A History of Management Consulting The Strategic Evolution and Impact

This book explores the evolution of the consulting industry to explain how management consultants create value for their clients. By examining the practices through which consultants have helped organizations navigate successive waves of economic and managerial change, it shows how consultants created value in different historical periods and how these mechanisms evolved over time. The book ultimately demonstrates that five principal roles have endured and continue to characterize management consulting today: disseminating and legitimizing management ideas, providing specialized expertise, helping organizations sense opportunities and threats, supporting the seizing of opportunities, and facilitating organizational transformation. Drawing on historical case studies of consulting firms to illuminate the mechanisms through which consultants create value, the book offers a fresh perspective on the management consulting literature. By emphasizing the growing importance of consultants’ transformational roles, it sheds new light on the evolution of the profession, its current functions, and its future development. Finally, by identifying the capabilities required for each of these roles, the book provides valuable insights for students, practitioners, and aspiring consultants.