Hildegard Theobald
Unternehmensberatung: Veränderter Qualifikationsbedarf und neue Ansätze in Ausbildung und Regulierung des Berufszugangs

Since the 1980s the demand for management consultancy has considerably risen which can be shown by the growing employment possibilities and an increase of sales volume. Management consultancy is regarded as a highly qualified expert activity. Despite the economic relevance of management consultancy and unlike most of expert activities in society, there could not yet been established any defined common body of knowledge, any defined educational programmes and any form of access control to the activity.
The paper analyses efforts during the 1990s which are aimed to define a body of knowledge and educational and training programmes in the area as well as to establish marked-oriented forms of professional control according to the growing economic relevance of the area. Characteristic for the programmes is a combination of theoretical, practical and social courses of study to cover the wide range of necessary competences in the daily practice in management consultancy. The curricula can be used as a starting point for the development of a body of knowledge "Management Consultancy".
The activity as a management consultant does not require any successful completion of a defined course of studies and furthermore, there do not exist any form of access control in this area. However, the associations defined on a national and international level standards of professional consultants performance. This level of professional standard forms either a prerequisite for a membership in one of the national associations or a standard for different forms of certification. A successful professional record which can be proved by client referees and the competence of a reflective practitioner is regarded as criterion for a high professional standard. But despite the efforts to establish educational programmes, a body of knowledge and standards for certification, both, training and certification is still voluntarily and only a limited number of consultants completed the courses of study and acquired one of the different forms of certification.