Title: The culture play, a key role in management consulting firms

Authors: Renato Lopes Da Costa; Leandro Pereira; Álvaro Dias; Rui Gonçalves

Addresses: Business Research Unit – BRU-IUL, ISCTE – Instituto Universitário de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal ' ISCTE – Instituto Universitário de Lisboa, WINNING Lab, Lisbon, Portugal ' Universidade Lusófona de Humanidades e Tecnologias, ISCTE – Instituto Universitário de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal ' ISCTE – Instituto Universitário de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal

Abstract: Organisational culture assumes a fundamental part of the life of every organisation. The development of human resources management and its increasingly strategic role have shown the importance of organisational culture and its effects on multiple aspects of organisations. With the complexity and competitivity associated with the rapid changes of today's labour market, such importance becomes a determinant to the success of organisations. Therefore, the present article aims to understand the main factors that influence the organisational culture of management consulting firms and to develop an adequate model for such companies. This article is based on data from 15 interviews and 107 questionnaires responded by consultants with a variety of ages, positions, seniorities, from management consulting organisations, operating in Portugal, with several different intervention areas and that offer different types of consulting. The results and conclusions comprise information concerning the main factors behind the organisational culture in management consulting firms.

Keywords: organisational culture; human resources management; management consulting.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPQM.2022.122302

International Journal of Productivity and Quality Management, 2022 Vol.35 No.3, pp.308 - 331

Received: 13 Aug 2020
Accepted: 16 Oct 2020
Published online: 19 Apr 2022 *

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