Risk and the Adoption of New Technologies: A Field Study

Presented at 63rd Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management, Seattle, USA</p

Consultant and client - working together

Examines both consultant and client perceptions of the consulting relationship, focusing on internal process consultants and a sample of their clients. Employs a procedure based on repertory grid technique to elicit dimensions of client-consultant relationships from 22 consultants and 16 of their clients within a major UK company. Develops a questionnaire in order to determine the importance and frequency of these dimensions, and also to investigate any perceived differences between the views of clients and consultants. Dimensions fell within four broad categories: clients’ skills and behaviours; consultants’ skills and behaviours; contract details or the logistics of the project; and dimensions focusing specifically on the client-consultant relationship. Clients focused particularly on the contract details, placing less emphasis on the importance of either their own skills and behaviours or the relationship they formed with the consultant. Consultants, on the other hand, viewed relationship building as most important. Makes recommendations for establishing and enhancing client-consultant relationships