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Consulting industry.

Since quantifying facts lies at the core of our business and to stay on top of what our clients are talking about, Statista researchers analyzed over 150 white papers, articles, and reports from the leading consulting firms. By categorizing the publications according to common topics, we created a map of what consultants are currently researching. One in five publications surveyed by Statista discussed digital transformation, which was defined for this research as articles that discussed the disruption and impact that digital technologies cause to the business landscape. While this definition is similar to Industry 4.0, we separated the two topics. Consultants are buzzing about the effects these technologies will bring to business models or processes, and how that will affect value creation. Subtopics here range from the change in infrastructure, products, and services to the rippling effect on supply chains. Another common theme in digital transformation explores new ways for companies to interact with consumers. In this study, 17% of the publications are about workforce strategy, making this the second most relevant topic. Corporations are looking for ways to empower their workers and optimize the workplace for better performance. Companies are hiring more tech-savvy individuals who can leverage new technologies and meet new demands. We are seeing a change in the type of employees companies are hiring and a change in the employee/employer relationship as the number of contingent workers rises (“Gig economy”). Individuals are looking for a more flexible schedule and are less likely to stay at one job for a long period of time. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is covered by 15% of the articles, making it the third most popular topic. AI algorithms can address challenges and potentials regarding automation in a wide range of fields, covering everything from sales and customer service to analytics. Fields of concern are cybersecurity, privacy, and long-term social and economic impact. AI has also made its way into our daily lives. With the help of assistance intelligence, such as chatbots and virtual assistants, AI can now independently help guide and perform tasks. Autonomous intelligence is slowly starting to penetrate our streets with self-driving vehicles. Another key segment explores a new industrial revolution, coined industry 4.0 and the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). Manufacturers are combining automation, network infrastructure, artificial intelligence, and analytics on the production line, restructuring the way businesses function. These advances in technologies will have a comprehensive effect on supply chains when it comes to to production planning, predictive maintenance, and material management as well as monitoring and controlling. For inquiries about Statista Contact: Johannes Meindl – Group Director Consulting & Legal – [email protected] This article was created with the support of Sarah Feldman (Data Journalist) and Osbaldo Sanchez.

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Consulting Research: A Scientific Perspective on Consulting

• First Online: 19 October 2018

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• Volker Nissen 2  

Part of the book series: Contributions to Management Science ((MANAGEMENT SC.))

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Consulting clearly is one of the major service industries with an ever growing turnover and considerable influence on the development of virtually all other branches of industry. Consultancies are also one of the most attractive employers to highly qualified young people. Despite this significant practical impact, the amount of research on consulting is only moderate, and scientific outlets exclusively dedicated to consulting issues are scarce. In this introductory paper, the necessity, requirements and benefits of a scientific perspective on consulting are highlighted. This ‘Consulting Research’, while sustaining academic rigor, must closely cooperate with consulting practice to simultaneously achieve relevance. As an academic stream it must be supported by an active and well organized research community, cooperatively acting at national as well as international level.

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Research-based Consultancy Work

IT Consulting: A Systematic Literature Review

Consulting as a Systemic Intervention Process

There are also other forms of consulting e.g. in the technical area, which is here only of marginal importance.

For an example see Peterson ( 2001 , pp. 40–41).

See, for instance, Kleinaltenkamp ( 2001 ).

Personal communication with various consultants.

It is unknown who first coined the phrase ‘Consulting Research’.

Compare Kaas and Schade ( 1995 ), Mohe and Pfriem ( 2002 ) and Fritz and Effenberger ( 2002 ).

See Nissen ( 2003 ) for an example of a methodological contribution to CR.

Wolf ( 2000 ) also argues for a better, i.e. theoretically profound training for future business consultants.

See the essay by Mertens ( 2006 ) for a discussion within business informatics.

This estimation is also shared by Shugan for example Shugan ( 2004 ).

For a detailed overview on institutional economics and criticism on this theoretical perspective, see e.g. Schade ( 1997 ) and Barchewitz and Armbrüster ( 2004 ).

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Nissen, V. (2019). Consulting Research: A Scientific Perspective on Consulting. In: Nissen, V. (eds) Advances in Consulting Research. Contributions to Management Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-95999-3_1

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