A consultant (from "to deliberate") is a

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who work (human activity), works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the partic ...

(also known as ''expert'', ''specialist'', see variations of meaning below) who provides advice or services in an area of specialization (generally to medium or large-size corporations). Consulting services generally fall under the domain of

professional services Professional services are occupations in the service sector requiring special training in liberal arts and pure sciences education or professional development education. Some professional services, such as architects, accountants, engineers, d ...

, as

contingent work Contingent work, casual work, gig work or contract work, is an employment relationship with limited job security, payment on a piece work basis, typically part-time (typically with variable hours) that is considered non-permanent. According to ...

. The

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which p ...

defines a consultant as someone who advises on "how to modify, proceed in, or streamline a given

process A process is a series or set of activities that interact to produce a result; it may occur once-only or be recurrent or periodic. Things called a process include: Business and management * Business process, activities that produce a specific s ...

within a specialized field".

Subject-matter expert vs. consultant

According to ''Institute of Management Consultants USA'', "The value of a consultant s compared to a subject-matter expert (SME)is to be able to correctly diagnose and effectively transform an often ill-defined problem and apply information, resources and processes to create a workable and usable solution. Some experts are good consultants and vice versa, some are neither, few are both." Another differentiation would be that a consultant sells advice, whereas an expert sells their expertise. Other differentiations exist for consultants vs. coaches or SMEs vs. team leaders. Consultants do not have to be subject-matter experts as consulting agreements are a form of labor contract - comparable to

staffing Staffing is the process of finding the right worker with appropriate qualifications or experience and recruiting them to fill a job position or role. Through this process, organizations acquire, deploy, and retain a workforce of sufficient quanti ...

, which a client procures for more generalized labor, whereas consulting is for more specialized labor. Thus, in contrast to advisory services, which is not a labor contract but an actual service (advisory services never become part of the procuring organization) the market for consulting agreements follows the demand for specialized labor in the form of a consulting procurement, and so while competence and experience is naturally an advantage for when looking to sell consulting services, it is not a prerequisite in the same way that it is for advisory services where the service provider per definition relies on some level of competence and experience for its relevance.

Contractor vs. consultant

Sometimes, the word consultant applies specifically to someone or organization that provides knowledge, advice or service; whereas the contractor builds something for the client.

Role

The role of a consultant outside the medical sphere (where the term is used specifically for a grade of doctor) can fall under one of two general categories: * Internal consultant: someone who is either employed by or contracted by a client organization, and operates within a client-organization, sometimes within an ''internal consultancy unit''.; or * External consultant: someone who is employed externally to the client, either by a

consulting firm A consulting firm or simply consultancy is a professional service firm that provides expertise and specialised labour for a fee, through the use of consultants. Consulting firms may have one employee or thousands; they may consult in a broad ra ...

, some other agency or as an independent freelancer, whose expertise is provided under contract for a fee or rate.

Business case for hiring a consultant

By procuring consulting services, clients may acquire access to higher grades of expertise than would be financially feasible for them to retain in-house on a long-term basis. Moreover, clients can control their expenditures on consulting services by only purchasing as much services from the outside consultant as desired. Additionally, consultants are key persons with specific domain-skills in creating strategies, leading change (e.g. digitalization), leadership coaching,

interim management Interim management is the temporary provision of management resources and skills. Interim management can be seen as the short-term assignment of a proven heavyweight interim executive manager to manage a period of transition, crisis or change wi ...

(also called ''consultant manager''), etc. Another business-case is that a consultant may save the company money: for example, a specialist tax-consultant who saves the company 20% on its taxes, and only charges 10% in fees, enables the company to net a 10% savings. A portion of professional services in demand for clients are simply not necessary to retain in house, as they may be sporadic in nature, at which a consultant offers a reduction in payroll for the client. In the

UK government His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central government, central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

sector, since 2010 the

Cabinet Office The Cabinet Office is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for supporting the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, prime minister and Cabinet ...

has required government departments to implement spending controls which restrict the appointment of consultants and temporary staff in order to regulate consultancy expenditure and ensure that the use of consultants offers value for money.National Audit Office
Use of consultants and temporary staff
, HC 603, published 13 January 2013, accessed 29 June 2021 A National Audit Office report published in 2015 recommended that all UK government departments adopt a "strategic plan" to assess their current skills and expected "skill gaps", so that their future need for consultants and temporary staff could be better predicted.

