Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/14720
Title: Competencies and consultation delivery: service quality strategy of multinational management consulting firms in Nigeria
Other Titles: Consultation delivery of management consulting firms in Nigeria
Authors: Nosiri, Onyekachi Nneka
Advisors: Chen, W
Gallear, D
Keywords: Consultation mode;Professional competency;Managerial competency;Resource-based view (RBV);Institutional theory
Issue Date: 2016
Publisher: Brunel University London
Abstract: This research studies the impact of consultancy competency and consultation mode on the service quality of management consulting firms in the emerging market of Nigeria – the largest economy in Africa. It explains the consultant competency and the adopted consultation approach of the ‘Big Four’ (PwC, Akintola-Deloitte, Ernest and Young, and KPMG) management consultancy firms from the resource based-view (RBV) and institutional theory of the firm. The conceptual framework of management consulting directing this study is generated from earlier research (Canavan et al., 2013; Jang et al., 1997, 1998; Patterson, 2000; Parasuraman, 1988; Kisang et al., 2012; Pugh et al., 1968; Oliver, 1980). Previous research has examined factors that are important for management consulting success, however, one of the remaining challenges is to investigate the associations among these factors. Furthermore, there seems to be a relative disregard for the associations between these management consulting factors and service quality. This study aims to advance the RBV and make theoretical contributions in several ways. First, it identifies and proposes that the professional and managerial competencies of the consultants are the key assets of the management consultancy firms needed to sustain and further their competitiveness in emerging markets. Specifically, we argue that these competencies are particularly valuable and have direct impact on management consultancy firms’ service quality. Also, from an institutional perspective, this study proposes that multinational management consulting firms must have the capacity to deliver quality in a consultation mode suitable to their various clients in different countries for sustainability. Specifically, we argue that the particular consultation mode adopted by the consulting firm impacts the quality of consultation service rendered to its clients in the Nigerian market, determining its firms’ client satisfaction levels. This study utilized a mixed methods approach (Creswell, 2003), which entailed the use of both qualitative and quantitative methods in assessing this research’s questions. 13 senior management consultants were interviewed, and survey data was collected from 311 business clients of these management consultancy firms situated in the three most industrious states in Nigeria, which are Abuja (North), Lagos (South-West), and Port Harcourt (South-South). The results of this study show that the service quality of well-established western management consulting firms is significantly influenced by their consultation mode, as well as both their professional and managerial capabilities, irrespective of their client’s organizational structure. This study also finds that client experience levels in dealing with management consultants considerably moderates the relationship between these firms’ service quality and their client satisfaction in this strategic context. Our study advances the RBV and institutional theories, highlighting that the consultation modes, professional competencies, managerial competencies and client experience levels are the key competitive factors of western management consulting firms in Nigeria.
Description: This thesis was submitted for the award of Doctor of Philosophy and was awarded by Brunel University London
URI: http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/14720
Appears in Collections:Business and Management
Brunel Business School Theses

Files in This Item:
File Description SizeFormat 
FulltextThesis.pdf 4.52 MBAdobe PDFView/Open


Items in BURA are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.