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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.
