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Contents : A Brief Examination of the Nature Contexts and Causes of Unethical Consultant Behaviors Benjamin W. Redekop Kettering University Brian L. Heath Wright State University This article builds on existing published research as well as recent interviews with consultants to explore some of the root causes of unethical behavior by consultants. The authors suggest that the very aims of consulting aims which are rooted in scientific management and involve making production processes more rational efficient and profitable are potentially in conflict with the treatment of human beings as ends in themselves and not merely as means to others ends. And if the primary goal and selfunderstanding of consulting work is simply to create wealth in the context of short-term relationships a goal and self-understanding that is also rooted in the origins of management consulting then unethical behavior can all too easily be the result. Furthermore because of their position as expert outsiders consultants can find it relatively easily to manipulate and overcharge clients while clients can use consultants for their own unsavory purposes. The moral value of duty towards clients and the need to build a trust relationship with them can serve as rationalizations for unethical actions done by consultants on behalf of clients. The article includes suggestions for consultants who want to avoid unethical behavior and enhance the credibility of the profession. Unethical behavior is a fact of life in the business world just as it is in other domains. In this article we explore the nature and context of unethical behaviors by consultants and offer hypotheses as to why such behaviors occur. Our aim is to provide an analysis of some (but by no means all) unethical behaviors by consultants and to isolate distinct kinds of bad behavior that are particularly related to the consulting profession (i.e. those bad behaviors that result from the activities and services that consultants provide and the position that consultants occupy in the world of business and nonprofit organizations). We thus believe that although the activities performed by people who call themselves consultants are quite diverse (Massey 2000) there are nevertheless some common core elements of consulting work that provide a unique context for deviant behavior. Although there is a widespread sense that some consultants engage in unethical practices as a matter of course remarkably little research and analysis has been done to measure the dimensions and scope of the problem and to understand its causes. The work that has been done Journal of Practical Consulting Vol. 1 Iss. 2 2007 pp. 40-50 2007 School of Global Leadership & Entrepreneurship Regent University ISSN 1930-806X JOURNAL OF PRACTICAL CONSULTING 41 has painted a fairly sobering picture. For example Allen and Davis (1993) found in a broadlybased study of business consultants ethical views that while a consultant can maintain high personal and professional values which are positively related to professional ethics they somehow disintegrate when actual ethical dilemmas are faced in the marketplace (p. 456). By their own admission consultants ethical beliefs are not necessarily reflected in their behavior. The question then becomes what is the cause of this disconnect Rather than claiming to offer definitive answers to this question this article explores the broad outlines of the topic and offers some insights and suggestions for those in the industry who genuinely want to avoid unethical behavior and enhance the credibility of the consulting profession. It represents a report on research in progress based on existing published research and qualitative interviews with working consultants from a variety of firms and fields.1 An Emerging Profession with Some Fundamental Ethical Challenges The consulting industry is relatively young most researchers date its beginnings to Frederick Taylor s Scientific Management first published in 1911. It is on its way to becoming a profession albeit a loosely-affiliated one as befits such a diverse enterprise. As in any developing profession a certain amount of chicanery and charlatanism are to be expected one only needs to consider the history of the medical profession for an instructive example. As Kubr (1980) put it In its early years the consulting business attracted the good the bad and the indifferent . . . . Professional awareness and behavior come when the early juggling with a little knowledge gives way to skilled application of a generally accepted body of knowledge according to acknowledged standards of integrity. (p. 45) Judging by recent critiques (e.g. O Shea & Madigan 1998 Pinault 2001 Wyatt 2004) those early days may not yet be over. Allen and Davis (1993) suggested that the field of professional consulting has a long way to go to arrive at the promised land of ethical behavior (p. 456). If one choo

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