Year
2024
Authors
CHRISTENSEN Mark, Skærbæk Peter, Tryggestad Kjell
Abstract
It is frequently observed that recent decades of reform implementations have also witnessed a remarkable growth in consultancies being commissioned by public sector agencies (for example McKenna, Citation2009). However, while this growth is noted, it is rarely explained. Why does the public sector now use consulting-based services much more than previously? We do not seek in this article to definitively answer that empirical question but, instead, we pose three contributing factors that deserve theorized explanation: First, the phenomenon of client heterogeneity needs to be addressed. Second, the number of consultancies per client should be investigated. Third, the dynamics of relations between client, entities within the client organization, consultancy members and consultancy managers need to be understood. Each of these three factors holds elements of an answer to why the public sector uses consultancies more frequently than previously. Thus, these three factors are explored here.
CHRISTENSEN, M., SKÆRBÆK, P. et TRYGGESTAD, K. (2024). Debate: Addressing the unexplained growth of consultancies in the public sector—unexplored avenues. Public Money and Management, In press, pp. 1-2.