The World's Newest Profession.

As consulting grew rapidly in the United States due to federal regulation during the Great Depression, consultants transformed the giant American corporations. Not only did these new 'management consultants' overhaul the world of business, but they also restructured the Federal government to promote outsourcing. By the 1950s, consultants had assumed a critical influence over the design of the corporate economy, and the leading consulting firms had become the central conduits for the transfer of managerial innovations. McKenna explains what consultants do, why executives hire them, and what impact they have had in reshaping the working world. To end his account, using the recent corporate scandals as a backdrop, McKenna explains the history behind the Enron/Andersen crisis and why the recent Congressional reforms will only deepen executives' reliance on management consultants.