Delivery of service

Consultants provide their services to their clients in a variety of forms. Reports and presentations are often used. Advice can be general (high degree of quality of communication) and also domain-focused. However, in some specialized fields, the consultant may develop as well as implement customized software or other products for the client. Depending on the nature (also named mandate or

statement of work A statement of work (SOW) is a document routinely employed in the field of project management. It is the narrative description of a project's work requirement. It defines project-specific activities, deliverables and timelines for a vendor providin ...

or assignment) of the consulting services and the wishes of the client, the advice from the consultant may be made public, by placing the report or presentation online, or the advice may be kept confidential (under a

Non-disclosure agreement A non-disclosure agreement (NDA), also known as a confidentiality agreement (CA), confidential disclosure agreement (CDA), proprietary information agreement (PIA), or secrecy agreement (SA), is a legal contract or part of a contract between at le ...

or within the clients-company), and only given to the senior executives of the organization.

Employment status and career distinction

Consultants work for (consulting) firms or as freelance contractors. A consultant differs from a temporary worker insofar as they have, as detailed above, a highly specialized career and domain knowledge. This could be true for a temporary worker too, however, for example a medical consultant is unlikely to suddenly become a hotel receptionist, whereas a temporary worker might change domains and branches more frequently. Furthermore, a consultant usually signs a service-type employee contract (known as

fixed-term A fixed-term contract is a contractual relationship between an employee and an employer that lasts for a specified period that is determined in advance. These contracts are usually regulated by countries' labor laws, to ensure that employers still ...

, full-time, part-time), whereas a temporary worker will only be offered a temporary (and scope limited) contract or a work-results type contract (e. g. in Germany a specific type of contract called ''Werksvertrag'') to fulfill or create a specific work. Additionally, a temporary worker might be directed and managed by a client, whereas a consultant is employed by a company (or self) and provides services for a client. The consultant may not be provided work-related instruments or tools, but only the necessary infrastructure and accesses the consultant needs to fulfill the statement of work, e.g. access to internal IT networks or client-side laboratory. Moreover, a consultant might engage in multi-project services ( matrix organization) for the client or for internal projects/activities at the employer firm. In his book, ''The Consulting Bible'', Alan Weiss defines that "When we onsultantswalk away from a client, the client's conditions should be better than it was before we arrived or we've failed." There is no legal protection given to the job title 'consultant'.Consultancy.uk
What is a consultant?
, accessed 29 June 2021 The consultant's career path is usually not at the client's side, however the consultant will very likely be introduced into the client's organizational program or project structure. Novel collaborations of expert-contractors or ''independent consultants'' especially in ICT sector exist, e.g. ThoughtWorks.

Consulting scope

A consultant's activity can last anywhere from an hourly consultation, to a one-day service, three months, 12 months or more. For complex projects, a longer period is needed for the consultant to analyze, resolve the root cause, get to know the stakeholders and organizational-situation, etc. Usually the engagement has set legal boundaries under given law to avoid (specifically for freelance-contractors) the problem of

false self-employment False self-employment is a situation in which a person registered as self-employed, a freelancer, or a temp is de facto an employee carrying out a professional activity under the authority and subordination of another company. Such false self-empl ...

(see also

Umbrella company An umbrella company is a company that employs agency contractors who work on temporary contract assignments, usually through a recruitment agency in the United Kingdom. Recruitment agencies prefer to issue contracts to a limited company to reduce ...

). The person at client location is sometimes called a ''Resident''. By spending time at the client's organization, the consultant is able to observe work processes, interview workers, managers, executives, board members, or other individuals, and study how the organization operates to provide their services. In some settings, a consultant is signing a specific contract and is hired as an interim manager or executive with advanced authority or shared responsibility or decision making of client-side activities, filling a vacant position which could and cannot be filled with an internal candidate. This is often the case by the client-organization due to other constraints, such as corporate compliance and HR-processes, which lead to prolonged hiring paths beyond six months, which is often unacceptable for leadership roles.

Work location

Research and analysis can occur at the consultants' offices (sometimes called

back office A back office in most corporations is where work that supports '' front office'' work is done. The front office is the "face" of the company and is all the resources of the company that are used to make sales and interact with customers and clien ...

) or

home-office Small office/home office (or single office/home office; sometimes short SOHO) refers to the category of business or cottage industry that involves from 1 to 1000 workers. In New Zealand, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBI ...

s or via

remote work Remote work (also called telecommuting, telework, work from or at home, WFH as an initialism, hybrid work, and other terms) is the practice of work (human activity), working at or from one's home or Third place, another space rather than from ...

