چکیده:
The present article aims to depict the position and performance of management consulting firms and responds to two major questions: first, why organizations need management consultants, and second, why they should value management consultants from outside their organization. In this regard, two theories—resource dependence and transaction cost—are expanded as a theoretical framework to analyze the position of management consulting firms in minimizing intra-organizational transaction costs (internalization of activities) and extra-organizational transaction costs (externalization of activities). It is determined that despite the growth of knowledge-based organizations, the increasing complexity of the environment, and the diversity and multiplicity of organizational issues, organizations' tendency to possess specific assets—all of which support the internalization of activities within the organization—means that the use of management consulting firms continues its growing trend, and the need for management consultants outside of organizations remains necessary despite the challenges facing these firms.
خلاصه ماشینی:
Despite this threatening trend, management consulting firms can also use this phenomenon as a kind of opportunity and become a source for providing professional human resources for organizations, becoming more hopeful than ever for their own growth and development.
As we mentioned, if the intensity of the above three factors is low—meaning the organization lacks investment in specific assets, including a lack of specialized or professional human resources in a specific field; or if environmental uncertainty is low, meaning required information can be obtained from the environment; and transaction frequency is also low, meaning transactions can be conducted occasionally with the parties involved in the environment—is it appropriate to use external management consultants?
However, if the status of the above three factors is high in terms of intensity—meaning an organization has made large investments in specific assets, such as a large number of professional and knowledge-based human resources; or if the level of environmental uncertainty is high, such that access to information is unavailable or information remains confidential; and finally, transaction frequency is high, such that there is a need to conclude contracts frequently and repeatedly for similar issues—it is appropriate to use internal or intra-organizational consultants or professionals.
Also, resource dependency theory, as a management theory, introduces the interdependence of organizations in the form of a symbiosis strategy as a factor for their survival and emphasizes the existence of such connections between organizations in a competitive environment; therefore, based on both theories, management consulting firms can be considered among the organizations that play a role in balancing transaction costs, which every organization is inevitably required to perform.
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