“MATCHING….. IS IT CONCERNED WITH FIT?”

“MATCHING….. IS IT CONCERNED WITH FIT?”

FRANK BOON Student number 1270753

Padangstraat 23, 9715 CL Groningen, The Netherlands Phone: +31 629107992

e-mail: boon_frank@hotmail.com

First Master thesis supervisor: Dr. M. de Witte

Second Master thesis supervisor: Dr. B. Emans

Company supervisor: Pentascope M. Kahmann Regio Noord Manager

Herebinnensingel 2 9711 BC Groningen

050-3176100

Date of submitting: November 23rd 2006

“MATCHING….. IS IT CONCERNED WITH FIT?”

ABSTRACT

Since consultancy is becoming increasingly important, it is only appropriate to raise questions about how clients and consultancy companies can choose the most appropriate consultant for the project. However this matching of consultant and project isn’t always simple due to many factors that have to be taken into account. A consulting engagement could still fail if it lacks some kind of fit. This thesis will discuss the factors and the phases playing a role during the matching process and which factors will cause a fit between the operational consultant and the client in order to establish a suitable match.

Deciding how the matching process ought to be first requires a scan of the current matching and selection process of the client and the consultancy company. Through literature review and qualitative interviews a list of factors was acquired that were taken into account during the matching process.

INDEX

Selection of a consultant (Intake)... 10

RESEARCH METHOD ... 16 Research questions ... 16 Concept... 16 Measurable ... 17 Data gathering ... 17 Data analysis ... 20 RESULTS... 23 INTRODUCTION... 23 MATCHING PROCESS ... 24 First contact ... 24 Proposal writing ... 25

Internal search for a consultant ... 28

Internal Pre-Selection ... 28

Internal selection of a consultant... 29

Selection by client ... 30

CONCLUSIONS... 32

Matching Process ... 32

Matching factors (causing a fit) ... 36

DISCUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS ... 41

General discussions and suggestions... 41

Discussion and suggestions for Pentascope ... 47

REFERENCES ... 50 APPENDIX 1: SURVEY “MATCHINGFACTORS”

PROBLEM STATEMENT

The demand for consultancy has grown fast; organizations are applying the 'make or buy' decision to an increasing range of functions and projects, and are deciding to outsource them (Markham, 1995). Since mounting sums of money are spent on consultants (Ganesh, 1971) it might be worthwhile to explore the factors contributing to a successful consulting engagement. First of all, a consulting engagement can be considered successful if the client is satisfied, if the consultant has met expectations and if the consultant is satisfied that his or her reputation has been enhanced (McLachlin, 1999). The literature suggests numerous factors to establish this consulting engagement success like: a clear agreement with the client, the involvement of the client, a decent control and a competent consultant. But even if these success factors are realized, a consulting engagement could still fail simply because it lacks some kind of fit. However, realizing some kind of fit or even noticing a kind of fit isn’t always easy because of the variety of roles consultants can play, the variety of styles consultant can have (Cummings & Worley, 2005) and the variety of approaches for carrying a change through (e.g. Stoker, 2005). The style can strongly depend on the personal characteristics and the personal view (Bryman, 1992). So a client can be uncertain of getting the right type of person. Often the client knows that something is wrong but doesn’t know what kind of help consultants might be able to provide (Schein, 1969). This uncertainty could easily lead to hiring a consultant with a style and approach that is inappropriate for a particular project. Even worse, if the consultant lacks integrity or the client is overly anxious to proceed, the client may be ‘sold' on the notion that the fit is right. So it’s evident that for any project some kind of fit will be established for the match. But which phases and which factors play a role during the matching process of a consultant on a project? And which factors will cause a fit between the operational consultant and the client in order to establish a suitable match? In other words; how can there be taken care of putting the right consultant on the right project?

Kristof (1996) might be applied to explore the establishment of a fit for the consultant. This way this thesis can explore the factors that could raise the chance of realizing a fit and therefore a suitable match between the consultant and the client. Like seen, these fit factors can be divided in knowledge, skills and abilities (hard data) as well as personality characteristics (soft data). It is imaginable that a fit in both components could result in a higher satisfaction level of the client about the match and getting better perceived results of the consultant. This resulted in the first hypothesis.

Hypothesis 1: Matches who are high on both types of fit (knowledge, skills and abilities, and personality characteristics) will have a more positive perceived satisfaction than those matches who are only high on one fit.

It can be imagined that knowledge, skills and abilities are required or complemented conditions needed to bring a project to a success. A fit in personality characteristics can be regarded as a supplement to the project’s success. These two categories of fit might be analogue to the motivation-hygiene theory of Herzberg (1974), which assumes that there are certain dissatisfiers and satisfiers. The dissatisfiers are called hygiene factors, symbolizing the preventive conditions of work. These factors have to be present, and if they’re lacking, no satisfaction would be realized at all. The satisfier factors are known as motivators because if they are present in appropriate amounts, they bring about positive attitudes of satisfaction. This resulted in the second hypothesis.

Hypothesis 2: A fit in personality characteristics will have a stronger effect on attitudinal outcomes of a match than a fit on knowledge, skills and abilities will have.

Hypothesis 3: A fit in personality characteristics can also be dependant on the region (northern or western region of the Netherlands).

THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

This section will give a theoretical contribution to the matching process (mainly from the client’s perspective) and will explore which factors could cause a certain amount of fit in a match.

MATCHING PROCESS

A consultancy process consists of five phases; entry, diagnosis, action planning, implementation and termination (Cumming & Worley, 2005). The actual matching of a consultant on a project mainly takes place in the entry phase of a project. In the entry phase the consultancy company or consultant starts working with a client. This phase includes their first contacts, discussions on what the client would like to achieve or change in his or her organization, how the consultant might help, the clarification of their respective roles, the preparation of a project plan based on preliminary problem analysis (proposal), and the negotiation and agreement of a consulting contract. The goal is to find out exactly what is going on, so this phase is seen as a preparatory and planning phase. It is often emphasized that this phase lays the foundations for everything that will follow, since the subsequent phases will be strongly influenced by the quality of conceptual work done, and by the kind of relationship that the consultant establishes with the client at the very beginning (Kubr, 2002). Kerrigan (2003) argued that at this phase a structured procedure should be followed since it will vastly increase the chances of finding workable solutions, quickly. The literature suggests four steps in the entry phase which are relevant for the matching process. Sequentially these steps are awareness of need for help, searching for a consultant or a consultancy company, pre-selection of a consultant or a consultancy company and finally the actual selection of a consultant (see figure 1).