. In the case of smaller consulting firms, consultants typically work at the site of the client for at least some of the time. The governing factor on where a consultant works tends to be the amount of interaction required with other employees of the client. If a

management consultant Management consulting is the practice of providing consulting services to organizations to improve their performance or in any way to assist in achieving organizational objectives. Organizations may draw upon the services of management consultant ...

is providing advice to a software firm that is struggling with employee morale,

absenteeism Absenteeism is a habitual pattern of absence from a duty or obligation without good reason. Generally, absenteeism refers to unplanned absences. Absenteeism has been viewed as an indicator of poor individual performance, as well as a breach of an ...

and issues with

resignation Resignation is the formal act of relinquishing or vacating one's office or position. A resignation can occur when a person holding a position gained by election or appointment steps down, but leaving a position upon the expiration of a term, or ...

by managers and senior engineers, the consultant will probably spend a good deal of time at the client's office, interviewing staff, engineers, managers and executives, and observing work processes. On the other hand, a legal consultant asked to provide advice on a specific

property law Property law is the area of law that governs the various forms of ownership in real property (land) and personal property. Property refers to legally protected claims to resources, such as land and personal property, including intellectual prope ...

issue might only have a few meetings at the client's office, and conduct the majority of his work at the consultant's office and in legal libraries. Similarly, the growth of online, highly skilled consultant

freelance marketplace ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employment, self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long- ...

s has begun to grow. Additionally, the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

has resulted in an increase in

and demand for online-work skills to continue business or operations.

In-house consulting

Also known as ''ICUs - Internal Consulting Units'', which are departments or specialists groups created by or maintained by usually larger companies for their own consulting service needs along the business chain. ''ICUs'' might be internal or own-run businesses.

Success factors of consulting

The following qualities are found to be helpful for a successful consulting career.

Accenture success factors

From Accenture blog, one of the main IT consultancies in the world, the following factors play an important role: * A service-oriented mindset * Sharing of great work * Seizing of opportunities * Setting of goals, seeking of advice and taking time to reflect

''Bronnenmayer's'' success factors

Bronnenmayer et al. investigated, by applying a structural equation model, and due to little empirical research, the management consulting's success factors from a client perspective. It is found that Consultant Expertise, Intensity of Collaboration and Common Vision have strongest performance impact on success. # Common vision # Intensity of collaboration # Trust # Project management # Consultant expertise # Provided resources # Top management support

Sindermann and Sawyer success factors

Sindermann and Sawyer conclude in their book ''The Scientist as Consultant'', that a cientificconsultant is successful, if they have "achieved a viable mix of technical proficiency and business skills" with "technical proficiency" meaning excellence in competence, credibility, effective networking with colleagues, and ability to negotiate.

Hartel's 10 Golden Rules

According to management consultant Dirk Hartel, the following ten objectives or rules are key to a successful consulting career: # Customer first - Especially the meaning of being available (time) for customer needs # Appearance - Understanding of self-image and dress for the job # Determined friendliness - Having concrete mindset and goals, but being diplomatic too # Punctuality - Leading time management, starting and finishing on time, being prepared # Engagement and productivity - Supporting, being pro-active, etc. # Critical questioning - Nobody is born a consultant; asking the right questions is a key skill # Feedback - Request regular feedback, asking for critique rather than waiting for it # Acceptance of hierarchies - Professional navigation in client organization, knowing authority-levels, being respectful and being confidential with customer information # Stakeholder behavior - Study and understanding of client behavior and culture; inspiring stakeholders with presentations, etc. # Being courageous - Consulting-life is challenging, never lose trust in yourself, but also reflect and lead a positive and good life

Consulting challenges

Distinctness

Consultants are often outsiders to the client organization. On one hand, this means their work methods, expertise, behaviors, etc. differ from the client-employees and organizational, and is exactly what the client needs, however it can also be a considerable disadvantage for a successful engagement and may lead to a less intimate cooperation with the client's business.

Domain

Next to general challenges, domain-specific challenges for consultants exist. In palliative medicine consulting, emotions, beliefs, sensitive topics, difficulty communicating and prognosis interpretation, or patients expectations despite critical illness are some of the challenges faced by the consultant.

