A combination of economic and trade liberalization, technological advancement and globalization have significantly increased the complexity and uncertainty of managing organizations. Hence, many managers have sought the services of knowledgeable consultants to help them solve their organizational and managerial problems. Given the increasing role of consultancy industry in business transformation and improvement and the skills required to identify and retain the services of effective consultants, it is essential to understand the expectations and concerns of the industry key players. This paper aims to identify key factors that affect the satisfaction of Ferdowsi University of Mashhad academic and research staff when providing consultancy services to the outside organizations. An exploratory search revealed the importance of four groups of satisfaction factors, namely personal, political-social, client consultant relations and project management. A questionnaire was designed, pilot-tested and distributed among the target group. The results revealed that while university staffs are satisfied with the personal factors, they are dissatisfied with the political-social factors when consulting client organizations. The findings are discussed and suggestions are made to overcome conflicts in consulting jobs.

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