lead to positive financial results for the client. For example: A client may fail to implement the advice which it has received. Market conditions may change which invalidate previous advice. For example, the CEO resigns, a major competitor enters the market, or a new technology is invented. The economy may enter a recession. The earth might get hit by an asteroid. Etc.

These are good questions. In an attempt to avoid reinventing the wheel, read Ellen Vrana's answer on Quora.

Hi Monro, Very good question! There are at least four (4) reasons that a company might choose external consultants (even when they have good internal consultants available): Expert knowledge: External consultants may have experience solving similar problems and an understanding of industry best practice that internal consultants do not have. Independent advice: External consultants can assist management by providing independent third party recommendations. Internal consultants may have a vested interest in the outcome of their advice. For example, they are unlikely to recommend cost savings that include job layoffs in their own department. Catalyst for change: Senior management may need to support for organisational change, and so hiring a top consulting firm can provide political cover for them to push through difficult changes, "nobody ever got fired for hiring McKinsey". Cost effective solution: For some types of projects (e.g. software development) consultants may represent a cost-effective solution. A firm may lack the capabilities needed to complete the project in a timely or cost effective manner and it may not be feasible to hire and train full time staff.

External consultants set foot in many industries, so they may have more knowledge than internal consultants and have the ability to control the overall situation. But the internal consultants just need to face the situation in one company (one industry), so they won't have as much knowledge. In my opinion, hiring an external consultant is necessary because they can deal with many problems that internal consultants can't deal with. Some problems involve several industries, external consultants will give their customers a proposal timely and accurately to solve the problems.

From my perspective, asking help form consulting firms is not necessary. It depends on the specific situation. In most cases, hiring an external consulting firm help, but you need to contrast the differences between the cost and the benefit of hiring consultants.