The Practice of Professional Consulting

It’s an Industry

Thousands of business consulting firms, ranging in size from one-person operations to perhaps a dozen people, have emerged over the last twenty-five years across the United States and around the world. Their consulting ranges from executive coaching and leadership development to advising on how to build and run a corporate learning academy; from corporate social responsibility and crisis management to sustainability, security, and integrating technology systems; from business turnarounds to personal financial planning. Consultants in “think tanks” such as the Brookings Institute, Rand Corporation, Cato Institute, American Enterprise Institute, Heritage Foundation, and the Hudson Institute conduct research and offer advice on ...