美国管理咨询业的扫描英文(pdf 21页)

Management consultants provide administrative, strategic, and technical advice and training to organizations in the public and private sectors. Examples of these services include financial planning, organizational planning, marketing advice, information technology consulting, human resource planning, and logistics advice. Certain industry firms also provide management accounting and auditing services; see also Accounting, Auditing, and Bookkeeping Services for a discussion of these activities. Others specialize in various forms of information technology planning and systems management, which is discussed in greater detail under the heading Information Technology Services.
Background and Development
The origins of the industry can be traced back to "time and motion" studies performed in the United States in the 1880s. Around that time Frank and Lillian Gilbreth improved methods for laying bricks by eliminating unnecessary steps or "motions" in the bricklaying process. Frank W. Taylor similarly increased productivity in the U.S. steel industry by identifying and timing individual elements involved in various processes and then pinpointing sources of inefficiency.
In 1881 the first management consulting firm was established in Cambridge, Massachusetts, by Arthur D. Little. The firm, bearing the same name as the founder, quickly established itself as a viable business and maintained a leadership position in the management consulting industry for over 100 years. That same year saw the establishment of the first U.S. collegiate business school, the Wharton School, also located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Nearly two decades later, in 1900, the first graduate school of business appeared, Dartmouth Amos Tuck School, followed by the Harvard Business School in 1908. The first European institute, Institute European d'Administration (INSEAD), appeared in Fontainbleau, France, in 1959. Business schools supplied both qualified consultants and business research to the management consulting field.
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