The consultancy industry is one of the most diverse markets within the professional services

industry, and, therefore, a number of different types of consultants are found in the industry.
Moreover, being a ‘consultant’ is not a protected professional title like most other professions,
making it possible for anyone to title themselves strategy, management, business, finance, HR or IT
consultant. Given the widespread areas in which a consultant can operate, and the variety of work
places a consultant can access, there has been a sharp rise in the number of independent
consultants over the past few years. Following wide influx into the industry, a common definition of
a ‘consultant’ has become harder to reach.

Over the past few decades, branch specific associations and analysts have developed various
definitions in order to categorise the diverse types of consultants active in the field. Consultancy.in
adheres to the approach used by Kennedy Information, an American research agency that has been
analysing the consultancy market since the ‘60s (for more info see the page on the Consultancy
Branch). The methodology behind their approach is based on there being six core types of
consultants within the consulting industry:

Strategy Consultant

The term Strategy Consultant is used to describe consultants who operate at the highest level of the
consultancy market, with a focus on strategic topics like corporate and organisational strategy,
economic policy, government policy and functional strategy. For this reason, strategy consultants
generally carry out work assigned by top managers such as CxOs, directors and senior managers.
Given that the nature of strategy consulting differs from the other more implementation and
operation driven areas, strategy consultants generally have a different profile from their peers. Their
focus lies more on quantitative/analytics skills, and their job description revolves more around giving
advice than overseeing implementation.

Management Consultant

Management consultants, also known as business consultants or organisational advisors in practice,

are consultants who focus on all sorts of organisational concerns, from strategy to a variety of
elements within management. In the methodology upheld by Kennedy as well as Consultancy.in,
Management Consulting is a collective term used for all services that fall under Strategy Consulting,
Operations Consulting and HR Consulting. Therefore, more than half of all advisors can be defined as
a management consultant.

Operations Consultant

Operations consultants are consultants who help clients improve the performance of their
operations. Consultancy activities in this segment vary from advisory services to hands-on
implementation support for both primary functions (e.g. Sales, Marketing, Production, etc.) as well
as secondary functions (e.g. Finance, HR, Supply Chain, ICT, Legal, etc.). Operations Consultants form
the largest segment within the advisory branch, and the majority of consultants are active within
one of the many underlying operating areas. Seeing as operations consulting is often associated with
the strategy and technology sides of a company, active operations consultants regularly work side by
side with experts from these domains.

Financial Advisory Consultant

Consultants who operate in the Financial Advisory segment generally work on questions that
address financial capabilities, and, in many cases, also the analytical capabilities within an
organisation. Subsequently, the profiles of consultants active in this segment can vary greatly, from
M&A and corporate finance advisors to risk management, tax restructuring or real estate
consultancy. Consultants specialised in forensic research and support disputes also fall under the
Financial Advisory segment. The majority of financial consultants work for large combined
accounting and consulting firms, or else for niche advisory offices.

Human Resource Consultant

HR consultants help clients with human capital questions within their organisations and / or with
improving the performance of the HR department. Chief topics central to the job description of HR
consultants are, among others, organisational changes, change management, terms of employment,
learning & development, talent management and retirement. HR consultants are also brought in by
organisations to help transform the business culture within their organisation, or transform their HR
department, which includes changes in the area of organisational design, processes and systems
among others. HR and strategy consulting form the two smallest segments of the consultancy
industry, and the number of consultants active in this domain is, therefore, lower than those in other
parts of the industry.

IT Consultant

Technology consultants, also known as IT, ICT, or digital consultants, focus on helping clients with
the development and application of Information Technology (IT) within their organisation. IT
consultants focus on transitions (projects) in the ICT-landscape, contrary to regular IT-employees,
who work on day-to-day IT operations (so-called ‘business as usual’ activities). The majority of ICT-
consultants work on implementation projects, for instance, extensive ERP systems applications,
where their role may vary from project management to process management or system integration.
Within IT consulting, the fastest growing markets are digital, data analytics (also known as data
science), cyber security and IT forensics.