This paper explores alternative ways of evaluating and ultimately hiring a generalist consultancy for short- and medium-term projects, and how this is shaped by the size of the clients’ company. What buying factors do managers of small and large firms have in mind when hiring consultants for their projects?

Instead of employing surveys incorporating predefined buying factors based on what the researchers think would be important, a cognitive mapping methodology - the repertory grid technique - is applied to investigate the underlying phenomena. Using the repertory grid technique to draw mental models is a novel research technique within the supply management field. Recent behavioral supply chain management research found the behavior of managers to be critically influenced by mental models: the lenses through which managers perceive, simplify and interpret the world.

Results show differences between the buying factors used in small- and large-scale companies: managers of large companies are more ‘reputation and outcome-oriented’ and managers of small businesses are more concerned with ‘how the services are rendered’. However, both constituents stressed the importance of expertise, quality and the relationship between the client and the management consultancy, although the character of such a relationship differed between small- and large-scale firms. Results also point out criteria that managers of small and large companies employ to discriminate between good and poor performing consultancies and to judge service delivery. The practical implications for both companies hiring consultancies and the consultancy companies are discussed. For consultancies, our findings can help tailoring their efforts to a differing clientele when marketing and selling their services. For companies hiring consultancies, fixating too much on particular buying factors may lead to biased decisions.

本文探讨了评估和最终聘请短期和中期项目的通才顾问的其他方法，以及这是如何由客户公司的规模来塑造的。小型和大型公司的经理在为其项目聘用顾问时会考虑哪些购买因素？

与其采用基于研究人员认为重要的，包含预定义购买因素的调查，不如采用认知映射方法-储备格技术-来调查潜在现象。使用储备网格技术来绘制心理模型是供应管理领域中的一种新颖的研究技术。最近的行为供应链管理研究发现，管理者的行为受到心理模型的严重影响：心理模型是管理者感知，简化和解释世界的镜头。

结果表明，在小型和大型公司中使用的购买因素之间存在差异：大型公司的经理更加“以信誉和结果为导向”，而小型企业的经理则更加关注“服务的提供方式”。然而，尽管小企业和大型企业之间这种关系的性质各不相同，但三方成员都强调了专业知识，质量以及客户与管理咨询公司之间关系的重要性。结果还指出了小型和大型公司的经理所采用的标准，以区分绩效良好和绩效差的咨询服务并判断服务的提供。讨论了这对两家公司聘用顾问公司和顾问公司的实际意义。对于咨询，我们的发现可以帮助他们在营销和销售服务时针对不同的客户量身定制工作。对于雇用咨询公司的公司而言，过多地关注特定的购买因素可能会导致决策偏颇。