People like to mock consultants because of the disparity they sometimes see between the industry's premise and how it operates in real life. Many consultants are indeed whip-smart people who generate revenue and save corporations millions through bright ideas, wisely executed. But there are also the less capable sort who promise what they can't deliver or pad their billable hours enough to embarrass even Dolly Parton. CIOs and other executives get very indignant about alleged excesses from consultants, but one has to wonder just how fair that is. Executives sometimes seem to regard consultants as the human embodiment of the Trust Fall.
Many companies do the same thing with consultants.
We won't bother with in-house oversight or meticulous contracts. We trust you. After all, it's asking a lot of any company to selflessly and voluntarily curtail lucrative revenue streams, unethical or not. Don't forget that a consultancy exists to make money, just as any corporation does. More than 80 percent of the CIOs who answered our survey agree that there ought to be some sort of organization to nudge consultants toward ethical work practices.