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When are clients helpful? Capitalising on client involvement in professional service delivery

Author

Listed:
  • Na Fu
  • Patrick C Flood
  • Denise M Rousseau
  • Tim Morris
  • Murray Johnstone

Abstract

Professional service firms apply specialist knowledge to create customised solutions to client problems. In their work, teams of professionals undertake projects in which clients may be closely involved in co-creating solutions. However, we know little about the conditions under which client involvement contributes to better performance. We examine the direct and conditional contribution client involvement can make to project success and propose team bonding capital as a moderator. We conduct multi-level analysis of data from 58 project managers and 171 consultants nested in project teams. We find a positive impact of client involvement on both team performance and team member idea creativity. Team bonding capital moderates the relationships client involvement has with both team performance and individual member idea creativity, where the impact of client involvement is greater when team bonding capital is high. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Na Fu & Patrick C Flood & Denise M Rousseau & Tim Morris & Murray Johnstone, 2023. "When are clients helpful? Capitalising on client involvement in professional service delivery," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 18(2), pages 1-21, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0280738
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0280738
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    References listed on IDEAS

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