Abstract
The primary goal of this study was to construct an instrument with which to identify the critical dimensions of the job of management consultants. A secondary goal was to determine whether there are any statistically significant differences in the perceptions of subgroups of the sample. The literature was studied and 53 competencies were found. Based on these competencies, the "Management Consulting Competency Questionnaire" (MCCQ) was developed, comprising two sets of items. The first set concerns the importance of various competencies, and the second set relates to the frequency with which the competencies are used. The items were judged by 165 management consultants. Factor analyses were carried out and the resulting factors were further subjected to an interbattery factor analysis. Three factors were identified, namely consulting skills, consultant personality and client service skills. The subgroups were compared using Hotelling's T2 test and MANOVA. Statistically significant differences were found in the perceptions of management consultants for consulting level and year’s experience.