What management consultants want from academics

In 2021 CMCE carried out some exploratory research into how consultants access and use outputs of academic research in their work.

We found that academic work contributes to the knowledge base that consultants draw on in three main ways:

1. It is a source of ideas underlying major types of consulting interventions and of widely used consulting tools;

2. Outputs of academic work provide information for use on a specific project;

3. Academic outputs can contribute to consultants' continuing professional development.

In our report we draw conclusions about how consultants can make better use of the findings of academic research and how academics can increase the impact of their research by disseminating it more effectively to consultants, and through consultants to their clients.

We presented the findings of the research at the first seminar hosted by the British Academy of Management (BAM) Management Consultancy Network on 21 February 2022.

The report is available here.