syllogism
A New Kind of Consultancy

Welcome to Syllogism.

We have been created because challenging times call for a new kind of consulting that is modern, fat-free, and structured around the needs of clients.

What We Do at
Syllogism:

With clients including Newcastle University, The Association of Business Schools, The British Academy of Management, Aalto University, and INTO we understand the three factors that define an organisation: people, ethics, and strategy. Each is an ingredient of success. None is independent of the others.
Syllogism undertakes consulting projects across all areas of the economy — private, public, and not for profit. At Syllogism we offer expert advice in three areas: We can recruit your board, audit your ethical practices, and assess your strategy. We can also bring these factors together to provide a comprehensive picture of how your organisation can achieve its goals.

People

Appointing the right people is fundamental to an organisation’s success, now more than ever. Our consulting team has extensive experience in making successful executive and non-executive appointments. This includes advising on the appointment of a wide range of Chairs, Board Members, Chief Executives, and University Vice-Chancellors. We are experts in the protocols and regulations governing the recruitment of senior people in the commercial, public, and third sectors.

Ethics

The changing economic climate challenges all organisations to review their attitudes to risk, their ways of working, and the obligations they owe the consumers of their services as well as wider society — which includes knowing when to say sorry. Without a clear account of the principles they live by, organisations can find themselves exposed to profound risks. We will conduct an ethics audit of your organisation, identifying areas of concern and working with you to put them right in order to bring clarity and discipline to your ethical practices.

Strategy

Strategic questions concern the underlying purposes of organisations, what they are there to achieve, and how they should measure their success. Clear thinking — and the ability to see beyond the day-to-day — lie at the centre of strategy making. Drawing on practical experience as well as advanced research methods and data analysis, we can offer a comprehensive analysis of your organisation’s strategy and of how to align your processes to your long term goals.

How We Work at
Syllogism:

We specialise in complex assignments that require clear thinking and diplomacy, as well as the personal attention of a senior consultant from start to finish.

Our commitment

Our aim is to offer a service that stands out from the crowd and that people will enjoy and remember. We are not a bureaucracy. Nor are we in the business of taking on as many clients as we can. We want people to see us as a consultancy they can trust, have confidence in, and turn to when their reputation is on the line.


Your rights

We start from the point that our clients and candidates have a right to:


  • Judge us by the highest standards and settle for nothing less
  • Expect we will give our best in all that we do
  • Hold us to account from the beginning of a project to the end
  • Know what is going on without having to ask
  • Find us accessible, responsive, and easy to get hold of

Ours is an ethical approach. We treat people as we would like to be treated ourselves — with courtesy and consideration. We keep confidences and we always remember that the reputations of our clients and candidates are at stake, as well as our own. In all we do, we tell the truth, and we admit to our mistakes. If we don’t know the answer to a question, we don’t make one up.


We represent our clients in ways that are true to their values — which includes giving careful attention to the accessibility of our products and the environmental impact of our work.


Working together

Successful consulting is about creativity and problem solving applied to a structure that meets the needs of the brief — not about catch-all methodologies or a dusty book of contacts. Project structures are a means not an end. They succeed only if they enjoy the confidence and support of those involved in them — which is why we put a premium on sticking close to our clients and developing plans in partnership with them.


Details and emphases vary from one project to the next. But the key underlying themes are:


  • An initial statement of the goal
  • Testing of that initial statement through analysis, research, and consultation
  • A full statement of the goal (how it is to be measured, how it fits in with the organisation’s wider commitments, and the constraints on achieving it)
  • A plan for achieving for the goal
  • Testing of that plan
  • Implementation of the plan
  • Continuous evaluation and feedback
  • Modifications to the plan, according to the evidence
  • End result
  • Final review and feedback

We see evidence and research as being key tools of risk management and of achieving successful outcomes. Syllogism was founded by career academics. Our research methods and data analysis are highly developed, our approach is rigourous, and our standards are uncompromising. We are flexible in our thinking and recognise the importance of seeing a project from multiple perspectives.


Why Choose
Syllogism:

Syllogism has been created to bring benefits to clients by extending the boundaries of traditional consultancy. These benefits are:
  • A senior consultant, from start to finish. The track record of a consultancy matters much less to the success of a project than the track record of the consultant who is leading it day-to-day. Senior people expect to deal with senior consultants who can speak with authority and are on top of their brief. There is no substitute for experience. We guarantee that a senior consultant will run your consulting project from beginning to end.