FIGURE 1

SELECTING PROCESS

Pre-Selection

Awareness Searching Selection

(Intake)

Phase 2

Phase 1 Phase 3 Phase 4

Awareness

Most of the times, the first step in the selection process is made by the client. The client will make the first contact. This implies that he or she is aware of problems and the need for independent advice in his or her organization, and has decided to bring in a management consultant (Kubr, 2002). But the client also has to determine what kind of consultant is needed, which consultants to invite, and has to decide whether he is buying a solution or seeking to define a problem. Furthermore, a client has to develop a set of specifications. Things in which they want a consultant to have expertise in for a particular project (Training and Development, 1992). After this has being established, the phase of searching and selecting a suitable and capable consultant for the project will start.

Searching

Previous experience and referral

There are several ways for a client to get informed about the consultancy market and to be able to make a selection out of the large amount of consultants. A wide range of possible criteria for selection is given in the literature. Of these, the existing relations with clients, and third-party recommendation, are normally chiefly used (60-70 percent), with previous experience being the most important criterion overall (Clark, 1995) and networks and personal contacts the single most important sources (Bennett, 2004). Selecting consultants that have been working with before is attractive because they know the client and their business, and thus will not need to spend much time on familiarization. Besides, a client then already knows the quality of the consultant and the quality of their work (Markham, 1995). Similar findings are reported by Davies et al. (1992), Day and Barksdale (1992) and Wheiler (1987). The selection of previously used consultants increases with firm age, and is more likely from employee status consultants and with high fee rates (indicating selection based on intensity/specialization) (Bennett, 2004).

can recommend a consultant they have worked with. They can find out if their problems were similar to the ones they want to solve and if the charged fees were reasonable.

The absence of more formalized structures for selection is indicated by the relatively large proportion of clients (11%) that respond to mail shots, cold calls from consultants, telemarketing, directories or consultant advertising (Bennett, 2004). Despite the much heralded importance of e-commerce, the internet and websites accounted for only 0.7 per cent of the selection process. But this needs to be watched for future growth compared to the more traditional alternatives of mail shots, directories, etc.

Branding

Like said in the introduction, it might be difficult to evaluate the extent to which one consultant rather than another can meet the client’s needs. In the absence of formal signals the client is likely to use a range of other sources of information to select the most suitable consultant. Next to previous experience and referral, brand may also be an important indicator for a client. Brand has certainly been found to be a means of market signalling used for consultancy selection. In theoretical discussions, Milgrom and Roberts (1992) argue that a brand will be more important the more imperfect the information in the market, or the greater the ex ante information asymmetries. Lapierre (1997) argued that the brand identification of the supplier, and the creation of a reality, or impression of quality are key features of business services in general and consultancy in particular. Indeed, Clark (1995) refers to consultancy as the ‘management of impressions’. A brand tends to be associated with a more expensive service, and is generally more important to large consultancy practices than small ones. In local markets, smaller and medium-sized consultancy companies may be able to develop a local brand recognition which indicates clients that a range of their ex ante requirements may be met: on quality, cost or type of service provided (Bennett, 2004).

Pre-selection

It’s essential that the client and the account manager/consultant identify the clients’ needs and goals at the outset of the project (Robinson, 2004; Training and Development, 1992; Appelbaum, 2004). Namely because in the preparing of a proposal, the account manager and/or consultant have to set out their understanding of the situation, and the help they would render. This determines that clarity is a key ingredient, even before a consultancy project has even begun. Ford (1985) even states that insufficient clarity is at the heart of most poor client-consulting relationships. Failure to communicate, to identify the real problem and promising too much too soon, will all jeopardize the engagement. A careful preparation up front in getting knowledge of the client’s organization and its environment is thus very important (Appelbaum, 2004; McGivern, 1983). In this preparation the account managers should be aware that the project will not be defined in terms of consultant's expertise or products, but in terms of specific client results to be achieved (Schaffer, 1997). Then, an appropriate match between clients’ needs and consultants’ capacities relative to the various tasks and client groups have to be identified (Champion, 1990). If this pre-match is found, the resumes of the pre-selected consultants’ qualifications and experiences should be included in the proposal next to all the information acquired about the project (Chornoby, 1990). In this pre-selection the account manager needs to make sure that the consultants to be selected are available at the necessary times and for the periods required (Kubr, 2002).

Based on the requests for proposal, a client makes an even shorter list of candidates. This list is based on selection criteria including costs, comparative technical expertise, perceived professionalism, interpersonal skills, and the gut reaction of the client regarding each candidate (Training and Development, 1992).

Selection of a consultant (Intake)

It can happen that a project proposal is not prepared to the client’s satisfaction and no contract is agreed. But mostly when several consultants are contacted and invited to present proposals, usually one of them is selected for the project (Kubr, 2002). This actual selection (and thus the actual entry) is very much an exercise of matching. The realization of a match is largely dependant on the establishing of a certain amount of fit between the consultant, the organization (client), and the project.

Complementary fit occurs when a person's characteristics ‘make whole’ the environment or add to it what is missing (Muchinsky & Monahan, 1987). More specifically, a match between consultants’ knowledge, skills and abilities and the job/project demands.

And on the other hand there’s the consultant - organization fit, or the match between a consultant and broader organizational attributes. This component is labelled as the ‘supplementary fit’. Supplementary fit occurs when a person ‘supplements, embellishes, or possesses characteristics which are similar to other individuals’ in an environment’ (Muchinsky & Monahan, 1987). More specifically, it can be labelled as the congruence of values and personality characteristics. Supplementary fit looks at characteristics such as culture/climate, values, goals and norms, which should be similar for both the consultant as well as the organization (Kristof, 1996).

Thus, a fit occurs when a consultant has the skills, knowledge or abilities required to meet clients’ demands for the project and when a consultant satisfies the clients' needs, desires, or preferences in terms of personal characteristics.

