Management as Consultancy: Neo-bureaucracy and the Consultant Manager

The nature of management is changing: managers are becoming more like consultants, focusing on projects, functional integration, change and 'clients'. This timely book is based on a large-scale, international study of new management practices and examines the emergence of consultant managers. It breaks new ground in our understanding of this hybrid role, uncovering working practices, identities and occupational dynamics, to shed light on both management and consultancy. It unpacks the changing relationship between external consultants and management to reveal important implications for the future of consultancy. Both private and public sectors are covered, with a focus on managers in large and multinational organisations such as former consultants and those in specialisms such as human resource management who adopt consulting roles. In addition to advancing our understanding of changes in management, this book offers a demystifying view of consultancy as a whole, from one of the largest ever studies of this occupation.

• Uncovers an important new form of management where managers act like consultants - 'consultant managers' - focused on projects, change and clients
• Unpacks the changing relationship between external consultants and managers to reveal important implications for the future of consultancy
• Written by leading international experts, it is one of the largest ever studies of management consultancy, covering private and public sectors

About the Authors

Andrew Sturdy, University of Bristol

Andrew Sturdy is Professor of Management at the University of Bristol, UK. His research interests focus mainly on issues of power and identity in the production and use of management ideas, especially in relation to management consultancy and organisational change. He has advised on consultancy to the UK Management Consultancies Association (MCA), Institute of Consulting, the UK National Audit Office and the media.

Christopher Wright, University of Sydney

Christopher Wright is Professor of Organisational Studies at the University of Sydney, Australia. His research focuses on managerial and professional identity and organisational change. He has acted as a consultant and adviser to a range of private and public-sector organisations on the use of consultants and organisational change.

Nick Wylie, Oxford Brookes University

Nick Wylie is Senior Lecturer in Human Resource Management at Oxford Brookes University, UK. He researches the links between internal consultancy and the HR function and has published widely in this field. His work on internal consultancy received a best paper award at the 2010 Academy of Management Conference. He is an adviser to the Institute of Consulting in the UK and has substantial management experience in a number of multinational financial services organisations.