Management Consulting in Australia: A Context Case Study

Dominion over the management consulting profession worldwide has passed in recent times from multinational accounting firms to multinational Information Technology firms. This transition coincides with a period of major change in the practice of management consulting. Yet, very little research has been done into the issues faced by management consultants. This paper reports a preliminary empirical investigation aimed at identifying these issues. From review of the literature and from interviews of State Chapter Presidents of the Institute of Management Consultants in Australia, the study identifies twenty-one issues around three categories: (1) the changing Client Environment, (2) the changing Client-Consultant Relationship, and (3) the changing Consultant Environment.