Search results

Consultants are called in when managers of corporations and organizations face major changes. Cultural changes and transitions from one stage of development to another are among the subjects studied in cultural anthropology. This article looks at how cultural anthropological insights into trans‐ition rituals can be applied to consultancy practice. It is postulated that one of the roles played by the consultant in this context is that of a magician who guides the transition from the old to the new with not only rituals, but also rules. This approach has so far received little attention in management and consultancy literature. The article is rounded off with some conclusions.

Many criticisms questioning the role and the efficiency of business consultants have been addressed. However, although a great deal of research has been carried out on business consultancy, little has been written on business consultancy from the consultant's viewpoint. In order to gain a detailed view of the situation from an internal consultant's perspective, an investigation of how business consultants perceive their role and contribution within their clients' organisations was undertaken. Drawing on different perspectives, this study aims to demystify the role of business consultants, and to ascertain how they perceive their role within their clients' organisations.

A series of interviews were conducted, where business consultants were asked to comment on issues related to the nature of the relationship with their clients, the pros and cons of their role and also the amount of control and discretion they exercise over the different projects in which they are engaged. Interview data from 17 business consultants from a variety of fields, such as change management, information technology, corporate finance and human resource, are analysed using an interpretive frame.

The research findings reveal that differences exist between the rather pejorative conclusions of previous research and the conclusions of this study. Whereas previous research highlighted the omnipotence and the more or less deontological practice of consultants, the data analysis from this study concludes that business consultants appear very humble in their approach to their relationship with clients, and believe that moving clients forward is their ultimate goal. The findings also enable the study to demonstrate that business consultants are conscious of the amount of control and discretion that is passed on to them by clients, and do recognise that criticisms of their role can be at times justified.

The study has value for both consultants and clients. The role determinants model presented in the study highlights the main characteristics of the role of business consultants and helps both clients and consultants to rethink their approach to the consulting process.

This paper draws on the metaphor of “magic” to explore the role of dialogue conferences and subsequent activities as a tool for organizational development and change. The metaphor is introduced and elaborated as a means of allowing critical reflection on action research projects.

In the empirical setting of a change project in a regional health authority in Sweden, researchers designed and facilitated a development coalition for introducing integrated care. This required an action research intervention that supported the establishment of new relationships and developmental practices across both organizational and professional boundaries.

The unfolding of developmental processes set in train by dialogue conferences are shown as being a dynamic process of magic underpinned by the principles of democratic dialogue.

By drawing attention to the three keywords of development, participation and dialogue three sites have been identified for critical reflection and reflexivity in action research. Magic is argued as an activity wherein the seemingly impossible is made to happen in these areas; equally it can be an activity of simple illusion whereby appearance is at odds with reality.

The purpose of this paper is to examine how consulting organizations create identity online. Using a sample of 50 consulting organizations in Australia, the research discusses the strategic implications of broadcasting multiple organizational identities online and the subsequent impact this has on legitimacy.

The research paper engages content analysis across a broad sample to highlight common practices of online identity construction.

The analysis of the sample highlights the creation and perpetuation of multiple, and sometimes contradictory, identities for consulting firms in the online sphere.

This research paper highlights how consulting firms try to differentiate themselves in an industry that is both highly competitive and frequently changing.

Consultants are never far from criticism not least because of the so‐called “consultobabble” used it is argued to hide their lack of objectivity or deficiencies in terms of providing useful solutions to improve management processes. Utilising Erving Goffman’s role theory and the idea of conspicuous consumption to explore the client‐consultant relationship and the place of consultobabble within it, this paper suggests however that clients are not really so passive and exploited. Consultobabble is a product of a complex consultant‐client (supply and demand) relationship.