Putting a Square Peg into a Round Hole: A Phenomenological Study of the Lived Experiences of Social Nonprofit Clients and the Management Consultants They Hired

摘要

There are failed consultancies between social nonprofit clients and the consultants/consulting firms they hired. This qualitative phenomenological research investigates the relationships between three leaders of social non-profit organizations and the three management consultants they hired to address certain problems, dilemmas, and/or concerns. The following concepts are used to initially frame the study: theory of trust and three consulting models/theories (the expert model, and two process consulting models). Semi-structured, in-depth interviews with each client and consult pair are conducted, separately. This dissertation research follows the method of phenomenological data and coding procedures suggested by Stevick, Colaizzi, and Keen (1975), presented by Moustakas (1994), in order to capture the essence of what took place.