????2008年，當達美航空（Delta）與西北航空（Northwest Airlines）宣布兩家公司將進行合并時，此時，美國運通負責達美航空聯合品牌的副總裁戴維?拉布金早已想好了公司的應對方案。

????達美航空內部并沒有他的線人，可以向他透露交易的細節。只不過，消息傳來時，他剛剛從美國運通的內部管理顧問團隊——策略規劃小組（SPG），來到公司的達美聯合品牌部。達美航空是公司最大的聯合品牌合作伙伴。兩年前，他就曾經與SPG團隊的其他成員共同預想了一個案例，即如果達美航空與另外一家航空公司合并會發生什么情況？

????拉布金稱：“我們早有萬全之策。”拉布金在美國運通的SPG團隊工作了兩年時間，之后才調往達美航空聯合品牌部。

????如果從外部聘請顧問，不可避免會招致管理層個別人的抱怨。雖然優秀的咨詢公司既有新鮮的觀點，也有豐富的經驗，但公司擔心，聘用它們可能使競爭對手獲得公司的機密，威脅公司的文化，或者擔心顧問們的建議和各種演示根本起不到任何作用。

????價格同樣是個問題。賓夕法尼亞州立大學沃頓商學院（Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania）管理學教授勞倫斯?赫比尼亞克稱：“如果要考慮成本問題，那就別聘用麥肯錫咨詢公司(McKinsey)。”

????赫比尼亞克稱，大多數大型機構都依靠外聘顧問為其新方案提供建議，但許多大型公司，比如戴爾（Dell）和惠氏集團（Wyeth）等，都成立了內部顧問團隊，一方面可以使公司新行動方案的執行更加靈活，同時又能保持公司的競爭優勢。

????由于許多公司對內部顧問團隊的稱呼不盡相同，因此我們很難得到關于這些公司的具體數量。但赫比尼亞克認為，依賴內部顧問的公司會越來越多，內部顧問團隊可以作為外聘顧問的補充，甚至完全取代外部顧問。

????當然，赫比尼亞克指出，依靠內聘人員必然會面臨各種風險。比如，內聘人員可能缺乏久經沙場的資深顧問所具備的行業知識和經驗。而且，赫比尼亞克認為，讓同事對自己的工作指手畫腳，難免會使管理層滋生怨恨之心，并且會認為“這個內部團隊是在清算我們的工作。”

????他表示：“他們簡直就像公司內部的‘秘密警察’。但是，沒人喜歡無間道這一套。”

????但實際上，如果精心設計、執行有方，內部顧問團隊有望成為公司培養和挖掘內部人才的利器。赫比尼亞克認為，強生公司（Johnson & Johnson）、IBM和摩托羅拉（Motorola）等都有利用內部顧問的成功案例。

????對于需要大量技術知識的項目，內部顧問通常能比外聘人員提供更多的專業建議。赫比尼亞克認為，內部顧問與公司的關系使其比外聘人員更具優勢，而且內部顧問可以全程關注整個執行過程，隨時處理屢見不鮮的突發情況。

????并且，內部顧問團隊還可以發揮高管培訓的作用，使優秀人才在成為部門負責人之前，有機會通過處理相關業務得到鍛煉。

????When Delta and Northwest Airlines announced that they would merge in 2008, David Rabkin, the vice-president of the Delta co-brand at American Express, already had a plan for how his company should react.

????He did not have any deep sources within Delta (DAL) tipping him off about the deal. Instead, he had just moved from American Express's (AXP) internal management consulting group, the Strategic Planning Group (SPG), where, two years earlier, he and his team developed a case about what would happen if Delta, the company's largest co-brand partner, merged with another airline.

????"We were prepared for this," says Rabkin, who spent two years in SPG at American Express before moving to its Delta co-brand division.

????Mention the idea of bringing in outside consultants, and it will inevitably lead to grumbling from someone in management. While top consulting firms bring a fresh perspective mixed with years of industry experience, hiring them can raise concerns that it could open the door to leaks to competitors, threaten a company's culture, or lead to nothing once the consultants have made their recommendations and packed up their PowerPoint presentations.

????And then there's the price. "If you have to ask how much it costs, you shouldn't hire McKinsey," says Lawrence Hrebiniak, a professor of management at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

????Most large organizations rely on outside consultants to advise them on new initiatives, but many big companies, from Dell (DELL) to Wyeth, have developed internal consulting groups that offer flexibility to launch new initiatives and stay ahead of the competition, Hrebiniak says.

????While concrete numbers are difficult to come by, in part because different companies call their internal consulting groups by different names, Hrebiniak believes the number of businesses relying on insiders is increasing as companies look to supplement or even replace outside consultants.

????To be sure, there are inevitable risks to relying on inside talent, Hrebiniak says. Insiders may lack the industry knowledge and experience of a seasoned consultant who has worked on dozens of similar projects. And being told what to do by fellow employees can breed resentment and a feeling among managers that "the internal group is checking up on us," Hrebiniak says.

????"They become the cops on the cops," he says. "No one likes internal affairs."

????But a well-designed and well-executed internal consulting group can be a powerful weapon for a company that is looking to grow and develop talent internally. Hrebiniak points to Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), IBM (IBM), and Motorola (MMI) as businesses that use internal consultants successfully.

????On projects that require a lot of technical knowledge, internal consultants often offer more know-how than an outsider. There also are the benefits of internal relationships, the connection that the consultants have to the business and the advantage that the consultants will stick around through the implementation process, where unexpected problems often arise, Hrebiniak says.

????These internal groups can also serve as executive training programs, giving top talent the chance to get a handle on several businesses before being promoted to lead a group.