ABSTRACT
A recent book on economic policy-making characterizes the twenty-first century as the “century of consultants, advisors and experts” (Levy and Peart 2017: 3). It is no surprise that consultants are named first. They have indeed been shaping economic policy, as that book demonstrates in some detail. More consequentially, consultants have also come to define “best practices” and “excellence” for a wide range of public and private organizations around the globe, determining the strategic directions of these organizations and reshaping their operations as well as the work experiences and life worlds of millions of people (for details and additional references, see Kipping and Wright 2012; Engwall et al. 2016). In the process, consulting firms have grown significantly and are today larger than many of their clients (see Table 9.1).