If realized, chances of positive outcomes will be increased, such as organizational commitment of the consultant, project success, and especially satisfaction about the match (see figure 2). Organizational commitment because value congruence has been well supported as a determinant of commitment. Project success because knowledge, skills and abilities of the consultant has been well supported as an important condition to do the project well. Together they will increase the satisfaction level of the match by both the client as well as the consultant.

FIGURE 2

CONSULTANT – CLIENT FIT

Consultant Supplementary fit Personality Characteristics Complementary fit Knowledge, Skills and Abilities Client (Organization) Project Outcomes

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities can be seen as the technical part of the profile. And most of the times, the technical profile of the consultant is first matched to the technical profile of the project. It’s important to have the right combination of skills and knowledge for the chosen field because clients have the expectation that consultants will transfer their knowledge and competencies to company personnel (Vogl, 1999). But although skills are definitely important, knowledge remains a major underpinning element of performance in consulting (Harris, 2001). Besides, clients are not always looking for one specific expertise. Due to the fact that clients often don’t have good diagnoses, they will look for breadth of expertise. In practice there are enough examples of capable people who were not meeting client expectations because they were extremely experienced, but only experienced in one environment (Training and Development, 1992).

Personality characteristics

During the process of selecting a consultant, the client is both linear (technical) and intuitive (psychological) in his decision. And although there is a technical difficulty in the matching, mostly it is the psychological problem that can make a matching exercise truly difficult. Like Maister (1993) mentioned: ‘Excellent capabilities are essential to get a consultant into the final set to be considered, but there are other things that gets a consultant hired’. Unless the skills of a consultant are truly unique, a consultant never gets hired because of his or her technical capabilities. True, when the client has invited the consultant, he did do so with some purpose in mind. It may be that he has turned to the consultant with great hopes, or regards him as a last-resort solution in a crisis. Nevertheless, the consultant is a stranger to the client organization so there may be mistrust, uncertainty and anxiety. The consultant also knows that his past successes with other clients are by no means a guarantee of repeated success; what has worked in one company may not work elsewhere. Even an excellent and highly standardized consulting product (methodology, package) may not work in a given situation. Most of the times the final decision is based on the gut-level feeling about the consultant the client wants to hire.

Especially since the correct matching of personalities can make the difference between good and poor projects. So the personalities of both the consultant and the client should be known to each other. Therefore a meeting between the consultant and the client during this phase is very important (Training & Development, 1992; Chornoboy, 1990). And, as expected, this meeting should not only be to assess the technical ability of a consultant (a consultancy company of any repute will make sure that it fields people who can do the work) but to see whether they will fit with the client’s organization. Both the consultant and the client should be on the same wavelength. How the consultant responds in the intake conversation can provide the client valuable data regarding the potential for a successful consultative relationship. The whole process should feel easy and smooth, and a good chemistry between the client and the consultant should be noticed. There has to be some personal commitment (McGivern, 1983). After all, the client wants to be sure that he is dealing with the right consultant, and the consultant needs to be convinced that he is the right person to address the problems of this particular client (Chornoby, 1990). Thus, the first meeting should be regarded as an opportunity to gain the client’s confidence and to make a favorable impression (Training and Development, 1992).

Additionally, it’s not only important that the client gets on well with the consultant, it’s also equally important that the consultant gets on well with the team/department members. So the client will be looking for someone whom the executive staff is comfortable with and who clearly shares the values of the company (Training and Development, 1992). All this explains why typical questions (often implicit) from clients are not “what do they do?” and “how much do they charge?”, rather they are: “can we deal with this guy or not, what is this guy like, and how does he work?” (McLachlin, 1999).

Eventually, with all the technical details and the gut feeling the client has about the personal characteristics, the final choice will be made.

KSA and Personality Characteristics

TABLE 1

SKILLS AND VALUES IN RANK ORDER (KUMAR, 2000)

Rank Skills and Values

1 Integrity and honesty

2 Client-consultant communication 3 Credibility 4 Reputation 5 Discipline of consultant 6 Networking/build relationships

7 Project management skills

8 Ability to deal with ambiguity

9 Technical knowledge

10 Charisma

The integrity of the consultant is a common theme in the literature. Integrity includes personal characteristics such as motivation, ethics, objectivity, honesty, loyalty, and confidentiality (Margolis, 1985).

Communication is ranked second. Communication and interaction between the consultant and the client is crucial to the success of a project (Training and Development, 1992). If communication breaks down, the failure of a project is a real possibility (Chornoboy, 1990; McGivern, 1983).

Reputation is already discussed in the paragraphs about searching.

Building relationships is also an important skill for a consultant. A consultant should have the ability to work in partnership with the people in the organization (Training and Development, 1992). After all, the implementation of a real change can only be successful if staff is involved at all levels (Robinson, 2004). The best results will be achieved when consultants and employees at a company feel they are part of the same team and when everyone is focused in the same direction (Link, 2004).

Another skill, which is not explicitly mentioned in the study done by Kumar (2000), but what can also contribute to the creation of a fit, is the ability to fully understand the politics and inner workings of the organization (Link, 2004). Since there are significant cultural, political and practical issues, a consultant should have cultural awareness and be sensitive to the organizational politics and their impact on the project (Li, 2004).

RESEARCH METHOD

The research questions were;

“Which phases and which factors play a role during the matching process of a consultant on a project?”

And;

“Which factors will cause a fit between the operational consultant and the client in order to establish a suitable match?”

Special attention was also given to the issue of if a fit in personality characteristics can also be dependant on the region (northern or western region of the Netherlands).

Concept

The study was divided into four phases.

• Phase 1: Literature review and company documents analysis. • Phase 2: Interviews with account managers.

• Phase 3: Interviews with consultants, clients and the work floor. • Phase 4: Analysis of the data.

Phase 1 consisted of a preliminary research to get an overview of the phases and factors relevant in a matching process and which factors might cause an actual fit and therefore a suitable match between the consultant, client (organization) and the project. A broad listing was constructed containing all the interesting factors.

These factors and phases were subjected to further research, which was done in phase 2 by interviewing the account managers. Next to the discussion of the factors mentioned in the literature, account managers were interviewed to get a clear picture about their considerations during a matching process and which factors they thought were relevant.

Phase 4 consisted of the analysis of the data obtained from the preliminary research and the interviews in order to provide the phases and the relevant matching factors and a balanced advice on the factors which has to play a role during each phase in the matching of a consultant on a project.

