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The “resources, dynamic capabilities and competences perspective” (Sanchez, 2001) has challenged firms to apply these concepts to improve their competitive position. Management consulting firms may assist clients in these efforts. However, the roles that management consulting firms fulfill in these processes can differ considerably and are under-researched. Therefore, insight in these different roles and the impact of these roles on clients’ competitive positioning in their industries is required. The purpose of this paper is to develop a conceptual framework that highlights the importance of distinguishing both roles and the implications for management consulting firms and for their clients. We illustrate the framework by elaborating on the relationship between both roles and the strategic renewal context of client firms. We conclude by pointing out the increasing importance of the competence leverage role of management consulting firms and how this development might contribute to a more hypercompetitive context for their clients.

Purpose – This chapter traces the creation of a market for strategy by management consulting firms during the second half of the twentieth century in order to demonstrate their impact in shaping debates in the subject and demand for their services by corporate executives.

Design/methodology/approach – Using historical analysis, the chapter draws on institutional theory, including institutional isomorphism. It uses both primary and secondary data from the leading consulting firms to describe how consultants shifted from offering advice on organizational structure to corporate strategy and eventually to corporate legitimacy as a result of the changing economic and regulatory environment of the time.

Findings/originality/value – This study provides a historical context for the emergence of corporate and competitive strategy as an institutional practice in both the United States and around the world, and provides insights into how important this history can be in understanding the debates among consultants and academics during strategy's emergence as an academic subject and practical application.

The purpose of the paper is to investigate the marketing and communication activities carried out by small management consulting firms and how they relate to customers.

After the framing of the literature on the subject, the study is based on the results of a survey carried out through an online questionnaire. The sample under investigation is represented by 914 small consulting firms located in central Italy.

Results show that half of the sample carried out marketing and communication activities, mainly through the website and social media, while others participating in events as speakers at conferences. It also emerges that management consulting firms carry out activities aimed at maintaining relationship with customers even if they do not invest time in market research in order to find potential and new clients.

The study suggests that management consulting firms should adopt a systematic and strategic approach to communication and should develop a complete and integrated digital communication strategy, as well as to rethink the consulting business model.

There are no previous studies that provide insight into the everyday practice of marketing and communication of small management consulting services in today's dynamic and changing economic environment.

At the pinnacle of the knowledge management hype, international consulting firms were widely viewed as the undisputed champions of the discipline. They were the ones that pioneered the development of innovative knowledge management systems, they were at the forefront of creating knowledge management cultures and they recognized the productive potential of knowledge workers. While knowledge continues to be prominent on the strategic agenda of leading consulting firms, several knowledge management challenges remain unsolved. To shed light on this matter the paper aims to investigate how knowledge management is really embedded in their organizations and with which critical issues these firms still struggle .

The paper presents a qualitative empirical study based on 37 in‐depth interviews with representatives from international consulting firms in different locations around the world.

It is found that the promise of knowledge management can only be realized if people are open to changing business processes and adopt new ways of thinking.

The study sheds fresh light on the knowledge management practices that have emerged in the consulting industry, and provides insights into the interplay of people and systems, the structuring of knowledge management, the divide between knowledge generalists and specialists, and the knowledge management strategy.

The paper presents a general approach to embedding knowledge management along the dimensions of people, systems and business processes and develops an integrative framework that links knowledge management strategies to a typical consulting project cycle. In addition, it sheds light on individual perceptions on the benefits from knowledge management.

Managers are increasingly using external consultants for the provision of a wide range of professional management services. The article discusses the structure of the consulting industry, addresses the question of whether consultants “add value” for their clients, and describes how to identify, select and use relevant consultants.

Strategy consultants have much to offer a top executive in terms of improving the bottom line. Yet little is known about the strategy consulting industry, because the firms and their clients are often reluctant to disclose details of their activities. This article surveys the leading strategy consulting firms and explores trends affecting the future of the industry.

The purpose of this paper is to study the process in which dynamic capabilities renewed operational capabilities to sustain competitive advantage in management consulting firms of Iran during a period of drastic environmental changes.

Using a grounded theory building approach, comparative longitudinal case analyses were conducted in consultancies of Iran. The research was based on a deep study of documents, observations and interviews with managers and employees of 14 consulting firms.

