OD as muddling: Implications for communication consultants

Reconsidering communication consulting

“…As Redding (1979) and Sussman (1982) suggest, there are also several potentially serious ethical pitfalls inherent in the communication consulting process. Overselling is one.…”

“…Increasing numbers of both tenured professors and new graduates are competing in the "seminar," "workshop," "in-house training," and in some cases, even in the "management consulting" markets. This growing interest is manifested in the high attendance at consulting programs at international, national, and regional conventions, the appearance of a number of articles addressing consulting topics (Lange, 1982;Meister & Heinsch, Jr., 1978;Putnam, 1979;Redding, 1979;Smeltzer & Arnold, 1982;Spicer, 1979;Sussman, 1982), and the recent publication by ERIC and the SCA of Rudolph and Johnson's Communication Consulting: Another Teaching Option (1983). The fact that increasing numbers of serious masters and doctoral students are identifying "consulting" as a primary career choice and are successfully lobbying for courses and practica to be added to traditional graduate programs is a less public but perhaps more significant indicator of this trend.…”