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RESEARCH ON CONSULTING —
WITH, FOR OR AGAINST PRACTICE?!
——o—
HEIDI MÖLLER — KATRIN OELLERICH —
DENISE HINN - SILJA KOTTE
ABSTRACT
This article examines the extent to which consulting research and consulting
practice are acting in concert or whether the gap between them still seems
insurmountable. To this end we examine the literature on consulting research,
report on what kind of research coaching practitioners would consider beneficial,
and introduce the first findings from an empirical survey in which coaching
practitioners were asked about their motivation for — or against — taking part
in coaching research.
INTRODUCTION
The need for consulting within organisations is massively increasing. Nestmann’
characterises the changing social framework conditions and the consequential
need for consulting in such a way that it is no longer about consulting but rather
about supporting the company. Organisations and teams no longer function
so well due to the demanding balancing act required. The dimensions we all
have to balance in our everyday working life can be outlined as: head and heart,
exterior and interior, global and regional, old and young, top and bottom, men
and women, work and life and so on. In a postmodern working environment,
we have to deal on a daily basis with multiple contradictions, dilemmas and
differentiations which have to be overcome by the members of the organisation.
Self-reflection through consulting serves as a potential outlet for maintaining
the operation of the organisation and also for the restoration as well as the
growth of damaged organisations’.
! Published online: 19 August 2014, © Springer Fachmedien, Wiesbaden, 2014.
2 F. Nestmann, Handbuch der Beratung, Bd. II., Tübingen, DGVT-Verlag, 2004.
3 H. Möller — B. Hausinger, (eds.), Quo vadis Beratungswissenschaft?, Wiesbaden, VS Verlag für
Sozialwissenschaften, 2009.