Successful client-consultant

The activity of management consultants continues to increase in South Africa(SA). South African public and private sector clients continue to increase theirspend on consulting services. South African clients are however relatively lessmature consumers of management consulting services when compared to theircounterparts in the United States (US) and the United Kingdon (UK). This fact,together with the complexity and uniqueness of the South African political andbusiness landscapes, renders the impact of local conditions on consultingengagements more significant.The purpose of this research has been to investigate the factors for successfulclient-consultant engagements in the South African context. The research wasundertaken from the client perspective and included a sample of SA clients andUK clients. A comparison was made between the responses of SA clients and UKclients to highlight aspects that appeared specific to the SA context.From the literature review six common factors namely (1) consultant skill, (2)consultant innovation, (3) communication, (4) relationship, (5) project delivery and(6) cost were reviewed. Data was collected from clients’ ratings of past consultingengagements of a management consulting firm headquartered in the UK with alocal office in SA. A sample of 38 consulting engagements in SA and 35 UKengagements was used.Through regression analysis it was found that consultant skill, communication andrelationship were significant factors for consulting engagement success in SouthAfrica. SA clients were, however, less likely to evaluate the success of theengagements based on cost, consultant innovation and project delivery.Comparatively project delivery and communication was significant for clients in theUK, while consultant skill, relationship, consultant innovation and cost were lesssignificant in evaluation of success.This research has important implications for consulting firms – especially foreignbasedfirms – in terms of their consulting approaches in South Africa. This helpssuch firms better understand the needs of SA clients in consulting engagements,thereby increasing the chances of success.