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Breaking Down Barriers to Excellence

Service providers that are inside companies or departments are all cost centers. Some examples of these service providers are information technology (IT), audit, and accounting. Departments with cost centers have the benefit of seeing how different parts of an organization interact. The incentives and structure that foster these interactions move costs and profitability from one area of the firm to another. These value shifts do not necessarily increase the value proposition. They may in fact diminish the value proposition. As you answer the following questions, consider how this unique perspective can be strategically leveraged to increase the value proposition.

Using research, respond to the following:

• The IT department in many firms is in a unique position to view business operations both cross-functionally and in transactional detail. How can the knowledge-sharing practices of the IT department be applied to the development of internal consulting teams?

• How would you structure management such that internal consultancies would have both the incentive and backing to effectively implement change?
  • Consider which C-level executive should own that management chain.
  • Explain whether the consultancy should be a cost center or profit center.
  • Explain its leadership structure.
    
• How could you relate this management structure to quality management in the workplace? Give examples to illustrate your thoughts.

Write your initial response in approximately 300–500 words. Apply APA standards to citation of sources.