Abstract

The 1960s may well become known as the decade when the profession of management consulting reached maturity. Today, more than ever before, the businessman is turning to management consulting firms and to individual management consultants to help solve increasingly difficult technological, organizational and personnel problems. Moreover, the consultants are being called on not only for recommendations regarding problem areas but also for help in decisions affecting the future destiny of the firm, decisions concerning diversificalion, mergers and acquisitions and the exploitation of international opportunities. Many U.S. firms have benefited greatly by using management consultants. The continued use of consultants is testimony that an expert from outside the organization can provide progressive recommendations and initiate needed changes that an equally competent inside expert cannot. The author and his team have worked with a number of companies primarily branch plants of large corporations which were having problems and with family owned companies which were suffering growing pains.