I need you but I don't know why

Sammanfattning: The processes of purchasing management consultancy services has become a more frequent phenomenon in today's business climate. This implies opportunities and challenges for organizations as the purchase is of high strategic importance. Yet how the need to purchase these services is constructed in the buying organization remains unanswered. This study will therefore explore the context of which the needs are constructed in, by investigating 12 buying organizations in three different industries, thus conducting three case studies. The findings from the studies implied that the need to purchase management consultancy services is constructed differently depending on industry, the situations from which the need origin, as well as how one react to that situation and who is allowed to participate. The results enhance the understanding of how a need to purchase management consultants is constructed, contributing to management consultancy literature and purchasing literature in a theoretical manner, as well as it contributes to managerial insights for both the buying organization and the firm providing management consultancy services.