York University Professor Richard Leblanc has been initiated as an Academic Fellow of the International Council of Management Consulting Institutes (ICMCI). Leblanc, who is a professor in the School of Administrative Studies (SAS) in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, was accorded the honour in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the management consulting profession.
Leblanc is successful in combining an academic career at York University with practical contributions to the development of management consulting at both the national and international level. Management consulting is a developing profession, with increasing cross-border dimensions.
At the national level, the Canadian Association of Management Consultants (CMC-Canada) oversees and promotes the professional standards and code of conduct for management consultancy. The national institute provides services to individual consultants – in particular, the training and assessment for certification as a certified management consultant (CMC), the global professional standard.
At the global level, ICMCI’s goal is to elevate the standards of management consultants worldwide, and to provide the international community with the confidence that these standards, combined with the certification process of its member institutes, ensure that CMCs serve their clients with world-class competency and professionalism. The second goal of ICMCI is to support the creation and development of national professional institutes throughout the world, as well as encourage information sharing, networking and reciprocity between institutes adhering to the ICMCI international standards and code of conduct.
CMC-Canada and ICMCI together selected and appointed Leblanc as an ICMCI Academic Fellow. Leblanc and his colleague Academic Fellows will be actively involved in creating an increasingly strong and productive link between academia and management consulting practice. They will use ICMCI as a platform and community for sharing knowledge and ideas. High-level academics and practising management consultants will meet and exchange knowledge and ideas at the ICMCI platform for the benefit of both the clients of the practising consultants and Leblanc’s students at York University.