SDG - The Association of Economic Consultants - was established at the end of the year 1990 in the circles gathering the practitioners of economy, working for consulting companies and willing to support the process of transformation in Poland with their knowledge and experience. Following the registration in January 1991 at the Provincial Court of Warsaw, SDG has been performing statutory activities focused on stimulating the development of the market of consulting services in Poland.
 

The objective of the Association is to support the activities in the area of economic consulting and its development in Poland. According to the Articles of Association, the objective is realised by means of: exchanging and making available of information, organising training and professional workshops, propagating the principles of professional ethics, supporting the development of consulting companies, co-operating with governmental agencies and other non-governmental bodies as well as other national and international organisations.
 

The Management Board of the Association emphasises in particular the focus on the issue of improving the quality of consulting services. Around this issue evolved the research of the home market and the contacts initiated with consultants and consulting organisations abroad. Such preparatory activities, conducted for two years, resulted in the fact that in May 1997 the General Meeting of SDG decided to introduce the system of consultant certification based on the principles developed by the International Council of Management Consulting Institutes. The SDG Certificate constitutes a confirmation of the professional organisation, which is the Association, of the fact that a given consultant is highly qualified both professionally and ethically. Subjecting to certification is voluntary and each consultant fulfilling certain conditions may apply for the SDG certificate. The SDG members who obtain the certificate are authorised to use the world-wide acknowledged title of the Certified Management Consultant – CMC. During the course of two rounds of certification procedure, executed since July 1998, the title of the Certified Management Consultant was granted to 36 consultants, including 22 members of the Association.
 

SDG is a member of two important international consulting associations. One of them is the European federation of consulting associations - FEACO (Federation Europeenne des Associations de Conseils en Organisation) and the second one is a world-wide association - ICMCI (International Council of Management Consulting Institutes). The main objective of the latter is improving the quality and standardisation of consulting works internationally. The close co-operation with international organisations results in the fact that SDG propagates the standards and principles of performance in accordance with world-wide requirements in this area.
 

Executing its statutory objectives, in 1995 SDG commenced issuing its own bulletin, entitled ”Konsultant”. The bulletin, serving most of all as a magazine for SDG members and aiming at the integration of consulting circles, constitutes also a means of communication between the Association and the external world. It is directed in particular to state administration, local administration and also to business entities.
 

Every year SDG organises official seminars devoted to issues which are of interest to the members of the association. The seminars encourage discussion and integration of the consulting environment.
 

For several years SDG co-operated with the support and co-operation programme implemented by the International Labour Organisation (ILO INTERMAN).  The programme resulted in a number of initiatives significant for the Association. These were, among others: consultant training, equipping the SDG office with hardware, developing member database and carrying out the research on the Polish consulting.
 

SDG is an open organisation. Every person active in the area of economic consulting in Poland and fulfilling the statutory requirements can become a member of the association. All applications of consultants and companies are subject to consideration of the Membership Committee of SDG. Individual consultants may become ordinary or extraordinary members and the companies may become supporting members. The Professional Ethics Code applies to all members of SDG.
 

The persons joining the Association submit membership declaration and become members upon the Management Board’s adopting the decree concerning their admission and following the payment of the first membership fee. The amount of the fee is determined by the decree of the General Members Meeting.
 

The activities of the Association, focused on improving professional skills of economic consultants, contribute to the satisfaction of the customers using their services and – in broader perspective – to the bloom of the national economy.