Measurable

While there are numerous types of consultants in almost all fields, the consultants this study focused on are those known as management consultants. Specifically those consultants who had carried through an intensive and comprehensive change in working methods or behaviors, the, so called, project leaders who had established an intensive working relationship for a long term (at least 2 months) with the client and the work floor.

A match can be considered successful if the client is satisfied, if the consultant is satisfied and if the consultant has met the expectations. A match is considered suitable if a fit between the capabilities and type of consultant and the expectations and requirements of the client is realized. In other words, a match is suitable when the consultants’ supplies meet the clients' demands and preferences. Clients demand contributions from the consultant in terms of time, effort, commitment, knowledge, skills, and abilities. Preferences usually consist of personality characteristics. So in order to achieve a suitable match, a fit in these two components has to be established.

A suitable match can result in certain outcomes. The traditional measures for outcomes are usually financial. However, this study measures only an emotional indicator of outcomes, which are perceived project success, organizational commitment, satisfaction about the match (the satisfaction of the client about the consultant’s fit with the project and the fit with the organization). Satisfaction items of the client focused on the initial stages of the project, the consultant (knowledge, skills, abilities and personality characteristics), the objectives, deliverables, and the project in general.

Data gathering

In comparison, other types of management consulting (with its emphasis on business effectiveness and efficiency) may be described as mainly the application of needed expertise to help clients get better results (Shenson, 1990).

Phase 1: Preliminary research; literature review and company documents analysis. First, some data had to be collected by studying company documents, including the current evaluation forms, the client evaluation reports and the MDI personality test for consultants. These documents were read through and analyzed for factors that described a possible fit between the consultant and the client.

Simultaneously data was obtained from the academic literature. This profound literature study enabled me to evaluate past research on the matching process and explore the factors relevant for creating a fit in order to realize a suitable match. From these two qualitative techniques, a number of match indicators emerged which had to be submitted to the account managers, the consultants and the clients.

Phase 2: Interviews with account managers.

As the subject of this study was relatively new and complicated, it required a data collection method that could obtain very specific qualitative information. Because interviewing is well suited for gathering in depth information, it was chosen to be the primary data collection method in this case study. The interviews in this phase were pointed on the account managers of Pentascope in the form of open questions. First account managers were asked whether or not they had detailed knowledge of a project involving a consultant in the past two years where the consultant had the function of a project leader or an interim manager. If so, they were asked to think of the project they were most familiar with and to keep it in mind while completing the interview.

The interview emphasized issues relevant for the matching process and the factors account managers had considered during the matching process. The list of factors which was acquired and constructed in the preliminary phase was also put under their attention (see Appendix 1). This list of factors and the initial set of topics and questions were pre-tested and piloted using four interviews with account managers of Pentascope. After the pilot study, it appeared that the list was too long, so the less relevant factors were filtered out. Furthermore minor changes were made to the wording of the questions, and the sequence was refined.

Next they had to describe the matching process and make all their considerations explicit. Furthermore there was explicitly tried to distinguish the importance of factors like knowledge, skills, abilities, and personal characteristics (Note; abilities were also referred to as experiences, since abilities find expression in experiences). The last section related to the evaluation of the matching.

Eventually all the account managers of Pentascope Groningen (six) and Amsterdam (four) participated in the study.

Phase 3: Interviews with consultants, clients and work floor.

The set of indicators obtained from the literature review, the company document analysis and the interviews with the account managers enabled the construction of a questionnaire for the clients.

The consultant and client sample was obtained by requesting the names of one or two previous or current consultants and clients from each account manager. This resulted in a sample of 13 clients and as many consultants. Consultants were used to get in contact with the client, to know about the project and their opinion about the realization of their match and selection. The other clients were contacted with the help of the account managers. To encourage a high level of participation, a letter was formed which included the beneficial arguments for them to cooperate.

Twelve of the client samples agreed to participate; of these twelve, eleven agreed to be interviewed and one agreed to complete a questionnaire. One study invitation was rejected for practical reasons because the case didn’t seem to be in line with the research conditions, namely it didn’t concern an intensive and long term working relationship. The case study eventually contented eight cases in the northern region and three in the western region. Organizations (clients) that were included in the case study consisted of: IB-Groep, Achmea (x2), Nuon (x2), Gasunie, Essent, Gemeente Appingedam, Politie Academie, Limbus Consulting and Intermarishoeksteen. All clients were senior managers, and were in each case most actively involved in the matching, selection and utilization of the consultants.

The clients were explicitly asked about the factors that, in their view, determined the fit of the consultant in their organization. The questionnaire for the clients consisted of a total of 12 questions, which were divided into four sections. The first section concerned the construction of a profile upfront, and where they’ve put their emphasis on (knowledge, skills, abilities or personality). The next section issued the phase of the consultant being into work; how the consultant was received on the work floor and if the client perceived congruence in values. The third section had its emphasis on the improvements in matching from the client’s point of view. The last section studied the explicit description of valued personality characteristics for a consultant and if a difference could be found between the northern and western region of the Netherlands. Statements were designed to elicit responses on certain fit factors based on personality characteristics. In the first instance, these statements were based on valued personal characteristics perceived by myself. The respondents were asked to indicate the degree of applicability to their organization and their consulting projects (for statements; see Appendix 2). The findings of these statements were eventually discussed during a workshop with other companies at the ‘Noorderlink dagen’. Other material for indicating explicit differences in regions was lacking simply due to a lack of research in this particular field. Next to the clients, some people on the work floor were asked about their perception on the matching. However it became clear very soon that they couldn’t be of contribution for the study because their input was too limited. Their role and their value in the matching was too limited.

Data analysis

The main drivers of the analysis were identifying phases in the matching process, identifying patterns in matching, finding factors and explanation building.

But by examining respondents’ answers on specific interview questions about the importance of matching, the phases, the relevant factors, their considerations and the profiling, a conclusion could be drawn. These phases and their matching factors will be described in figure 6 and 7.