  • Commitment and tenacity. Our job is to test the brief we’re given to the limits, not to do what our clients could have done by themselves. We ask you to measure us by the quality of our outcomes and by the rigour and insight of our processes. We are not in the business of settling for second best, asking for favours, or coming up with excuses.

  • Uncompromising about quality. We take pride in the quality of our project management, candidate care, and written documentation. We don’t put up with discourtesy, spelling mistakes, waffle, shoddy documents, or missed deadlines.


  • Consulting that’s fat-free. We define value in terms of the quality of our work, and we focus on what is essential to the client. We don’t run up large expense accounts. We make no money from advertising, and aim to keep budgets to a minimum. We reduce our environmental impact as well as our running costs by using electronic technology to the full — and we offer our clients incentives to do the same.

  • Self-confidence, not self-importance. We like to think we are good at what we do. But we’re not vain. We believe that what matters is the brand of the client organisation, not the brand of the consultancy. This is about you — the client and the candidate — not about us.

  • Accountability from start to finish. The same consulting team works on the project from start to finish. We justify all our advice and recommendations in written reports that are clear and detailed. We put our judgement on the line and expect to be grilled about the advice and recommendations we offer. In addition to the process of client review, all our projects are independently audited once completed.

1/4

Are We
Right For You?

Having been on the client side of the client-consultant relationship we know how difficult the decision to engage a consultancy can be. You, the potential client, must satisfy yourself that there really is a business case for bringing in external advisors and that the benefits of doing so genuinely outweigh the costs.


Syllogism was created in response to unprecedented economic times. We are very aware that budgets are under severe pressure — and that consultancy costs are an obvious source of potential savings.


Our job is not to invent a business case where there isn’t one. It’s for you to judge whether we can meet your needs.


What we offer here is a rough checklist of features and benefits to help you reach an initial view on whether you need a consultancy at all and, if you do, whether Syllogism offers the service and expertise that’s right for you.


2/4

Do You
Need a Consultancy?

  • What outcome are you looking to bring about?
  • How important is it to your organisation to secure that outcome?
  • What are the different options (internal and external) for bringing that outcome about?
  • What are the costs and benefits of each option?
  • How do the costs and benefits of using a consultancy rank against the alternatives?

Undertaking your project internally may place unrealistic demands on your organisation’s resources. Your project may call for the expertise of specialist external advisors and project managers. Or the issue at stake may be so sensitive that it requires a fresh and impartial perspective. If any of these is a concern for you, a consultancy could be the answer.


3/4

What Kind of Service
Are You Looking For?

Having undertaken your initial cost-benefit analysis, the next step is to decide what kind of service you are looking for. You will want to consider whether you want a process-driven service that emphasises databases and generic methodologies, or a client-centred service that is personal, flexible, and oriented toward problem-solving.

  • How important is it that you have ready access to a senior consultant?
  • How important is intellectual firepower to your project?
  • How important are diplomacy and the personal touch to your project?
  • How important is the quality of written work you receive?
  • How important to you are the ethical standards of the consultants?

Syllogism specialises in complex assignments that require responsiveness, clear thinking and expression, diplomacy, and the personal attention of a senior consultant from start to finish. If your answers indicate that these qualities are going to be integral to the success of your project, then we may be the right consultancy for you.




4/4

What Kind of Consultancy
Do You Want to Engage?

So far, you have established that you are looking for a consultancy that offers high standards and a personalised service. But this doesn’t conclude the issue. You may have preferences about organisational size and brand recognition that will affect your decision.

  • Do you want to engage a large, process-driven consultancy, or a smaller consultancy with a personal investment in your project?
  • Do you want your project to be one of many, or to stand out among a select few?
  • Do you want to engage a consultancy that is more interested in advancing your brand than its own?

Syllogism is a small, client-centred organisation. We are newly established. We take on a small number of clients at a time in order to give them a high level of personal attention. We don’t believe in promoting our brand more than is necessary.


We do believe in getting to know your organisation, and tailoring our service according to your needs to achieve the best possible outcome. If you believe that engaging a large, established player is integral to success, we won’t be the right consultancy for your project. But if responsiveness and results matter to you more than size, we look forward to putting our strengths to work for you.