From prophets to profits: The occupational rhetoric of management consultants
研究管理顾问如何通过五种社会角色（专业者、先知、伙伴、商人、服务者）的修辞来应对工作中的合法性、效率和脆弱性三大结构性约束，基于访谈数据揭示职业身份的构建过程。
In this article we explore the construction of occupational identity amongst a new and significant occupation: management consultants. Extending a conceptual framework developed by Fine (1996), we argue that occupational identity is not a consistent whole, but constructed from imagery to interpret and manage situations commonly experienced by occupational members. We argue that consultants, as an occupation, face three key structural constraints as features of their work, which we term, legitimacy, efficiency and vulnerability. On the basis of our interview data, we identify five social roles around which occupational `rhetorics' are constructed — professional, prophet, partner, business person, and service worker. We explore how consultants use these rhetorics to respond to issues of legitimacy, efficiency and vulnerability, and also highlight how different imagery is used based on its situational salience.