How does technology use by professional services firms affect their interactions with clients

Professional services firms comprise over 10% of US companies and, through their work with clients, can affect the performance of a wide range of organizations in various industries. Client relationships are important to the ongoing success of professional services firms yet little research has been conducted to understand the effects of email and other technologies used for communication on client satisfaction and inter-organizational relationships. Using multiple case studies of small to medium-sized professional services firms, this dissertation explores the ways in which these firms communicate with clients during six processes: contract negotiation, service delivery, billing and payments, project management, client relationship management and issue negotiation. The findings show firms make decisions regarding communication modes based on an analysis of the cost of the different communication modes and the needs of the client and the firm. The effectiveness of these choices depends on structural and situational factors including the location of the client, the length of the client/firm relationship, and the complexity or criticality of an issue. The findings support some aspects of media richness theory. This research extends existing theory regarding inter-organizational relationships to professional services firms and establishes a theoretical foundation for effective communication between these firms and their clients. It also establishes professional services firms as a meaningful level of analysis.