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With the increased use of management consultancy, building effective client-consultant relations has become vitally important for the evolution of business knowledge. Yet this relationship is often problematic and much of the prescriptive writing on consultancy provides only abstract or idealized models while other research has been limited to 'snapshots'. The aim of this research is to study the client-consultant relationship critically and in 'real time' by employing a relatively long-term approach and incorporating observation in the methods of data collection (as well as interviews and documentary evidence). Case studies of specific client projects will be tracked from the early phases to 'post-implementation' and will be sensitive to different forms of consultancy, knowledge and context. These will be complemented by a questionnaire survey on project relations which will match consultants and their clients. An important focus of the research will be mapping the transformation and embedding of knowledge within relations of power, conflict and cooperation. Thus, a broad picture of the relationship, taking account of the active role of clients, consultants' use of client knowledge and multiple and diverse client/consultant actors, will be obtained to inform debates, policy and practice in the production and use of business knowledge.

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