Management consulting began with efficiency studies, then evolved to organization structure design. This may increase the culpability of consultants if their advice turns out to be erroneous. Closer to the 21st century, there might be increased consolidation, higher concentration and a blurring of the distinctions, between giving advice and performing other services. There will be more efforts to integrate strategy and change management and information technology. The diversity of clients and markets will create many types of consultants.
Consultants analyze business situations and address genuine client needs.
Management consultants' interventions, jointly with their clients, will solve distinct problems, implement desired changes and help shape many important decisions in private and public firms. It should be patently self evident from the foregoing that a firm undertaking the management consulting responsibility has, in effect, allied itself with management and has become an integral part of such management. To presume such a firm could then don the robes of an independent auditor for that enterprise would be to perpetrate a hoax. The firm consists of private, locally-owned partnerships in 46 countries. Its headquarters are at 69 West Washington Street, Chicago, Illinois, i.e., Arthur Andersen's headquarters.