6.2The professional approach

What then are the salient characteristics of a professional approach in management consulting? Some of them can be found, in succinct form, in the codes of ethics or conduct adopted by the membership organizations of management consultants; others are set out in information pamphlets of consulting firms. These are the norms held collectively, i.e. by the members of a consultants’ association or of a consulting firm that has formally declared what its ethical rules are. However, in many situations it is not possible to refer to a formal declaration of norms defining professional and ethical behaviour. In such cases the consultant has to be guided by a personal code of professional ethics and behaviour – his or her own conception of what is proper and improper practice, and what is beneficial to the client and the community and what is not.

The consultant is in a position of trust; the client probably believes that certain behavioural norms will be respected without their even being mentioned. Many clients believe that consultants would never use false credentials, and some clients are even unable to evaluate the consultant’s technical competence. The consultant may be in a position of technical superiority and possess knowledge and information that the client does not have. The client may then be in a position of weakness, uncertainty, and even distress (box 6.1).

Any consultant who seeks to act in a professional manner must clarify his or her own conception of ethics and the norms to be observed in working for