Consultation Research: Contributions to Practice and Directions for Improvement

Abstract

This article is intended to contribute to the continuing development of effective consultant practices. Thus, two types of information are presented. The first is findings summarized from representative publications available in the management literature. Interpretation of the findings was facilitated by classifying cited publications according to scientific rigor. A simple scheme was devised incorporating the categories of (a) experience-based writings, (b) quasi-scientific research, and (c) scientific research. Each citation is further categorized into the consultation phase with which each is primarily concerned: (a) consultant recruiting, (b) entry, (c) contracting, (d) diagnosis, (e) feedback, (f) planning, (g) implementation, and (h) evaluation. The second type of information presented is directions for future research that appear to be worthy of pursuit in contributing to the understanding and practice of consultation. It is hoped that the directions provided in this paper will accelerate the conduct of empirical research on consultation and the development of effective guidelines for action.