The Practice of Professional Consulting

Why Consultants Are Needed

As a very experienced consultant from one of the oldest U.S. consulting firms put it, the traditional rationale management used for hiring consultants included the following:

• Capability rigor—to augment staff’s skills and knowledge
• Resource deficits—to augment staff numbers
• Political cover—to provide scapegoats for unpopular or controversial decisions
• Objectivity—to obtain views free of political, functional, or other bias
• Bureaucracy—to get a decision made

These organizational benefits are still the reasons consultants are needed today. In addition to these organizational benefits, we can add reasons having to do with the nature of leading and managing in the twenty-first century. In this regard, the central feature ...