Conclusions

Abstract

In many ways, the emergence and existence of this specialist consultancy practice, crisis management, attests to the explosion of the consulting market (Kieser 2002). I have demonstrated its historical roots and current home in public relations and that it deals with specific, restricted concerns. Yet it is inevitable that the ways in which practitioners seek to gain support for, and establish their authority are mirrored in the type of activities undertaken by consultants in the wider consulting industry. In that sense, the study of this one occupation is relevant to an understanding of others, specifically, how new professions come about, how they gain professional standing and how they are able to create a demand for their services.