Christopher D. McKenna is Reader in Business History and Strategy at the Said Business School, University of Oxford.

• Introduction: making a career of consulting; 1. Economies of knowledge: a theory of management consulting; 2. Accounting for a new profession: consultants' struggle for jurisdictional power; 3. How have consultants mattered? The case of Lukens Steel; 4. Creating the contractor state: consultants in the American Federal Government; 5. Finding profit in nonprofits: the influence of consultants on the third sector; 6. The gilded age of consulting: a snapshot of consultants circa 1960; 7. The American challenge: exporting the American model; 8. Selling corporate culture: codifying and commodifying professionalism; 9. Watchdogs, lapdogs, or retrievers? Liability and the rebirth of the management audit; Conclusion: the world's newest profession?

'If you use consultants, or claim to be a consultant, you should read this book.' Charles Wilson, CEO, Booker Ltd.

Christopher D. McKenna is Reader in Business History and Strategy at the Said Business School, University of Oxford.

• Introduction: making a career of consulting; 1. Economies of knowledge: a theory of management consulting; 2. Accounting for a new profession: consultants' struggle for jurisdictional power; 3. How have consultants mattered? The case of Lukens Steel; 4. Creating the contractor state: consultants in the American Federal Government; 5. Finding profit in nonprofits: the influence of consultants on the third sector; 6. The gilded age of consulting: a snapshot of consultants circa 1960; 7. The American challenge: exporting the American model; 8. Selling corporate culture: codifying and commodifying professionalism; 9. Watchdogs, lapdogs, or retrievers? Liability and the rebirth of the management audit; Conclusion: the world's newest profession?

'If you use consultants, or claim to be a consultant, you should read this book.' Charles Wilson, CEO, Booker Ltd.

Christopher D. McKenna is Reader in Business History and Strategy at the Said Business School, University of Oxford.

• Introduction: making a career of consulting; 1. Economies of knowledge: a theory of management consulting; 2. Accounting for a new profession: consultants' struggle for jurisdictional power; 3. How have consultants mattered? The case of Lukens Steel; 4. Creating the contractor state: consultants in the American Federal Government; 5. Finding profit in nonprofits: the influence of consultants on the third sector; 6. The gilded age of consulting: a snapshot of consultants circa 1960; 7. The American challenge: exporting the American model; 8. Selling corporate culture: codifying and commodifying professionalism; 9. Watchdogs, lapdogs, or retrievers? Liability and the rebirth of the management audit; Conclusion: the world's newest profession?

'If you use consultants, or claim to be a consultant, you should read this book.' Charles Wilson, CEO, Booker Ltd.