ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the growing inclination of consulting firms to take a more active policy advocacy role as the 'think tank-ization' of management consultancy. This transformation is an indication of the discursive power that global management consulting corporations increasingly exercise in public debates on the definition of political problems and solutions. This chapter addresses how they have acquired that power and the political legitimacy to become co-pilots in the steering of government organizations. It introduces the concept of institutional isomorphism to highlight the role of consultants as experts active in defining norms and disseminating models of appropriate action in the management of large organizations. The chapter provides an overview of the origins and evolution of management consultancy cross-nationally. It looks at the role of consultants in government since the 1960s and the subsequent growth of the public sector market for management consulting services.
