Explaining national variation in the use of management consulting knowledge: A framework

Abstract

The management literature frequently assumes that management consultancy is the predominant source of external management knowledge for organisations. However, its use is invariably confined to a few Western, developed economies. Such variation is rarely acknowledged, let alone explained. In this conceptual article, we draw on diverse literatures to explore what drives national variations in consulting usage. To achieve this, we develop a basic framework of influencing factors and briefly apply it to the Japanese context. We conclude by explicating how our analysis has a wider application with respect to other knowledge sources in comparative studies.