Mr. Blatt: Expert consultants are sought after by management because they help executives make better decisions.
Mr. Blatt's Position
Expert consultants are sought after because they help executives make better decisions; that's why they're worth their substantial fees.
Ms. Fring's Position
Consultants are hired to enable executives to avoid responsibility. The more expensive the consultant, the more they can be blamed when things go wrong.
Evaluate
The two views diverge on what executives are buying when they hire consultants. On Blatt's view, executives buy decision quality, so they want effective consultants regardless of cost. On Fring's view, executives buy a high-priced scapegoat — so the price matters as much or more than the advice. The strongest evidence for Fring would be a finding that executives respond to consultant price in ways that don't track with decision quality — particularly, that lowering price makes consultants less attractive.
Goal
Find an answer where executives stop hiring consultants when fees go down — even though cheaper good advice should still be valuable on Blatt's view.