Abstract

COSTA, Renato Lopes da  and  ANTONIO, Nelson Santos. The role of consultants as mediators in the knowledge-building process. An analysis in the field of the strategy-as-practice. RGPLP [online]. 2018, vol.17, n.2, pp.4-23. ISSN 1645-4464.

In a historical retrospective, although the existing literature points out management consulting industry as an extraordinary sector and a unique phenomenon in the business context, these statements are not complemented by academic studies that highlight the importance of the management consultants. To oppose the lack of studies in the area, this article aims to build a model that allows to combine the roles of the management consultants, the variables to be considered, and the type of consultancy implicit in each of these analysed roles. The results of the empirical analysis, obtained through semi-structured interviews and questionnaires applied to Portuguese management consultants and SME managers, validate that consultants' roles cannot be defined only with the organizational visibility and consultant status variables.

Keywords : Management Consulting; Knowledge Management.

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