The second research question, about which factors will cause a fit between the operational consultant and the client, was also answered by means of text analysis. Organizational documents provided me with objective data about general personality characteristics that Pentascope used for profiling their consultants. Combined with the literature review, 84 factors which could play a role in a matching success were identified. The factors fell within two main dimensions: knowledge, skills and experiences of the consultant and personality characteristics of the consultant. 7 were about the degree of important of skills, knowledge and experience, 49 were about personality characteristics, and the rest on other factors like reputation and availability. Each dimension was rated on a five point Likert scale, ranging from “very important” to “not at all important”. This list gave enough factors and characteristics that could be used as a support when asking about the match and the fit. Next, after four pilot interviews, the image of which factors were important and which ones had to be discussed in the following interviews was established. After the other interviews it turned out that the clients, who evaluated the characteristics of the consultant as congruent with theirs, reported positive effects such as a higher organizational commitment, and a positive opinion about the matching.

RESULTS

This part will give a practical contribution to the matching process as it is reviewed by the account management of Pentascope Noord, Pentascope Amsterdam and their clients.

According to Pentascope, the success of a project depends on three drivers;

• the satisfaction of the consultant;

• the satisfaction of the account manager; • the satisfaction of the client.

The most important of these three is in their view the satisfaction of the client. Since every client and every organization is different, finding a suitable match for every specific project is difficult but truly relevant and can certainly be seen as a critical success factor. Their striving is realizing a surprising effect for the client; to exceed the expectations of the client by providing a surprising good match. In order to realize this kind of match, an account manager has to take a number of prescribed steps. These steps include first contact with the potential client, setting up a proposal, searching a consultant (by setting up an application form and putting it on the mailing list), finding some pre-matches and eventually, selecting one or several capable consultants for going to the client and letting the client choose (see figure 3). Although it seems like a strict process, everyone gives their own fulfillment towards these steps.

FIGURE 3

MATCHING PROCESS IN PRACTICE

First contact: Awareness First contact: Searched by clients Proposal writing Internal search consultant Internal pre-selection consultant Internal selection consultant

Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3 Phase 4

MATCHING PROCESS

First contact Awareness

The first contact usually stemmed either from relations Pentascope maintained contact with or from the partner network. Occasionally ‘cold’ phone calls had result. Another method was the use of so called ‘selling consultants’, consultants who are screening the organization they work for, looking for options of improvements (possibilities for projects) and recruiting their own projects. Through these channels, the account managers tried to raise awareness of possible problems or needs. The account managers did a preliminary investigation or made contact with the prospective clients to discuss the developments in the market and the concerns of the company. In these contacts there was sought to obtain an expression of the client's willingness or unwillingness to work with Pentascope. This approach sometimes accomplished that an account manager could come (coincidently) at the right place and at the right moment. In the event that a working client-consultant relationship could be established, Pentascope clarified their role, their possible contribution, and subsequent meetings would be held to further clarify the consultant's tasks and to elaborate more on the business problems involved. The account managers mentioned that if the client gets a good understanding and cooperation with the account manager (trust in the knowledge of the account manager and/or trust in the providing of the right consultant for the project) the chance of selecting this consultancy company would definitely rise.

Searched by clients

Proposal writing

Clients indicated that the creative writing of proposals could also play an important role in the selection of a consultancy company. So to start off this phase, the account manager classified the business according to its product or service and the basic problem as presented to him/her. Imaginably the first contacts with the client were focused on the enrichment of the demand as much as possible and to analyze the problem correctly and decently. The emphasis during this phase was also on finding out who was really responsible for the selection process. Then the clarity of the problem, the needs and the goals, had to be established by both parties. This was of great importance simply because it could result in a good, or a bad request and a good or a bad match. Therefore the help of a knowledgeable experienced consultant was sometimes included into the conversation in order to determine the client’s problem, the needs and the goals even better (note; especially used in the account of the partner network). If needed, the account managers also adopted the role of a change agent, attempting to guide the client toward the establishment of other, more reasonable goals. This required for instance, next to the appliance of certain techniques, a certain amount of guts.

After giving concrete form to the project and before a project was accepted, account managers and selling consultants were ought to consider the real suitability for Pentascope. They were not resented telling clients they were not having the required expertise for a project or whether the required persons were not present. This way they could focus on the strengths of the company and expressed these strengths towards the clients.

Sketch of Profile

Sure, they wanted the job to be done and the consultant therefore should have the required skills, but eventually the fit with the person can be decisive.

And thus next, a discussion had to be started on the type of consultant needed in terms of personal characteristics. Clients were always, sometimes unintentionally, looking for a consultant that could meet the culture of the group, department or organization. A consultant should always somewhat match the culture in someway. He/she should have characteristics that can be mirrored in the culture of the organization of the client. This could help in avoiding the creation of too much tension by hiring an external consultant. Therefore, the account manager was always trying to look at the client itself and the kind of organization he was dealing with. Unfortunately, since the account managers were frequently only having contact with the client, they were often dependant on the information the client was providing. So an often used approach was imagining how the work floor will react on a specific consultant. According to the account managers, it would also take too much time and energy to get the information another way, for example by talking to the people on the work floor. Remarkably however, is that in overall, the people on the work floor that were spoken to in this study didn’t seem concerned or did not really seem to care about the consultant they had to work with. This might be due to the fact that they were not included in the selection process. They could indicate if there was a lack of knowledge or expertise, but thereafter they had to leave it up to the manager and just had to deal with the result. For them it was more important that the consultant added value on a work level instead of having a personal click. Nevertheless, it didn’t mean that the consultants were not appreciated or that a complete mismatch was realized. Actually, in all the cases, the consultant was still well received and the people on the work floor valued the consultant more positively than negatively.

Specific examples of characteristics in a profile sketch

There were some specific characteristics that were highly valued by all the clients and often mentioned in the profile sketch. This also clarified how important the fit in personality characteristics are perceived by the clients. Although every client had its own emphasis, the profiles often referred to a consultant who can take initiative, is decisive, independent, flexible, effective, efficient, human oriented, results oriented, and possesses leadership abilities. Characteristics that were appreciated on the work floor were; openness, capable of listening and communicatively skilled. Distinguishing which specific personality characteristics were characteristic for a specific region appeared very hard. Nevertheless there were some regional differences found in valued personality characteristics.

