Models of management education and training

In 1986, the National Economic Development Council, the Manpower Commission and the British Institute of Management together sponsored research into management education and training. This chapter examines the historical progression of management education and training in Britain during the twentieth century through to the period preceding the time frame concerned with ‘The Making of Managers’ study. It addresses the deficiency and places the work of management consultants in the historical context. The story of the involvement of management consultants in management education and training commences, in some small way, with the first known recorded incidence of management consulting assignments in the mid- to late 1860s. There are two aspects to the Consultancy Approach; the unique package of training delivery provided by consultants progressively throughout their history, and the part played by the consultant within the other three models developed by C. Handy. Taking each of Handy’s models in turn, this summarisation will indicate the distinctive nature of the Consultancy Approach.