Ethical conflict (manipulation)

According to Kelman, "One danger is that he counselordoes not recognize the control that he is exercising over the client's behavior. The other is that he is so convinced that he is doing good for the client that he does not realize the double-edged nature of the control he is exercising." A consultant therefore needs to be aware and in control of her or his manipulative influences in particular counseling settings.

Expectations (customer)

Hartel mentions several challenges that are based on the types of consultants, including a consultant in a short-term role, as integrator, as driver, as project manager or methodology guru, know-how expert, or as scapegoat. In case of ''consultant as integrator'', the consultant has the challenging task to resolve, negotiate, facilitate, mediate political situations in companies to move forward, such as different opinions, critical characters (persons), difficult relationships or interfaces, goal conflicts, power games, etc. In case of ''consultant as scapegoat'', the consultant, who is external to the company, is the one to announce difficult company decisions such as layoffs or reorganizations, but it is important that the consultant acts professional and competent, not just as " Rambo in suit".

Organizational

Consultants may face several organizational challenges, e. g. internal consultants are faced with the paradoxes to maintain a good balance between knowing the internal company structure and at the same time staying neutral and objective, keeping a marginal position between the client and the provided service. Further, depending on the hiring company's understanding how to work with a consultant, the consultant might be seen as disruption to the in-house employees status.

Rates of pay

Harrington notes that some people transferring from an employee role to working as a consultant are uncertain about how to price their services.

Other general challenges

General issues faced by a consultant can be stress, productivity issues with meetings, general "technostresses", high-paced and changing business environments and situations, etc.

Stakeholder management

In case of corporate and industrial consultants, the role is further challenged to act and become the "translator of information" from various different client-company cultures and procedures (processes) and between her or his employer-side team, managers and leadership team. What is an important goal to the current client is usually not similar for any other client due to multiple variations in company size, history, product, program, organizational structure, leadership, etc. Hence the consultant must be excellent in sensing and communicating between different layers in the organization and further across it, while maintaining authenticity, integrity and trustworthiness with all parties involved.

Taxation and legal status

Independent consultants (contractors or freelancer) usually need to fulfil taxation requirements given by laws, specifically challenging employment status to avoid 'disguised' employment. Compared to contracting, consulting can be seen as being "in business in your own right", not controlled by your client, etc. placing a consultant "well outside" of e. g. IR35. Alan Weiss provides 20 "factors" for consultants in the US (IRS), which are similar in other countries, to avoid or understand in terms of their business activity. Amongst those, the consultant is not supposed to be instructed by the client, should not receive similar training as employees, has the right to sub-contract, should not be integrated into the organizational structure, etc. to avoid legal-status and taxation issues.

Qualifications

There is no single qualification to becoming a consultant, other than those laid down in relation to medical, psychological and engineering personnel who have attained this level-degree in it or professional licenses, such as

Chartered Engineer Regulation and licensure in engineering is established by various jurisdictions of the world to encourage life, public welfare, safety, well-being, then environment and other interests of the general public and to define the licensure process thr ...

. Consultants may hold

undergraduate degree An undergraduate degree (also called first degree or simply degree) is a colloquial term for an academic degree earned by a person who has completed undergraduate courses. In the United States, it is usually offered at an institution of higher ed ...

graduate degree Postgraduate education, graduate education, or graduate school consists of academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications usually pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachelor ...

professional degree A professional degree, formerly known in the US as a first professional degree, is a degree that prepares someone to work in a particular profession, practice, or industry sector often meeting the academic requirements for licensure or accreditatio ...

s or professional designations pertaining to their field(s) of expertise. In some fields, a consultant may be required to hold certain professional licenses (e.g., a

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing i ...

providing consulting on a bridge project may have to be a

professional engineer A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and ski ...

). In other types of consulting, there may be no specific qualification requirements. A legal consultant may have to be a member of the bar or hold a law degree. An accounting consultant may have to have an accounting designation, such as Chartered Accountant status. Some individuals become consultants after a lengthy and distinguished career as an executive or political leader or employee, so their lengthy and exposed experience may be their main asset.

Accreditation

Various accreditation bodies for consultants exist: *

AACSB The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) is an American professional and accreditation organization. It was founded as the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business in 1916 to provide accreditation to business ...

- Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business * AMBA - Association of MBAs *CIMC - Chartered Institute of Management Consultants (US) * CMI - Chartered Management Institute (UK) **IC - Institute of Consulting (UK) * EFMD - European Foundation for Management Development (

EQUIS The EFMD Quality Improvement System (EQUIS) is a business school accreditation managed by Brussels based EFMD. It provides accreditation for higher education institutions of management and business administration and is run by the European Fou ...

