Chapter 1: Clients’ Different Moves in Managing the Client–Consultant Relationship

There is general agreement that consultants have become key actors in the transfer of knowledge (Clark & Fincham, 2002; Kipping & Engwall, 2002; Sahlin-Andersson & Engwall, 2002). The literature on management consulting identifies the client–consultant relationship as being of central importance to this process. Focusing almost exclusively on consultants this literature has viewed them as being distant and separate from their clients. Indeed, this remoteness has been identified as a critical element of their value to clients. In essence, consultants are seen as outsiders whose external knowledge of other organizations and environments is of value because it is different from the internal knowledge of the client organization.