No / The chapter explores the current landscape in the public sector, considering complications and constraints inherent in delivering service and performance improvement. Cost challenges are key factors for all departments, as are wider societal changes, and have led to changes to delivery models. UK government cuts have already been the biggest in the G7 group of major developed economies, and more are planned. Departmental structure, culture and behaviour as well as the scale of service delivery, present operational challenges not just internally but also to the consultants engaged to help. Consideration is also given to commercial constraints which govern the contracting process and how that in turn affects consultant:client interaction and outcomes. Taking into account the salient features which must be overcome, the chapter concludes by suggesting how the constraints and complications can be minimised or mitigated by adopting alternative approaches more attuned to operating within a public service environment.

Consultancy practices have significant influence on the ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) project success. In this sense, client-consultant relationship comes into prominence in terms of  project  achievement.  Therefore  client-consultant  relationship  needs  to  be  understood  in depth in order to strengthen the consultancy practices and eliminate problems between two parties.  Hence,  in  this  research  client-consultant  relationship  is  examined  from  ERP consultancy aspect during ERP implementation phase in Turkey. Some factors that influence this relationship is evaluated and existing client-consultant models are analyzed whether they are compatible with the client-consultant relationship within ERP concept. Cultures basis as an influential factor is examined in order to understand this impacts on this relationship. ERP consultancy profile and partially client profile are drawn in order to have deep insight of this relationship.

Les prestations de conseils se développent de façon ininterrompue depuis plusieurs décennies et la relation client-consultant apparait selon les travaux en sciences de gestion comme un facteur explicatif essentiel de leur performance. Cette revue de littérature montre que le thème du conseil reste peu développé, notamment en France, et qu’il nécessite un large développement dans les années à venir, notamment avec le changement des environnements et pratiques professionnels. Également, la plupart des travaux s’intéressent à la figure du consultant et assez peu à la relation de conseil. Ainsi nos travaux ont pour objet de contribuer à une meilleure compréhension de ce qu’elle est et de sa dynamique.Nous proposons dans cette contribution d’utiliser les apports du courant de la sociologie pragmatique et de la sociologie de la traduction (ANT : Actor Network Theory) afin de définir le processus de relation de conseil. À partir d’une démarche qualitative, nous avons identifié un modèle de la relation de conseil, appelé LES (Listening, Support, Ethic) décrivant ses trois principales variables (nommées « attributs essentiels ») dans le processus d’opération de traduction de la relation de conseil.L’apport managérial est conséquent car il concerne les acteurs du conseil (conseil en stratégie, management, opérationnels et également les experts-comptables et auditeurs) et quasiment l’ensemble des entreprises de toutes tailles qui font appel ou peuvent solliciter un prestataire pour les accompagner dans leurs activités. / Consultancy services have been developing continuously for several decades and the client-consultant relationship appears according to the work in management sciences as an essential explanatory factor of their performance. This literature review shows that the topic of consulting remains underdeveloped, especially in France, and that it will require significant development in the coming years, including through the change in environments and professional practices. Furthermore, most of the studies focus on the consultant and rather little on the advisory relationship. Thus our work aims to contribute to a better understanding of what it is and its dynamics.In this research, we propose to use the contributions of the current of pragmatic sociology and translation sociology (ANT: Actor Network Theory) in order to define the process of the consultancy relationship. Through a qualitative approach, we identified a model of the consulting relationship, called LES (Listening, Support, Ethic) describing its three main attributes (called "essential attributes") in the process of translating the consulting relationship.The managerial contribution is significant because it concerns the actors of consulting (strategy consulting, management, operational and also chartered accountants and auditors) and almost all companies of all sizes that call upon or can solicit a service provider to support them in their activities.

Background: Due to the increased knowledge gaps that originate from rapid technological change, many organizations are in need of consulting services. As of this, the consulting market has had rapid growth, which has caught the attention of scholars. Previous research has identified an interface between knowledge and identity as two prominent concepts when analyzing the client-consultant relationship. Despite this, there is still a great lack of empirical insights regarding how these two concepts might affect this relationship. Purpose: The purpose of the study was to explore knowledge transfer within the client-consultant relationship by applying the lens of role identity. Furthermore, the research aimed to increase the understanding of the barriers to knowledge transfer, where they originate from,and how to overcome them. Method: This research is of a qualitative sort, where abductive reasoning has been applied in order to fulfill our research purpose. Furthermore, a single case study approach was conducted and data was gathered from interviews with both consultants and clients. The gathered data was analyzed by using grounded analysis, where insights have been identified by creating 1st order concepts, 2nd order themes and aggregated dimensions. Conclusion: The result of this study indicates that different idiosyncratic and conventional role identity meanings create mismatches within the client-consultant relationship. The concept of role identity ambiguity creates barriers for securing knowledge transfer within the client-consultant relationship, and knowledge transfer outcomes affect future role identity meanings. The result of this study contributes to already existing literature regarding role identity, knowledge transfer and the client-consultant relationship. Furthermore, the study presents managerial implications that will increase consultants' understanding of the barriers and suggestions for how to overcome them.

Since the late 20th Century, the consulting industry has grown significantly. Today, consulting is a widespread, one-size-fits-all term that includes virtually any form of advice-giving in a business setting. Irrespective of the industry, there is a large market and high demand for consulting. Knowing how to engage clients and ensuring successful consulting has never been more critical for consultancies looking to capitalise on scarce client demand. The purpose of this research study was to gain a collective understanding of those aspects that constitute successful consulting, focusing on the implicit dimensions that influence client-consultant engagement. In this regard, the research study aimed to add value by presenting a new perspective on, and extend understanding of the implicit dimensions influencing the client-consultant relationship by focusing on both clients and consultants though the unique lens of the Psychological Contract. This exploration of the Psychological Contract between client and consultant was conducted through the interpretivist paradigm, or to be more specific, a social constructivist approach. This approach allowed the researcher to explore the Psychological Contract between client and consultant through the constructed meanings that both clients and consultants attach to their experience of the client-consultant relationship, and enabled the researcher to explore their perceptions and interpretations of the dimensions that influenced that relationship. The researcher furthermore applied a qualitative research design and constructivist grounded theory method to explore the subjective meanings of clients and consultants, and to discover their reality. This design and method generated rich, in-depth data and understanding of the participants’ beliefs, perceptions, and subjective experiences to develop a comprehensive framework of the Psychological Contract between client and consultant. / Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Human Resource Management / unrestricted