ABSTRACT
This chapter is about reviewing the work of management consultants in the broad area of improvements to productive performance. Productivity has been to do with the balance between inputs and outputs of an organisation. With regards the breadth of service delivery, the initial concentration on the direct production environment within firms and its eventual broadening out to encompass all areas that were involved in the process was still very narrow in scope in comparison with consultancy activities. Improvements to productive processes span the whole range of activities and are just as applicable to service sectors as they are to manufacturing enterprises. All of the main companies during the post-war period can provide examples of services supplied to organisations with the objective of improving productivity within engineering companies, industrial firms and commercial enterprises. The chapter examines some of the changes that occurred within consultancy in Britain with a view to improving productive performance.