) * FEANI - European federation of professional engineers * Institute of Management Consultants (IMC USA) *

International Federation of Consulting Engineers The International Federation of Consulting Engineers (commonly known as FIDIC, acronym for its French name ''Fédération Internationale Des Ingénieurs-Conseils'') is an international standards organization for construction technology and consul ...

(FIDIC) *The International Council of Management Consulting Institutes (ICMCI) * The Chartered Institute of Legal Executives - (CILEX), UK. * The Institute of Commercial Management - (ICM), UK.

Code of Ethics

Accredited practitioners in all fields (including medical) can be bound by a

Code of Ethics Ethical codes are adopted by organizations to assist members in understanding the difference between right and wrong and in applying that understanding to their decisions. An ethical code generally implies documents at three levels: codes of b ...

Code of Conduct A code of conduct is a set of rules outlining the social norm, norms, rules, and responsibilities or proper practices of an individual party or an organization. Companies' codes of conduct A company code of conduct is a set of rules which is comm ...

. Ethics in the field of business consulting and organizations is still a subject under research. A thorough discussion of ethics in the field of consultation is given in Lippitt & Lippitt (see also 2nd edition in English). Here the authors mention several guidelines and definitions including Shay, the Association of Consulting Management Engineers (1966), American Society for Training and Development (1977), Academy of Management (1976) and conclude their own codex with the following attributes (see below). Additionally, the authors mention the difficulty in applying the codex and scenarios of how to track adherence and how to judge violations in accordance with other bodies, such as APA (

American Psychological Association The American Psychological Association (APA) is the main professional organization of psychologists in the United States, and the largest psychological association in the world. It has over 170,000 members, including scientists, educators, clin ...

) and CSPEC (or CSCE) (Committee on Scientific and Professional Ethics) and conclude that "The most important aspect in the formulation of a code of conduct however, is the recognition of a fundamental moral standard. Only then is compliance with the rules guaranteed."

Consulting domains

There exist various forms, types and areas or industries of consultants. The following list provides some examples:

Business (general)

Franchise consulting Franchise may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Media franchise, a collection of related creative works, such as films, video games, books, etc., particularly in North American usage * Franchise (short story), "Franchise" (short st ...

Human resource consulting The human resource consulting industry has emerged from management consulting and addresses human resource management tasks and decisions. The ''Expert Resource Consultant'' suggests solutions based on expertise and experience, and assists in their ...

- Specialists who provide expertise around employment practice and people management. *

Interim management Interim management is the temporary provision of management resources and skills. Interim management can be seen as the short-term assignment of a proven heavyweight interim executive manager to manage a period of transition, crisis or change wi ...

- Often independent consultants who act as interim executives (any CxO) with

decision-making In psychology, decision-making (also spelled decision making and decisionmaking) is regarded as the Cognition, cognitive process resulting in the selection of a belief or a course of action among several possible alternative options. It could be ...

power under corporate policies or statutes. They may sit on specially constituted boards or committees. * Performance consulting - Consultants who focus on the execution of an initiative or overall performance of their client. *

Management consulting Management consulting is the practice of providing consulting services to organizations to improve their performance or in any way to assist in achieving organizational objectives. Organizations may draw upon the services of management consultant ...

- Professionals working on the development of and improvement to organizational strategy alongside

senior management Senior management, executive management, or upper management is an occupation at the highest level of management of an organization, performed by individuals who have the day-to-day tasks of managing the organization, sometimes a company or a cor ...

in many industries. ISO 20700 standard has been available since 2017. * Market-entry consultant *

Media consultant A media consultant is a marketing agent or public relations executive that is hired by businesses or political candidates to obtain positive press coverage. Media consultants usually draft press releases to highlight positive achievements of a ...

Process consultant {{Refimprove, date=December 2019 A process consultant is a highly qualified professional that has insights into and understands the psychological and social dynamics of working with various client systems such as whole organizations, groups, and ind ...

s - Specialists in the design or improvement of e.g. operational processes in specific sectors, e.g. medical industry *

Statistical consultant A methodological advisor or statistical consultant provides methodological and statistical advice and guidance to clients or colleagues interested in making decisions regarding the design of studies, the collection and analysis of data, and the p ...

