Culture And Professional Identity In Global Management Consulting

This thesis aims to explore the interplay between culture and professional identity in global management consulting with a focus on the power relations and conflicts. A number of research gaps are identified in existing literature from different domains in association with the strategic and structural implications of globalisation for the management consulting field; culture in management consulting; formation of professional identities in management consulting; and identity, capital formation and career in management consulting. Accordingly, four research questions are set for the purpose of addressing the identified research gaps. Bourdieu's notion of field, habitus and capital is adopted as the core theory to study the management consulting field in terms of culture and professional identity by linking the field, firm and individual levels relationally and holistically. I also draw on the writings of other influential theories, notably Giddens' structuration theory, DiMaggio's neo-institutionalism and Scot's concept of power relationships to complement Bourdieu's theories in relation to culture and professional identity. This research contains two elements - quantitative and qualitative. The quantitative element is founded upon comparative case studies on six leading global management consulting firms with supplement of practice related data source. The qualitative element is built upon in-depth semi-structured interviews with consulting professionals at different levels in the management consulting field. An empirical analysis is conducted in order to obtain a comprehensive illumination and comparison of management consultants' live experience of, and insights on, the interrelationship of culture and professional identity in global management consulting. This research presents a number of novel findings which have theoretical and empirical contributions to enrich our understanding of different areas of management consulting. This research contributes to the systematic analysis of the intellectual field that was not completed by Bourdieu. It also enriches the volume of organisation studies literature in relational approaches particularly in management consulting settings and encourages further research of the same kind.

Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on Applied Human Factors and Ergonomics and the Affiliated Conferences, Nice, France, 24-27 July 2024.

Conceived as the meanings that individuals attach to their selves, a substantial stockpile of theory related to identities accumulated across the arts, social sciences, and humanities over many decades continues to nourish contemporary research on self-identities in organizations. In times which are more reflexive, narcissistic, and fluid, the identities of participants in organizations are increasingly less fixed and less certain, making identity issues both more salient and more interesting. Particular attention has been given to processes of identity construction, often styled 'identity work'. Research has focused on how, why, and when such processes occur, and their implications for organizing and individual, group, and organizational outcomes. This has resulted in a burgeoning stream of research from discursive, dramaturgical, symbolic, socio-cognitive, and psychodynamic perspectives that most often casts individuals' efforts to fabricate identities as intentional, relational, and consequential. Seemingly intractable debates centred on the nature of identities - their relative stability or fluidity, whether they are best regarded as coherent or fractured, positive (or not), and how they are fabricated within relations of power - combined with other conceptual issues continue to invigorate the field. However, these debates have also led to some scepticism regarding the future potential of identities research. Yet as the chapters in this Handbook demonstrate, there are considerable grounds for optimism that identity, as root metaphor, nexus concept, and means to bridge levels of analysis has significant potential to generate multiple compelling streams of theorizing in organization and management studies.

In both professional and academic fields, there is increasing interest in the way in which white-collar workers engage with institutions and networks which are complex social constructions. Covering a wide variety of countries and types of organization, this volume examines the diverse ways in which individuals’ ethnic, gender, corporate and professional identities interact. This book brings together fields often viewed in isolation: ethnographies of groups traditionally studied by anthropologists in new organisational contexts, and examinations of the role of identity in corporate life, opening up new perspectives on central areas of contemporary human activity. It will be of great interest to those concerned with practical management of institutions, as well as those of us who find ourselves working within them.

Over the past three decades the Professional Service Firm (PSF) sector has emerged as one of the most rapidly growing, profitable, and significant in the global economy. In 2013 the accountancy, management consulting, legal, and architectural sectors alone generated revenues of US$ 1.6 trillion and employed 14 million people. PSFs play an important role in developing human capital, creating innovative business services, reshaping government institutions, establishing and interpreting the rules of financial markets, and setting legal, accounting and other professional standards. The study of PSFs can offer insights into the contemporary challenges facing organizations within the knowledge economy, and deepen understanding of more conventional organizations. Despite their significance, however, PSFs have until recently remained very much in the shadows of organizational and management research. The Oxford Handbook of Professional Service Firms marks the coming of age of PSF scholarship with a comprehensive and integrative exploration of current research and thinking on PSFs, featuring contributions from internationally renowned scholars in the fields of organizational and management studies. It is divided into three distinct sections - the professions, the firms, and the professionals that work within them - and covers subjects from governance and leadership to regulation, entrepreneurship, and diversity. Bringing together a broad range of empirical and theoretical perspectives, the Handbook offers many potentially important insights into the contemporary challenges of organizations in the knowledge economy and suggests new lines of inquiry that may shed further light on the activities and performance of PSFs and the professionals who work within them.

