THE ENVIRONMENTAL CONTINGENCIES OF KNOWLEDGE DISSEMINATION: THE CASE OF CONSULTANCIES IN INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

This paper explores the impact of context on forms of knowledge dissemination using secondary data concerning the role of management consultants in international development. It identifies three forms of consultancy intervention (forced, invited, humanitarian) which differ considerably in the power of the client, the knowledge maturity of the consultancy, the frequency and complexity of the project. The combination of these factors, we argue, strongly influences the type of knowledge dissemination found in the different types of projects. It is hypothesised that knowledge transfer will be most common in "forced projects", knowledge translation in "invited projects" and knowledge evolution in "humanitarian projects".