Virtually every major Web design studio has learned how to talk customization, back-end databases, and commerce servers with their clients. But when the meeting has adjourned, they scramble like mad to find a technical shop that can not only explain what they just promised their client, but can also help them deliver it. So you go to a public relations agency and they determine that a Web site is part of your promotion strategy. They hire a Web consultant who hires a designer who hires a programmer. When you're so far removed from the process, you can't figure out where something might be going wrong if you're not getting the results you need.
Human nature dictates finger-pointing rather than fessing up to responsibility.
The flip side of the problem is to go to a generalist. Someone who knows a little marketing, a little public relations, a little Web, a little graphic design, some light programming. What you may end up with is a little bit of a site, a little strategy, a little success. You have enough to manage without having to coordinate a new team of strategists, designers, and computer programmers. Your best option is probably to consider hiring one project leader, someone with Internet marketing or public relations experience, who can then put together and manage a team.