In the northern region all the six ‘northern’ clients, all the four ‘northern’ consultants and the approached employees noticed that it was appreciated when consultants are down to earth, serious, and not too eager and not profiling themselves to much. This appeared as some sort of general statement. According to the clients, the consultants and the employees, people in the northern region are perceived to work according to the so called ‘no-nonsense’ mentality and were not being charmed of arrogance. A consultant first had to prove himself by doing the work properly, before he’ll get the appropriate respect and trust. One client mentioned that a consultant might also have a hard time trying to win people over in the beginning of a change. A consultant should have patience. All the ‘northern’ clients mentioned that in the beginning of a change people are a little more skeptic, suspicious and awaiting. But once a consultant has earned the client’s trust, they were very willing to go with the change. On the topic of how to create trust reactions varied. The summarized factors how trust could be achieved were: being open, direct, present, creative, visionary, energetic and capable of getting people into action.

In practice; lack of profile sketch

Unfortunately, according to the clients, it occurred three times that the account manager was not listening correctly or not asking the profile thoroughly enough with the result that the match was disappointing. Next to the disappointment of the client, a side effect is that a bad match can have an extreme impact on the trust in the consultancy company and the reputation. This lack of profile knowledge could sometimes also be due to the lack of information exchange on tasks and requirements of the consultant. Again, this makes clear that the client should give, and/or the account manager should ask the correct information about the demands for the type of person, the capabilities a consultant should possess and the tasks a consultant has to perform.

Internal search for a consultant

After or during the judgment of the client on the proposal, the account manager had to set up an application. This application form included all the information about the project and the requirements like the required skills or experiences and occasionally general personal characteristics. It then had to be added on the mailing list so every interested consultant could respond on it. Some account managers let the Commercial Back Office (CBO) take care of these steps. After the project was made clear, it was discussed with the CBO. The CBO then took care of putting the project on the mailing list and the account managers trusted the CBO for doing a good pre-selection. However, especially the account managers in the Pentascope Noord had the opinion that for a higher involvement in the actual matching, an account manager has to do most of the matching process by him/herself. So unfortunately, although it might save time, these account managers were not making a lot of use of the CBO.

Internal Pre-Selection

Another reason was that they were familiar with a specific consultant’s personality coupled with a good estimation of the suitability of this consultant within the client’s organization. Almost a necessity for doing this was a previous experience of the account manager with the specific (or comparable) client or organization to really know which consultant was suitable. A ‘mind match’ could also be based on the awareness of special interests of a consultant (second in priority). By calling them they could anticipate on the enthusiasm of a certain consultant. Other factors playing a role were the knowing of ‘bench sitters’ (consultants who were not on a project), and opportunities for a Pentalent (trainee).

According to all the account managers at Pentascope Amsterdam, this ‘mind matching’ could be limited by making more use of the CBO in the pre-selection. When the CBO was involved, they (coupled with the account manager) would approach suitable consultants proactively, and/or would wait for reactions on the mailing list. The CBO would call potential candidates which were than directed to the account managers. The main advantage of using the CBO was that a better objective view on the match was realized, and the decision would be less based on bare feelings (because of the multiple views). This objective view made the account managers not think directly in specific solutions or persons. This way they tried avoiding ‘mind matches’, and tried thinking in profiles. The account manager only started thinking in names/persons once the profile was clear. To keep the objective view even better, sometimes a second or third opinion came into play. These second or third opinions could for example consist of someone who was more experienced in the branch or organization.

Finally, although the account managers adjusted the profile on base of the requirements and the expectancies of the client, all the account managers noticed that a consultant with certain characteristics had a better chance in creating a fit. These characteristics were; pro-active, flexible, customer oriented, politically skilled, socially skilled / human oriented, sensitive, eager, creative and passionate. The account managers admitted that these characteristics were unintentionally taken into account in the matching.

Internal selection of a consultant

organization), and off course their availability. The account managers acknowledged that the importance of these matching factors ought to be dependant on the needs and interests of the client. Cause eventually, it was the demand of the client what went around. Therefore, knowledge, skills, experience, or personality should be valued on the same level. But the account managers admitted that consultants were not often only selected for their knowledge or expertise, rather they were more selected on the characteristics of a person. Therefore the account managers gave priority to a match based on a fit in terms of personality; the consultant had to fit with the context of the organization. Knowledge and experience were being regarded as second in importance.

Since Pentascope consists of several regional departments, the regional aspect was sometimes also taken into account. Consultants in the own department were usually first taken into account, before there was taken a look at the other regions. One ‘northern’ account manager thought that this was partly due to the perception that consultants from especially the western regions are not willing to travel large distances anyhow. But, if the own department was not having the required expertise itself or when a better match could be realized, the supply of the other regions was from the beginning certainly taken into consideration. Nonetheless, when multiple consultants were suited for the project, the consultant from the own region would get priority.

Before the account manager had to make his definite selection, they made contact with the consultant. Not only to know each other better, but also because of the important side effect that the account manager and the consultant should carry over some form of chemistry and confidence towards the client during the first contact.

Selection by client

Reasons were for example that the second consultant appeared unavailable and even that the second candidate was considered as a complete mismatch which resulted in frustration and annoyance.

CONCLUSIONS

A thorough match is in both literature and practice considered to be of great value. This section will compare both the literature section with the practical section and will give answer to the two research questions about the phases and the factors playing a role during the matching process and the factors playing a role in creating a fit (see Table 2). Next, this section will continue by discussing the three hypotheses.

TABLE 2

OVERVIEW OF THE RESEARCH QUESTIONS

Research questions Clarification

“Which phases and which factors play a role during the matching process of a consultant on a project?”

Both the client and the consultancy company take certain steps in order to come to a suitable match. Figure 4 shows the phases in matching process of the client in general, figure 5 shows it for a consultancy company. Figure 6 shows the process more explicitly and provides an overview of the factors playing a role in the process.

“Which factors will cause a fit between the operational consultant and the client in order to establish a suitable match?”

In each phase of the matching process, both client and consultancy company/account manager take several factors into

consideration in order to finally come to a suitable fit and a suitable match. Figure 7 provides an oversight of these factors.

