Consulting in Spanish corporate capitalism and its transition: from senior state officials to the new fund manager

Abstract

This article examines consulting in Spain from both micro and macro-social perspectives, linked to the need for external expert knowledge aimed at improving the organization and rationalization of resources, as well as influencing the configuration of corporate capitalism in each country. These consulting firms emerged from the global hegemony of managerial expert knowledge and were integrated into specific business schools and educational institutions during the Francoist desarrollismo period, in parallel with the influx of foreign capital and enterprises. The 2008 economic crisis, followed by the Covid-19 pandemic, have been central to the transformation of the consulting sector and to the decline of the political elites’ previous centrality in corporate decision-making processes. From this point onward, advisory functions increasingly shifted from traditional consultancies to fund managers, who have come to play a pivotal role in the reorganization of the business fabric and in the shaping of corporate culture.