| 1. |
- Alvesson, Mats, et al.
(author)
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Unpacking the client(s): Constructions, positions and client-consultant dynamics
- 2009
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In: Scandinavian Journal of Management. - : Elsevier BV. - 0956-5221. ; 25:3, s. 253-263
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Research on management consultancy usually emphasizes the rote and perspective of the consultants. Whilst important, consultants are only one element in a dynamic relationship involving both consultants and their clients. In much of the literature, the client is neglected, or is assumed to represent a distinct, immutable entity. In this paper, we argue that the client organisation is not uniform but is instead (like organisations generally) a more or less heterogeneous assemblage of actors, interests and inclinations involved in multiple and varied ways in consultancy projects. This paper draws upon three empirical cases and emphasizes three key aspects of clients in the context of consultancy projects: (a) client diversity, including, but not limited to diversity arising solely from (pre-)structured contact relations and interests; (b) processes of constructing 'the client' (including negotiation, conflict, and reconstruction) and the client identities which are thereby produced; and (c) the dynamics of client-consultant relations and how these influence the construction of multiple and perhaps contested client positions and identities. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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| 2. |
- Bueno, AF, et al.
(author)
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The client in management consultancy research: Mapping the territory
- 2009
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In: Scandinavian Journal of Management. - : Elsevier. - 0956-5221. ; 25:3, s. 247-252
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The rationale for this special issue was a feeling among the editors that, in studies of management consultancy, the client had been neglected or inadequately portrayed. Although, as we shall see, the extent of this neglect may have been overestimated, the size and quality of the response to our call for papers suggest that our view was shared by many others and that a wave of client-focused research is now underway. In this introductory essay, we begin to set out the nature of this neglect, speculating on why the client has not played a more significant role in research. Describing the ways in which the client has been conceived in the literature, we discuss how this portrayal has evolved, turning to the articles that make up the special issue and pointing to possible areas of further research in this area.
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| 3. |
- Bäcklund, Jonas, 1967-
(author)
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Arguing for Relevance : Global and local knolwdge claims in management consulting
- 2003
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Management consulting services are often viewed as local in the sense that they are based on knowledge of local conditions, are adapted to those conditions, and build on client interaction. Despite this view, globally active consulting firms continue to increase in number and relative size in national markets. To address this paradox and to understand the demand for globally active management consulting services, the present study investigated the efforts of consulting firms to be persuasive, and the ideational embeddeness of those efforts. This was done by examining how management consulting firms present their services in three media in the Swedish market for management consulting: public tenders, corporate web sites, and a yearly listing of the actors in the market, with special attention to ideas on management and organization drawn upon by the firms in their efforts to be persuasive. Three distinct presentation profiles were identified and linked to categories of consulting firms. Although varying considerably, the profiles drew on common ideas, viz., management as a de-contextualized, global and scientific activity. Offering structured models and standardized tools was seen to provide advantages to consulting firms claiming to be able to do so. Local aspects of management, such as culture, were generally de-emphasized as a source of legitimacy in the presentations.By considering how processes of consulting-firm legitimization through presentations make part of the structuring of non-regulated fields, the study contributes to a discussion of the interdependence of the evolution of the consulting industry and the development and diffusion of general ideas on management.
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| 4. |
- Heusinkveld, Stefan, et al.
(author)
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Professions and (new) management occupations as a contested terrain : Redefining jurisdictional claims
- 2018
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In: Journal of Professions and Organization. - : Oxford Univ Press. - 2051-8811 .- 2051-8803. ; 5:3, s. 248-261
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In this article, we discuss how research on professions and organizations may benefit from a better understanding of the emergence and prevalence of 'new' management occupations or 'corporate professions' and their interactions with 'traditional' professions. To this end, we explore the theoretical and empirical implications of selected studies, analysing how professional and occupational jurisdictions, as well as inter-occupational relationships, are redefined. This occurs as new areas of management expertise emerge and gain influence in relation to broader organizational, technical and institutional developments.
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| 5. |
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| 7. |
- Werr, Andreas, et al.
(author)
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The co-consumption of management ideas and practices
- 2011
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In: Management Learning. - : SAGE Publications (UK and US). - 1461-7307 .- 1350-5076. ; 42:2, s. 139-147
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- How does the impact of the growing management knowledge industry on management and organizational practice take shape? In answering this question, the article aims to address some key shortcomings in the productionist view that dominates the present literature on management ideas and practices by developing the concept of co-consumption. The three articles that comprise this special issue not only give voice to consumers of management knowledge as a neglected actor in the field, but also provide important insights into the complexities and dynamics of co-consumption by (1) moving the discussion beyond conceptualizations of consumption as merely a matter of implementing a management idea, (2) pointing to the limited influence of knowledge entrepreneurs in defining management and organizational practice, and (3) presenting a more dynamic and differentiated conceptualization of the management knowledge consumer. On the basis of these articles we develop some fruitful areas for further research.
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