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Increasingly, customer companies hire external information technology (IT) consultants, often on a special project basis. These consultants are employees of professional service firms, although they receive their assignments from the hiring companies, report to them, and are supervised by them. Using semistructured interviews with 12 IT consultants in Sweden, we examine the factors that influence their work motivation, including the effect of this dual allegiance-to the service firm and to the customer company. The data indicate that the primary motivators are the variety in tasks and the opportunity to influence and/or manage an entire project. Neither monetary incentives nor the consultancy firm norms are strong motivators. A factor that affects work behavior and motivation is the subordinate identity that IT consultants must assume with their powerful clients. The article concludes with practical suggestions for managers who seek to understand what motivates employees who work at a distance, under external control. C 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The aim of the study was to test the relationship between job characteristics (job demands, job control) and perceived stress (e.g., stressed, pressured, tense) with motivators (e.g., recognition, achievement, the work itself, the possibility for growth and work significance) as the mediating variable. In this cross-sectional study a web-based questionnaire survey was conducted among 380 information technology (IT) consultants at ten IT consultancy companies in Sweden. The results showed that job demand was positively related to perceived stress and that motivators mediate the relationship between job control and perceived stress. The results point to the importance of motivators among IT consultants in the framework of job stress and performance. The managers' impact on the work characteristics in the work environment is also discussed.