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1. Introduction
The topic of management consulting (from now on MC) has given rise to much attention among scholars since the middle of the last century. Several definitions have been provided, focusing attention on the main features and the areas that MC covers.
MC can be defined as:
[…] an independent professional advisory service assisting managers and organizations to achieve organizational purposes and objectives by solving management and business problems, identifying and seizing new opportunities, enhancing learning and implementing changes (Kubr, 2002: p. 10).
Different elements have been pointed out as key dimensions of MC, such as the role of consultants that have to be independent in financial, decision-making and emotive terms and the skills they are required to have to successfully carry out the consulting process (Ciampi, 2014). The interplay between the national systemic context and outside influences has been taken into account, i.e. the dynamics consultancy–client relationship, and the generation, management and validation of consulting knowledge (Kipping and Engwall, 2002).
MC’s main areas of activity are general and strategic management, information technology, financial management, marketing and distribution management, e-business, operations management, human resource management, knowledge management, productivity and performance management, total quality management, company transformation (turnaround, downsizing, outsourcing, insourcing, re-engineering, M&A, joint ventures, privatization) and corporate social responsibility (Kubr, 2002).
When they turn to MC, organizations expect to improve their performance, solve their problems and find new and better ways of doing things, in the private and public sectors.
In recent years, the MC industry has been growing fast: according to FEACO, the European Federation of Management Consultancies Associations, European MC turnover has been growing more than European GDP: on average 6.4 per cent per year vs 2.2 per cent (FEACO, 2017). Similarly, in the same period, European MC employment has been growing more than European overall employment: on average 6 per cent per year vs. 0.8 per cent (FEACO, 2017). At the same time, the MC industry is under pressure because clients are asking for more transparency, as highlighted by the recent ISO 20700 standard “Guidelines for Management Consultancy Services” (ISO, 2017) and the rules of the games in the consulting business are being affected by the digital transformation (Christensen et al., 2013).
The importance of this phenomenon is clear and...