Organizational Purchasing of Professional Services: The Process of Selecting Providers

Stresses the importance of professional service provider selection and the potentially disastrous financial penalty for error made by a client organization. Identifies problems with previous studies relating to this selection process and offers suggestions for improving future research. Provides an expanded decision‐making model to organize discussion of various stages in selection and evaluation. Identifies factors which may complicate the process. Concludes that a better understanding of the selection process should lead to the identification of ways in which professional service providers can improve their marketing effectiveness and to the reduction of risk to client firms purchasing these services.