Management consulting refers to both the industry of, and the practice of, helping organizations improve their performance, primarily through the analysis of existing business problems and development of plans for improvement. Organizations hire the services of management consultants for a number of reasons, including, for example, to gain external and presumably more objective advice and recommendations, to gain access to the consultants' specialized expertise, or simply as temporary help during a one-time project, where the hiring of permanent employees is not required.
Source
Wikipedia
See Also
SmallBusiness.com Glossary