This book addresses the nature of current shifts in professional and managerial knowledge and practice, particularly in relation to power and accountability. Connecting with current debates concerned with work and identity, the book will present a range of theoretical and empirical accounts of the dilemmas and issues facing specialists in various organizational arenas as they seek to adapt to the challenges of organizational and cultural transformation. Contributions offer innovative and sophisticated theoretical engagements which draw upon various perspectives, including those of post-structuralism, feminism, post-marxism and post-modernism.

This book assembles multi-disciplinary contributions to delve deeper into ReThinking Management. The first part provides some foundational considerations and inspirations. Further chapters offer more specific links to the arts and creativity sectors as well as empirical research and case reflections. ReThinking Management pursues the main idea that management theory is not merely a sub-discipline of economics, but rather a cross-disciplinary and critical field of research and practice, with a decidedly cultural perspective. While questioning the status and practices of conventional management, the book opens up for new understandings, turns and perspectives.

Advances in Global Leadership focuses on global leadership in relation to the Covid-19 pandemic, collecting insights from leading scholars and practitioners and fresh ideas from promising newcomers to the field reflecting on nineteen different national responses to the global crisis.

This volume makes an important contribution to the growing literature on management consulting. It brings together international contributors from a wide variety of backgrounds and draws on recent empirical research from a diverse range of countries, consultancy firms, and client companies. The analysis focuses on three key areas. The first part of the book looks at the emergence and development of the consulting industry in different countries and time periods. The interplay between national systemic context and outside influences is stressed, and the efforts of consultants to become recognized as 'legitimate' knowledge carriers by their clients is highlighted, in competition — and sometimes cooperation — with other suppliers of management knowledge, notably academia. The volume goes on to consider the generation, management, and validation of consulting knowledge by consultancy organizations and management gurus, showing how these activities are influenced not only by the consultancies' own characteristics in terms of size, structure, and national origin, but also by the (national and cultural) context in which they are operating, and by the role of 'gatekeepers', such as book publishers or journalists. The third part of the book focuses on the nature and dynamics of the consultancy-client relationship, focusing especially on the ways in which consultants convince managers of the need to hire outside advisors; on the reaction of those concerned in the client organization towards the consultants' recommendations; and on the methods used by the consultants to overcome the possible reluctance and resistance from within the organization. From a more theoretical point of view, the chapters in this volume also show that research on management consulting has to take into account different levels of analysis: the consulting industry as a whole and its position relative to other knowledge providers such as academia; the specific consultancy organization and its relationships with internal and external sources of knowledge; and the particular consultancy project and notably the interplay between the consultants and the various stakeholders within and outside the client organization.

Global Fitness for Global People is for all those wanting to thrive in today’s global workplaces and to flourish in culturally diverse contexts. In today’s rapidly changing and uncertain environment, people need sound insights and guiding principles to shape their actions – whatever the situation and whenever or wherever it occurs. Global Fitness for Global People prepares you for this challenge, providing you with a set of core principles and tools that you can apply flexibly and dynamically to meet your own and your organisation’s needs – now and in a changing future. The approach of Global Fitness for Global People is in line with the Chinese saying “If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. If you teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.” In today’s rapidly changing and uncertain environment, people need sound insights and guiding principles to shape their actions – whatever the situation and whenever or wherever it occurs. Global Fitness for Global People prepares you for this challenge, providing you with a set of core principles and tools that you can apply flexibly and dynamically to meet your own and your organisation’s needs – now and in a changing future. Each of Global Fitness for Global People’s 15 chapters uses thought-provoking authentic examples from a wide variety of situations to illustrate important learning points. It draws on state-of-the-art research and practice to explain the key issues and offers you reflective guidelines and activities for professional development purposes. Part 3, which focuses on the Global Fitness environment, goes a step further by providing a strategic perspective. It is especially interesting and useful to senior management and Learning & Development decision-makers who have the task of promoting Global Fitness in their organisation. The book is essential reading if you are leading, managing, or working in culturally diverse situations and hence need Global Fitness in order to achieve effective collaboration. Whatever your sector – international business, not-for-profit, third-sector, education, healthcare, research, politics, government, diplomacy and more – this book will help you and your organisation to perform more successfully.