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<p>This is a view of the $150bn global management consultancy industry, abridged from a masterclass presentation given to the Institute of Management Consultants and Advisers in Ireland in November 2020. The paper looks forward and explores the implications of current sector dynamics. It is structured into two sections: the global management consulting market, and the implications for consulting business models.</p>
</abstract>

Management Consulting: The Road Ahead

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<p>This paper explores the adequacy of problem- based theorising in explaining the growth of small management consultancies. Literature on professional service firm growth tends to skip over the entrepreneurial stage, assuming ‘crises’ of governance during growth periods. Using interviews with 42 founders who grew their firms, the paper identifies challenges and potential solutions that impacted success. The paper argues that challenges were generally pre-empted by founders through the deployment of expertise that was acquired during experience, education or the use of software. The paper finds no evidence for the assumptions of ‘problem based’ theories of growth, and argues that changes in technology, experience and education may have rendered the theory useless – at least for understanding the growth of small consulting firms.</p>
</abstract>

How Small Consultancies Grow: Challenging Problem-Based Theorising

Chief Digital Officers: What We Know So Far

Rethinking the Top-Line and realignment of the Bottom-Line in a Post-Covid Landscape

“We’re All in This Together”; Covid, Clients, and Consulting Ethics: A Tale of Two Firms

Ways Consultants Can Help Clients’ Companies Create a Culture That Thrives

AHEAD OF PRINT

Volume 7 (2024): Issue 2 (June 2024)

Volume 7 (2024): Issue 1 (February 2024)

Volume 6 (2023): Issue 2 (June 2023)

Volume 6 (2023): Issue 1 (February 2023)

Volume 5 (2022): Issue 2 (May 2022)

Volume 5 (2022): Issue 1 (January 2022)

Volume 4 (2021): Issue 2 (June 2021)

Volume 4 (2021): Issue 1 (January 2021)

Volume 3 (2020): Issue 1 (June 2020)

Volume 2 (2019): Issue 2 (December 2019)

Volume 2 (2019): Issue 1 (June 2019)

Volume 1 (2018): Issue 2 (December 2018)

Volume 1 (2018): Issue 1 (June 2018)

Management Consulting Journal

 The Management Consulting Journal (MCJ) focuses on the practice of management consulting and the management consulting sector. It publishes two volumes a year. It welcomes submissions from academics and practitioners. In addition to carrying full academic papers, it also includes ‘consulting shorts’, which are briefer reports and thought leadership pieces on contemporary consulting issues. It is an international journal drawing on research and insight from around the world, and is linked with the International Council of Management Consulting Institutes’ values and aims around standards and professionalism in the sector.   The aims of the journal are to:      Highlight and debate issues pertinent to the management consulting sector and management consulting practice.   Focus mainly on issues which have practical value, rather than discussing conceptual principles and theory.   Promote understanding of the management consulting sector and the practice of management consulting.      Archiving   Sciendo archives the contents of this journal in Portico - digital long-term preservation service of scholarly books, journals and collections.   Plagiarism Policy   The editorial board is participating in a growing community of Similarity Check System's users in order to ensure that the content published is original and trustworthy. Similarity Check is a medium that allows for comprehensive manuscripts screening, aimed to eliminate plagiarism and provide a high standard and quality peer-review process. 