Matching Process

FIGURE 4

MATCHING PROCESS CLIENT (IN GENERAL)

Entry Phase Client

Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3 Phase 4

Awareness Searching Selection

(Intake) Pre-Selection Based on; First contact by client - Previous experience - Sector, intensity, project type, and consultant type Based on; - Technical profile - References - Personality profile Emphasis on; - Branding

- Clarity about demands, goals and needs

FIGURE 5

MATCHING PROCESS CONSULTANCY COMPANY (IN GENERAL)

Entry Phase Consultancy Company

Figure 6 provides an oversight of the matching process of the client and the consultancy company. The first and the last column define the phases of the matching process for respectively a client and a consultancy company. The second and the third column give a more detailed description of the phases for a client and a consultancy company (account manager). Awareness Contact potential client Searched by clients Based on: - Previous experience - Branding Proposal writing Definition of; - Problem, - Technical demands and - Type of consultant Internal selection consultant Selecting of capable consultant(s) Internal pre-selection consultant - Contacting of known consultants - Reactions on mailing Internal search consultant -Application form/ -Putting it on mailing list

Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3 Phase 4

FIGURE 6

MATCHING PROCESS (IN MORE DETAIL)

Phase 1a: Awareness First contact is made by the client First contact is also made by the account manager Phase 1: Awareness Phase 3: Pre-selection of consultancy company Phase 1b: Searching by clients Phase 2: Proposal writing The client is aware of

problems and has developed a set of specifications

The account manager makes the client aware of problems and defines their possible contribution Phase 2: Searching

Clients search by; - Previous experiences, - References - Branding (Reputation) Pre-selection based on; Pre-selection also based on;

- Sector, - Good

cooperation with, and

- Intensity, - Project type

- Consultant type - Trust in the account manager

Clarity about; Clarity about; - Content and context of - Content and context of project project - Needs, demands, and goals of client - Needs, demands and goals of client, - Availability of pre-selected consultants

Phase 4: Selection (Intake) Phase 4: Selection by client Phase 3a: Internal search for a consultant Drawing up the application form, consisting of; - Project information - Required knowledge, skills and experiences and - Occasionally personality characteristics Based on; - Knowledge of branch - Specific expertise Phase 3b: Internal pre-selection of consultants - Previous experience - Personality characteristics - Availability - Bench-sitter - Trainee - Interests Phase 3c: Internal selection of consultant Same as in pre-selection, but priority on; - Personality fit

Matching dependant on fit, and the fit depends on;

- Knowledge, Skills, and Experiences, and -Personality characteristics

First contact is important; - It creates confidence and trust -Personal fit can be noticed

What can be noticed is that the awareness (first phase) isn’t always created by the client itself. A consultancy company can also raise the awareness of a possible problem. Another point of attention is that during the client’s pre-selection phase, the consultancy company has to take relatively many steps. Namely; the internal search for consultants, the internal pre-selection of consultants and the internal selection of one or two consultant(s). All in order to eventually provide one or two consultant(s) who can meet the technical profile and the personality profile.

Two remarks can be made about the pre-selection phase. If a consultancy company wants to be pre-selected, it seemed truly relevant for a consultancy company to have a (positive) reputation. Many clients admitted that they’ve based their first decision on reputation. Another factor that can be of importance for the client’s pre-selection is the contact with the account manager. If the contact is good, the client will be more attracted to listen and will give the account manager the opportunity to take care of the match.

Secondly, in the pre-selection phase of the client and the proposal writing phase of the consultancy company it can be seen that the consultancy company is mostly not yet looking in that particular phase at the availability of the consultant, although the client certainly would appreciate it. Because currently, in two occasions clients were astonished that sometimes a consultant who was provided ultimately didn’t seem to be available. This resulted in disappointment, since clients usually wanted to build up a relation with one consultant from the start and not putting too much of their energy into someone who’ll eventually not help them. Therefore the account managers have to be aware of the availability of the consultants from the moment they contact the consultant(s) for the project.

Matching factors (causing a fit)

FIGURE 7

MATCHING FACTORS IN EACH MATCHING PHASE

Phase 1: Phase 1a:

Awareness

Client should be aware of the problem

Let the client become aware of the problem Awareness Phase 2: Searching Phase 1b: Searching by clients - Previous experiences, - References - Branding (Reputation)

Clarity about the project

Phase 3: Pre-selection of consultancy Phase 2: Proposal writing Information about the project and the requirements (KSA + Personal characteristics) Phase 3a: Internal search for a consultant - Knowledge of branch - Specific expertise Phase 3b: Internal pre-selection of consultants - Previous experience - Personality characteristics - Availability - Bench-sitter - Trainee - Interests Phase 3c: Internal selection of consultant First match of technical profile (knowledge, skills, experiences) Same as in pre-selection, but priority on; - Personality fit Phase 4: Selection (Intake) Phase 4: Selection by client Final decision based on gut feeling

Several remarks can be made on the selection phase and the different types of fit. These remarks will contribute to the discussion of the three hypotheses.

Firstly, all the clients judge the proposals on base of technical details (such as costs, technical expertise, and perceived professionalism) as well as personal characteristics in form of the gut reaction regarding each pre-selected candidate. Therefore, it’s truly valuable for the client if there’s given much attention to the clarity of demands and needs in terms of technical characteristics and personal characteristics (which can be dependant on the organization’s culture). Although the account managers did say that their actions and considerations are based on these two factors, some mismatches confirmed that there’s still room for improvement on this point.

Secondly, according to the literature, it was essential that firstly the technical details of the project are fulfilled. In practice, both the client and the account manager argued that even though knowledge, skills and experience are important to do the job, personality characteristics can be decisive for the amount of success. So the technical details can be regarded as a complementary fit because it should add to the project what is missing (knowledge, skills or experience). Furthermore it can also be seen as a dissatisfier since without it, the project would have a strong incentive to fail. On the contrary, personality characteristics can be regarded as a supplementary fit because it should supplement characteristics that are similar to the characteristics of the client and the organization. It can also be seen as a satisfier since they have brought a positive attitude of satisfaction about the match. Therefore both the hypotheses will be accepted, meaning that matches who are high on both types of fit (knowledge, skills and abilities, and personality characteristics) will have a more positive perceived satisfaction than those matches who are only high on one fit. But a fit in personality characteristics will have a stronger effect on attitudinal outcomes of a match than a fit on knowledge, skills and abilities will have.

Another remark can be placed on the eventual selection. Because a personal fit is highly valued, the eventual selection should never be based solely on resumes. Both the client and the consultancy company acknowledge that a contact between the client and the consultant is essential in order to create confidence and trust and to notice a personal fit.

