Transforming the public sector: management consultants as agents of change

Abstract

This paper examines the practices of a distinctive group of change agents in the reform of the UK public sector - management consultants. The involvement of management consultants in these reforms has been the subject of intense debate. There have been attempts to present management consultants as ‘rational modernizers’, on the one hand and attempts to demonize them, on the other. However, little is known about the practices of management consultants in the public sector. This paper seeks to shed light on the management consultant as change agent in the UK public sector. The primary source of evidence is the perceptions of management consultants who have advised public sector institutions.