Management Consulting Goes International:
Exploring Historical and Regional Trends

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Authors: Andrew GROSS, Rajshekhar JAVALGI
and Robert SCHERER

Published in: Vol:9 No.3 / 2008

      While other professions trace their roots back several centuries, management consulting is less than 150 years old. However, this professional service has made giant strides in the West, especially in the USA during the 1930s and 1990s and in Western Europe during the 1950s. Waves of internationalization occurred in both directions across the Atlantic. Expansion got a further boost when Eastern Europe opened its gates in 1990. With that opening, both local and multinational management consultants stepped up their efforts in this area. Further strides will be made in the booming Asia-Pacific region. Our focus here is to explore historical highlights and key drivers of growth and then to marshall regional comparisons illustrating the manner in which annual global revenues in this sector came to exceed $150 billion. Our investigation is based on archives, published literature, association statistics, unpublished theses and primary interviews conducted in Eastern and Western Europe during the period 1999-2005. We attempt to analyze several, some controversial, views regarding the growth of this profession.

Pages: 129 - 146