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In recent decades, the influence of consultants in our economy has increased continuously. Many large client organizations regularly involve consultancies in managerial projects. At the same time, clients have become more discerning in how they involve these advisors. They have gained experience in dealing with consultants. In addition, a larger spectrum of alternatives for the execution of projects, such as external consultants, in-house consultants and internal project teams is available to them. Given these contractual choices and the heavily debated use of consultants, the question arises why managers choose to involve consultants in their project activities and how they structure the contractual relationship with them. Sandra Niewiem provides an empirical examination of the contractual relationship between clients and consultants on the basis of the transaction cost economic (TCE) theory of vertical integration. The comparative contracting perspective is the traditional focus of TCE research. Despite offering a fundament of concepts and empirical evidence, TCE has not yet been applied to consulting settings. Sandra Niewiem's work includes a meta-review of the empirical literature on TCE, which, with a selection of 160 studies, is the largest and most comprehensive review ofTCE literature ever conducted.
Sommario
1 Introduction.- 1.1 Background and motivation for this study.- 1.2 Purpose of the thesis.- 1.3 Research approach.- 1.4 Definitions and perspective of analysis.- 1.5 Structure of the thesis.- 2 The consultant-client relationship from a transaction cost economic perspective.- 2.1 Introduction.- 2.2 The contractual relationship between clients and consultants.- 2.3 Selection of a theoretical basis for this study.- 2.4 The transaction cost economic theory of vertical integration.- 2.5 Transaction cost economic empirical evidence - a meta-review.- 2.6 Hypotheses.- 2.7 Summary.- 3 Empirical approach.- 3.1 Introduction.- 3.2 General research approach.- 3.3 Unit of analysis.- 3.4 Measures and operationalization.- 3.5 Data collection.- 3.6 Analytical method.- 3.7 Summary.- 4 Results.- 4.1 Overview.- 4.2 Conceptual analysis.- 4.3 Relational analysis.- 5 Synopsis and implications.- 5.1 Overall summary.- 5.2 Theoretical implications.- 6 Concluding remarks.- 6.1 The research questions revisited.- 6.2 Limitations of this study and options for future research.- 6.3 Conclusion and outlook.- References.
Info autore
Dr. Sandra Niewiem promovierte bei Prof. Dr. Jean-Paul Thommen am Department "International Management and Consulting" an der European Business School, Schloß Reichartshausen. Sie ist als Unternehmensberaterin in den Bereichen Strategie und Organisation tätig.
Prof. Dr. Jean-Paul Thommen ist Inhaber des Lehrstuhls für Allgemeine Betriebswirtschaftslehre, mit den Schwerpunkten Personal und Organisation, an der European Business School (ebs), Schloß Reichartshausen, sowie Dozent an den Universitäten St. Gallen und Zürich.
Riassunto
The involvement of consultants in the execution of managerial projects has become an integral part of managerial life. Many large client organizations conduct a considerable number of projects, often in cooperation with external or in-house consultants. Given the pivotal importance of consultants in our economy and the need of managers to structure the relationship with their advisors prudently, there is surprisingly little clarity about the contractual relationship between client firms and consulting firms. Specifically, it is unclear, how the spectrum of engagements can be defined and why the extent to which consultants are involved differs from project to project.
Sandra Niewiem provides an examination of the contractual relationship between clients and consultants on the basis of the transaction cost economic theory. Following a meta-review of the empirical literature on transaction cost economics the author develops and tests a set of determinants of the extent to which consultants are involved in managerial projects. The empirical data, a portfolio of projects resulting from personal interviews with firm representatives in Austria, Germany and Switzerland, are evaluated using both quantitative and qualitative techniques, in particular, content analysis.
