The Feminine in Management Consulting

Telling and selling the value of diversity and inclusion—External consultants' discursive strategies and practices

“…Instead, they face the imperative to continuously make the case for D&I to multiple organisations, an imperative which brings their discursive strategies into sharp relief. role in developing and implementing diversity management policies, our contribution is to take a step back and foreground the reflection that precedes D&I consultants' action vis-à-vis clients, thus positioning D&I consulting as a discursive activity (Marsh, 2009;Prasad et al, 2011). A way of making sense of this is proposed in our descriptive classification, which illuminates the discursive strategies utilised by consultants in interaction with their clients.…”

“…The historical dimension of discourses aids understanding of contemporary practices (Marsh, 2009). The diversity concept/discourse was a practitioner-led response to the 1980s backlash in the USA against the social justice aims of affirmative action (see Lorbiecki andJack, 2000 andNoon, 2007), which organisations widely considered either of little help or counterproductive (Kelly and Dobbin, 1998).…”

“…Existing literature offers limited insights on external D&I consultants as they are usually subsumed within the broader category of diversity professionals. However, working on the outside of organisations has implications for professional practice (Litvin, 2002;Marsh, 2009). We know, for example, from the wider management consulting literature that the maturity of the consulting industry means that client organisations are more conscious of getting value for money (Sturdy et al, 2009).…”