Consultancy: academics & practitioners

There are two kinds of literature on consultants and consultancies. The academic literature uses and builds on management theory with references other academic literature. In contrast, the practitioner literature offers practical steps for how to do it, and is more often aimed at the consultants, rather than the clients.

For example, Edgar Schein, whom other writers on consultancy often cite, uses theories of organisational development. In 'Process Consultation: Its role in Organization Development', Schein describes models of consultancy: the purchase of expertise model, the doctor-patient model, and the process consultation model. It is the process-consultation model that he defines and describes in great depth, and on which his other writing is built. The process of consultation concerns the client's activities to solve a problem rather than solving the client's problem for him, which would be content consultation.

A practitioner like Fiona Czerniawska writes to be immediately useful to the consultant and to the client. She offers a single simple model with no explanation of the theory behind it, and no academic references. Last year, she wrote 'Ensuring Sustainable Value from Consultants' and she has recently advised the National Audit Office on central government's use of consultants.

Management consulting news shows a pragmatic approach to writing, with no obvious theory.