ABSTRACT
Gerald caplan consultation methods, particularly consultee- and program-centered administrative consultation, remain prominent professional models for much of organizational consultation practice, which has arisen since he spelled them out. In contemporary consultation literature, there is no discussion of conceptual differences among people at different levels in the organization, and how the consultant should cope with them. Caplan has emphasized the need, in organizational consultation, for the consultant to eschew low-level contacts in favor of contact with authority figures in the consultee organization, although those who are in the most pain are likely to be marginal or deviant, and the ones to have precipitated the consultation. He has pointed out the need to explore the social system, to elucidate its authority and communications networks, and to find key members of those communications networks.
