Dear All,I am a student of the university of Groningen in the Netherlands and i am working on my thesis about "Business Ethics in International Consultancy". My research question is: "What ethical do international consultancy firms face and what are stategies they have to deal with then?". I came to this topic after reading about the historical cases of the Consultancy firm "Hill and Knowlton" of 1989 in which they had to decide on ethical difficult jobs and how to deal with it. My Subquestions deal with:-The Consultant-Client relationship. What can be expected from both sides?-The Consultant-Job relationship. What jobs do you accept, and what not? (Impartial advocate!? Work in the interest of the firm, the client or society?-The Consultant-Stakeholder relationship. What ethical dillema's are important. What is the role of stakeholders?I have already read a lot of articles and other literature about it but now i am looking for primary information and reactions from consultants themselves! Hopefully you can help me out in providing your opinions on these topics! Please feel free to write all your thought about Business ethics in relation with International Consultancy!I hope you can help me out. If you know interesting articles or other references please tell me!Kind regards,Jesse DamstraThe Netherlands

you'll find that all the above vary in direct correlation to the economic situation - when work comes easily, ethics are high, client service comes first, bench time is invested in product development and training, projects are selected in line with strategy etc. when times are tight, something of a different story....