Outsourcing to self-employed knowledge workers: What are the key success factors?

This paper reveals the lack of discovery of the interrelationships between the various factors identified as key factors in building successful in situations where organisations outsource knowledge work to self employed management consultants. Masterful management of these success factors could lead to fruitful outcomes for both clients and consultants alike. In addition, consultants mastering these factors could gain a competitive advantage in a highly competitive profession. This paper reviews both academic and practitioner literature in relation to factors that are seen as impacting significantly on consulting assignment outcomes for both client and consultant and highlights the dearth of research surrounding the investigation of the interplay, connectedness and relationship between the various factors identified in isolation in the existing literature. In addressing this gap, a conceptual framework is proposed with a broad research agenda with seven propositions to establish the linkages between the significant success factors identified in the literature. This paper makes a unique contribution towards future research in this respect through the provision of a clear conceptual framework and robust research agenda.

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