Management Consultancy: Boundaries and Knowledge in Action

215 Pages·2009·0.59 MB·English

by  Andrew Sturdy

Management Consultancy
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Management Consultancy
Boundaries and Knowledge in Action
Andrew Sturdy, Karen Handley, Timothy Clark,
and Robin Fincham
1
3
GreatClarendonStreet,OxfordOX26DP
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©AndrewSturdy,KarenHandley,TimothyClark,andRobinFincham2009
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Acknowledgements
We gratefully acknowledge the support of the following: Calvert
Markham, Fiona Czerniawska, and Kimball Bailey for their early and
continuing encouragement for our research; Stephanos Avakian, David
Greatbatch,andStefanHeusinkveldfortheirhelpfulcommentsonearlier
versions of the manuscript; the Management Consultancies Association
for their support and the opportunity to test out ideas; all the research
participants for granting us access and for their patience and goodwill
during our fieldwork; and Matthew Derbyshire and David Musson of
OxfordUniversityPressfortheirevengreaterpatienceintheproduction
of this volume. Finally, we thank the ESRC for their financial support
fortheprojecttitled‘KnowledgeEvolutioninAction:Consultancy–Client
Relationships’ (RES-334-25-0004), under the auspices of the Evolution of
Business Knowledge (‘EBK’) Research Programme. Parts of Chapter 4 are
developedinSturdyetal.(2009).
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Contents
ListofTables viii
ListofAbbreviations ix
TheAuthors x
1. Consultancy,knowledge,andboundaries 1
2. Boundariesandknowledgeflow 23
3. Theresearch—casestudiesandresearchmethods 45
4. Re-thinkingpotentialsforknowledgeflow 73
5. Outsideexpertiseandsectorknowledge 93
6. Boundariesinaction—challenge 113
7. Themicromanagementofboundariesthrough
humourandlaughter 142
8. Conclusion—beyondconsultancyandprojects 172
References 180
AuthorIndex 197
SubjectIndex 198
vii
List of Tables
1.1. Aclassificationofselectedbooksandreportsonmanagement
consultancy 7
1.2. Micro-structuralboundaryrelationsinconsultancyprojects—an
initialframeworkfromstudiesofconsultancyrelationships 21
2.1. Classificationsofprimaryboundaries(withoutconsideration
ofprocess) 30
2.2. Cognitivedistanceandknowledgeprocesses 34
2.3. Summaryofacompositeanddynamicapproachtoboundaries
andknowledgeflow 43
3.1. Characteristicsofthefourprojectcasestudies 48
3.2. KeycharactersinCase1 53
3.3. KeycharactersinCase2 55
3.4. KeycharactersinCase3 58
3.5. KeycharactersinCase4 60
3.6. Approximatenumberofinterviewsandobservationsineach
projectcasestudy 62
3.7. Summaryofcases 70
4.1. Compositemapofboundaries/knowledgeandconsultancyprojects 74
4.2. Frameworksofknowledgeflow 87
4.3. Examplesofboundaryprocessesincasestudyprojects 90
5.1. Levelsofsectorknowledge 98
5.2. Roleofsectorknowledge 103
viii
List of Abbreviations
AIM AdvancedInstituteofManagement
ATM automatictellingmachine
EBK EvolutionofBusinessKnowledge
ESRC EconomicandSocialResearchCouncil
FSA FinancialServicesAuthority
KIF knowledgeintensivefirm
KFI keyfactsillustration
MBA MasterofBusinessAdministration
MCA ManagementConsultanciesAssociation
MPA MasterofPublicAdministration
NAO NationalAuditOffice
NIH notinventedhere
OD organizationdevelopment
OGC OfficeofGovernmentCommerce
PBL project-basedlearning
POA PrisonOfficers’Association
PTB performancetestbid
TCE transactioncosteconomics
TPM Technoprojectmanager
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