The Differences between External and Internal Consulting

Organization development professionals have positions that are either internal or external to the organization. Internal consultants are members of the organization and may be located in the human resources department or report directly to a line manager.

They may perform the OD role exclusively, or they may combine it with other tasks, such as compensation practices, training, or employee relations.13 Many large organizations, such as Boeing, Raytheon, Disney, Microsoft, Philip Morris, Procter & Gamble, Weyerhaeuser, Kimberly-Clark, and Citigroup, have created specialized OD consulting groups. These internal consultants typically have a variety of clients within the organization, serving both line and staff departments.

External consultants are not members of the client organization; they typically work

for a consulting firm, a university, or themselves. Organizations generally hire external

consultants to provide a particular expertise that is unavailable internally, to bring a different and potentially more objective perspective into the organization development process, or to signal shifts in power. Table 3.2 describes the differences between these two

roles at each stage of the action research process.