* Environment Consultant - a new off shoot of consulting helping industrial and infrastructural projects to mitigate the environmental impacts. *

Tax advisor A tax advisor or tax consultant is a person with advanced training and knowledge of tax law. The services of a tax advisor are usually retained in order to minimize taxation while remaining compliant with the law in complicated financial situations ...

Technology

* Information-technology consulting - Experts in Computer-technology disciplines such as computer hardware,

software engineering Software engineering is a branch of both computer science and engineering focused on designing, developing, testing, and maintaining Application software, software applications. It involves applying engineering design process, engineering principl ...

, or

networks Network, networking and networked may refer to: Science and technology * Network theory, the study of graphs as a representation of relations between discrete objects * Network science, an academic field that studies complex networks Mathematics ...

Construction

* Elevator consultant

Entertainment

* Creative consultant * Image consulting * Theatre consultant

Health

* Biotechnology consulting * Consultant (medical) - the most senior grade of hospital doctor in the United Kingdom. * Consultant pharmacist * Consulting psychology * Lactation consultant

Law and politics

* Economic analyst * Employment consultant *

Environmental consulting Environmental consulting is often a form of compliance consulting, in which the consultant ensures that the client maintains an appropriate measure of compliance with environmental regulations. Sustainable consulting is a specialized field that ...

* Foreclosure consultant *

Immigration consultant An immigration consultant or a migration agent is an advisor that assists people who want to emigrate from one country to another, and supports their legal and documentation processes. Immigration consultants may or may not have legal expertise ...

s - Help with the legal procedures of immigration from one country to another. * Legal nurse consultant *

Political consulting Political consulting is a form of consulting that consists primarily of advising and assisting political campaigns. Although the most important role of political consultants is arguably the development and production of mass media (largely televis ...

Public sector consulting Management consulting is the practice of providing consulting services to organizations to improve their performance or in any way to assist in achieving organizational objectives. Organizations may draw upon the services of management consultants ...

* Trial consulting

Education

* Educational consultants - Assist students or parents in making educational decisions and giving advice in various issues, such as tuition, fees, visas, and enrolling in higher education. * Faculty consultant

List of notable (management) consultants

Alan Weiss (entrepreneur) Alan Weiss (born 1946) is an American entrepreneur, author, and public speaker. Early life Alan Weiss was born in Union City, New Jersey in 1946. He spent his childhood in Union City, New Jersey, and graduated from Emerson High School in 1964 ...

* Arthur E. Andersen (Accenture) * Bill Bain (Bain & Company) * Edwin G. Booz, James L. Allen, Carl L. Hamilton *

Bruce Henderson Bruce Doolin Henderson (April 30, 1915 – July 20, 1992) was an American businessman and management expert. He founded Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in 1963 in Boston, Massachusetts and headed the firm as the president and CEO until 1980. He c ...

(founder of BCG) * Clay Christensen * Fred Gluck *

Gary Hamel Gary P. Hamel (born November 9, 1954) is an American management consultant. He is a founder of Strategos, an international management consulting firm based in Chicago. Education Hamel was born on November 9, 1954, in St. Joseph, Michigan. He ...

George Gallup George Horace Gallup (November 18, 1901 – July 26, 1984) was an American pioneer of survey sampling techniques and inventor of the Gallup poll, a statistics, statistically-based survey sampling, survey sampled measure of opinion polls, public ...

(Gallup Inc.) *

Henry Mintzberg Henry Mintzberg is a Canadian academic and author on business and management. He is currently the Cleghorn Professor of Management Studies at the Desautels Faculty of Management of McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, where he has been ...

James O. McKinsey James Oscar McKinsey (June 4, 1889 – November 30, 1937) was an American accountant, management consultant, professor of accounting at the University of Chicago, and founder of McKinsey & Company. Biography McKinsey was born in 1889 in Gamma, ...

Michael Porter Michael Eugene Porter (born May 23, 1947) is an American businessman and professor at Harvard Business School. He was one of the founders of the consulting firm The Monitor Group (now part of Deloitte) and FSG, a social impact consultancy. ...

* Peter Block *

Rajat Gupta Rajat Kumar Gupta (; born ) is an Indian-American business executive who, as CEO, was the first foreign-born managing director of management consultancy firm McKinsey & Company from 1994 to 2003. In 2012, he was convicted of insider trading and ...

Further prominent ''thinkers'' are also listed in the Strategy portal.