ABSTRACT
As discussed in the introductory chapter, traditional experts’ characteristics need not always be a prerequisite for achieving expert status. In fact, it may even be the opposite. In this chapter, I look closely at management consultants, some of the most well-paid experts of our times, and ponder how and why they have managed to retain their comparatively unregulated “free zone” in the otherwise so regulated expert community. How can we understand that the backbone of other modern experts’ special position and authority-the common professional rules-still languishes in the management consultancy fi eld? What consequences do these special conditions bring about for their expert practice, clients and society in general?