Finally, even though it appeared that a fit may offer several benefits, there were also three cases mentioned where clients deliberately choose for ‘misfits’. Several theorists have suggested that high levels of consultant - organization fit can also produce negative outcomes at the organizational level. Organizations with too many people of ‘the right type’ would be in danger of lack of innovation and an inability to adapt to a changing environment. Therefore ‘misfits’ can sometimes be beneficial especially for organizational effectiveness. High levels of poor fit can stimulate organizational maturation and development.

Table 3 provides an overview of the stated hypotheses and the clarification of the acceptation.

TABLE 3

OVERVIEW OF HYPOTHESES

Hypotheses Clarification Acceptation/Rejection H1: Matches who are high on both types of

fit (knowledge, skills and abilities, and personality characteristics) will have a more positive perceived satisfaction than those matches who are only high on one fit.

Accept

The client judges the proposals on base of technical details (such as costs, technical expertise, and perceived professionalism) as well as personal characteristics in form of the gut reaction regarding each pre-selected candidate. If one is lacking; satisfaction level will decrease or no match will be established at all.

H2: A fit in personality characteristics will have a stronger effect on attitudinal outcomes of a match than a fit on knowledge, skills and abilities will have.

Accept

It is essential that the technical details of the project are fulfilled first. However

H3: A fit in personality characteristics can also be dependant on the region (northern or western region of the Netherlands).

Information too limited to truly accept the hypothesis

Differences in valued characteristics between the northern region and the western region were shown during the study. However, this hypothesis should be taken with great care due to limited information. Below the perceived differences in fit.

Northern region Western region Down to earth, serious Presence, extravert

First results, than the talks

Next to skills and results, also flair

Patient Powerful

In addition, although it is hard to state certain personal characteristics that can always increase the chance of a fit, there are some personal characteristics that all the clients mentioned which have contributed to their perceived satisfaction of a match. Table 4 summarizes these characteristics often mentioned by clients (and in line with the literature).

TABLE 4

‘PERSONAL FIT CHARACTERISTICS’

Characteristics

Integer Pro-active Communicatively skilled Flexible

Credible Customer oriented

Good in building relationships Human oriented Sensitive

Passionate Creative Eager

Understanding of politics and inner workings of the organization

DISCUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS

In general, results of the matches being made in practice were successful. Demands and expectations of the clients were often acknowledged, and the consultant made a good fit with the organization. So apparently the matching process is sufficient in practice, but this doesn’t mean that nothing can be learned and improved. After all, there were some ‘mismatches’ (which were not labeled under deliberate misfits).

General discussions and suggestions

Table 5 will give an oversight of the matching process how it ought to be and which steps an account manager has to take in order to finally realize a suitable match.

TABLE 5

SUGGESTIONS FOR THE MATCHING PROCESS

Phases in the

Matching Process Intended results and tasks for the account manager

Pre-contact (Awareness and

Searching by clients)

Intended Result: Establishment of a first contact with a potential client Tasks

1. Build up a strong reputation and a strong brand; 2. Clearly define your sectors, type of project and type of

consultants

3. Set-up a references overview

4. Make potential clients aware of possible problems

First contact

Intended Result: Clarity about the project and the profile Tasks

1. Take care of getting pre-information by calling, by meeting or by own research.

2. Do not deal with a preconceived opinion about the client’s organization.

4. Clarify if the client is buying a solution or seeking to define a problem.

5. Be aware of the project, the containment, and the role that is needed.

6. Exchange information on tasks and requirements (the required knowledge, skills and/or experience).

7. Look for information on the needed profile and ask explicitly and thoroughly for the profile (knowledge, skills, experiences and the desired personal characteristics).

8. Make sure you know what the working environment will be (colleagues).

9. Predict what type of consultant is suitable for the client and imagine how the work floor will react on a specific consultant. 10. One option to better predict is by just going to the office of the client and experiencing the culture and the atmosphere of the concerning company.

11. Use some keywords for the type of profile in order to confirm the image they had in mind.

12. Only after these steps, an account manager should start looking for a suitable consultant.

13. Also consider the suitability of certain ‘misfits’. Especially consultants at higher levels sometimes have to be selected for heterogeneity. Or during the later stages of an organization's maturation, when decline may be promoted by stagnation.

Pre-selection of the client

Intended result: The belonging to the pre-selection of the client Tasks

1. Clearly define your contribution

Proposal writing (only focused on the matching part)

Intended Result: An attractive and complete proposal Tasks

1. Name the content and context of the project. 2. Name the needs, demands and goals of the client. 3. Sketch the profile in terms of

- Knowledge, skills, experiences (technical profile) - Personality characteristics (personality profile)

4. Start with the internal search for a consultant 5. Check the availability of potential consultants

Internal search for a consultant

Intended Result: A suitable search method and suitable search factors Tasks

1. Get to know every consultant in person (not only a task for this specific phase)

2. Formulate an application form, consisting; - Project information

- Required knowledge, skills and experiences - And personality characteristics

3. Keep paying attention to an objective view. Try to avoid mind matching.

Internal pre-selection and final

selection of consultant

Intended Result: The finding and selection of suitable consultants Tasks

1. The first thing is to match the technical profile of the project with the technical profile of a consultant; make sure it fits. 2. Check again the availability of the consultant(s) for the

necessary times and the periods required.

3. After the technical profile is matched and the availability is checked, focus on the personality fit (client’s final decision is based on the gut feeling).

4. Choose two consultants that can be offered to the client. However; make sure the consultants clearly match with the profile required. It’s better to provide one good match rather than providing another one who is insufficient.

5. Make clear to the consultant that he/she should see the culture of the client’s organization through. He should also be aware of how certain things are going in the specific region.

Selection by client

Intended Result: Establishment of a suitable match Tasks

1. Arrange a meeting between the client and the consultant(s) 2. Try to creates confidence and trust during the first contact

between consultant and client

3. Try to notice if personal fit is established

Afterwards (Evaluation)

Intended Result: A careful evaluation Tasks

1. Once a consultant is engaged, both the consultant and the account manager should have a strong commercial incentive to keep the client happy.

2. Take good care of the evaluation of the project (if all is correctly handled, a client might hire you again).

3. Contents of the evaluation;