Introduction
The purpose of this well-grounded article by Gross and Poor (2008) dealing with management consulting is to determine the historical background of this sphere and the primary factors contributing to its development. In addition, the paper aims to provide an analysis of offerings, statistics, and emerging trends related to this topic. Therefore, this study striving to answer how the management consultancy appeared and developed can contribute to further research of consulting firms’ role.
Article Analysis
Gross, A. C., & Poor, J. (2008). The global management consulting sector. Business Economics, 43(4), 59-68.
In the first section of the article, the authors focus on the expansion of management consulting, paying attention to both historical facts and growth factors. According to this study, the appearance of “true management consultants” in the United States of America can be dated by 1914 (Gross & Poor, 2008, p. 59). The significant influence of business education, increases in the number of organizations, and prevalence of corporate ideology belongs to the growth factors of consulting. The second part of the article includes an overview of management consulting’s role worldwide. This overview is confirmed due to statistics related to the major managing consulting firms, their profits, and standards. As for the scope, the authors utilize archive data from companies of different countries to consider peculiarities of consulting not only in the United States but also in the Asia-Pacific Region and Europe.
Conclusion
According to the authors, to date, management consulting is not a field of activity, which is only a part of service offerings, but a full-fledged profession. Being younger than most practices, the consultancy became quite popular in recent years. Thus, this sphere is worthy of exploration worldwide since the specialists working in this field are one of the reasons for the success of many various companies.