It was found that during a period of environmental changes there was a relationship between dynamic capabilities and competitive advantage, but this relationship was mediated by the role of marketing and technological capabilities of a firm. It was also found that trust-building capabilities of the consulting firms moderate the relationship between dynamic and operational capabilities. The research explores homogeneity and heterogeneity of dynamic capabilities among consultancies too.

This research shows that under changing environmental conditions, dynamic capabilities of consultancies can become a source of competitive advantage. Moreover, it discusses whether dynamic capabilities are idiosyncratic or are best practices. It also explains the role of trust-building capabilities of consulting firms in moderating the relationship between dynamic and operational capabilities in the particular environment of Iran.

This study investigates the characteristics of business and management consulting firms (firm size, international affiliation and scope of operation) affecting the adoption rate (i.e. recency of adopting big data analytics (BDA) as a new idea) and usage level of BDA. Ten critical areas of BDA application to business and management consulting were investigated, (1) Human Resource Management; (2) Risk Management; (3) Financial Advisory Services; (4) Innovation and Strategy; (5) Brand Building and Product Positioning; (6) Market Research/Diagnostic Studies; (7) Scenario-Based Planning/Business Simulation; (8) Information Technology; (9) Internal Control/Internal Audit; and (10) Taxation and Tax Management.

Survey data was obtained through a structured questionnaire from one hundred and eighteen (118) consultants in Nigeria from diverse consulting firm settings in terms of size, international affiliation and scope of operation (Big 4/non-Big 4 firms). Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, cluster analysis, multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA), multivariate discriminant analysis and multivariable logistic regression.

Whereas organizational characteristics such as firm size, international affiliation and scope of operation significantly determine the adoption rate of BDA, two attributes (international affiliation and scope of operation) significantly explain BDA usage level. Internationally affiliated consulting firms are more likely to record higher usage level of BDA than local firms. Also, the usage level of BDA by the Big 4 accounting/consulting firms is expected to be higher in comparison to non-Big 4 firms.

Contrary to common knowledge that firm size is positively associated with the adoption of an innovation, the study found no evidence to support this claim in respect of the diffusion of BDA. Overall, it appears that the scope of operation is the strongest organizational factor affecting the diffusion of BDA among consulting firms.

The study contributes to knowledge by exposing the factors promoting the uptake of BDA in a developing country. The originality of the current study stems from the consideration that it is the first, to the researchers' knowledge, to investigate the application of BDA by consulting firms in the Nigerian context. The study adds to literature on management accounting in the digital economy.

To propose a framework with which to study the efficacy of strategic alliances of small firms in knowledge industries, with an emphasis on research design to examine the issues surrounding the phenomena.

A framework is developed that consists of four constructs, namely conditions, roles and contributions, learning, and efficacy. Details of the constructs are explained.

Management consulting industry proves to be a fertile research ground to study strategic alliances with regard to firm size. Through an illustration, it is shown that the proposed framework can be put into practice to investigate relevant research questions.

The framework has limited generalizability to situations where the clients of the knowledge‐intensive service are not clearly defined up front.

Knowledge industries will benefit from developing taxonomy of expertise. Client firms may benefit from encouraging small firm to form strategic alliances.

The contribution is threefold; identification of the interplay of firm size and the practice of alliance formation in knowledge industries as a viable research topic; a framework with which to examine the efficacy of strategic alliances of small firms in knowledge industries; and proposing to expand the knowledge management research beyond intra‐firm learning.

The shape and makeup of a corporate university in a management consulting firm remains a vexed question: what should it look like, and what should it do, to develop its professionals most effectively? There is not a great deal of literature on this topic ‐ or on management, human resources, and professional development in professional services firms in general ‐ as these firms tend to hold their cards close to the vest. This article offers some initial thinking about education and development in a management consulting firm, with the aim of laying out a framework for understanding what a university in such a context might be. The hope is that this consideration of the particular dynamics of management consulting firms and the challenges for education and development therein, coupled with a case study of the curriculum at the management and strategy consulting firm of Booz·Allen & Hamilton, will open up a discussion of the most important factors for success in this arena.