Pandemic Consulting: How Private Consultants Leverage Public Crisis Management

This forum article discusses how the Covid19-pandemic as a major
public crisis is transforming the relationship between governments
and management consultants, contributing to the deepening presence
of consulting firms in policy-making and governance. It
shows how the crisis has entrenched private advice in public policymaking
as governments are spending millions of dollars on transnational
professional service firms like McKinsey, KPMG, Deloitte
and Accenture to coordinate their pandemic responses. Drawing
from comparative research of India, Australia, UK, Germany and
Canada, we outline how interests have been aligned through
both the state’s demand for quick advice and the readily available
supply of expertise provided by firms seeking to expand their
markets. In this context, we note that professional services firms
have been able to leverage their scope, scale, speed and networks
in deepening their role in governance, moving beyond simply
advising governments to providing core administrative functions.
We conclude by discussing the implications for democracy and the
possibilities for contestation.