Aesthetic Labour in Interactive Service Work: Some Case Study Evidence from the ‘New’ Glasgow

Criticisms of management consultants are increasingly common, but are also frequently based on simplistic assertions that powerful consultants exploit uncertain or ignorant clients. We argue that considerable insight to the tensions between consultants and clients can be gained by focusing on the boundary relationship between them. Using the work of Granovetter, we explore how organisational boundaries vary in their permeability. Consultant roles vary from that of ‘outsider’, based on simple market exchange of payment for advice or service, to ‘insider’, in which a web of social ties develops in what are often long-lasting relationships. Although criticisms of consultants are sometimes based merely on misunderstanding the nature of these roles, we argue that tensions frequently arise through the activities of both consultants and clients in terms of their boundary relationships.     

Consulting knowledge and organisation's absorptive capacity: A communication chain perspective

This study investigates the communication chain of consulting knowledge constituted by consultants and internal lecturers. We analyse the differences between consultants and internal lecturers in their capability of knowledge training and discuss its influence on organisations' absorption of consulting knowledge. Based on a Mann–Whitney U test of data from 47 quality management consultants and 235 internal lecturers in Taiwan, we found that internal lecturers significantly exhibited weaker capability than consultants, especially in knowledge structure, knowledge transformation, trainee orientation and training ethics. The capability gap was disadvantageous for organisations to absorb consulting knowledge and suggestions for improving this problem were provided finally.     

The Marketing of Professional Services

The recognition by professional services firms of the need to become marketing-orientated and apply marketing techniques is of recent origin. Yet their need to identify, anticipate and satisfy client requirements profitably, rather than passively wait for clients to request their services, is overwhelming. The professional services provided by such specialists as accountants, advertising agents, banks, computer consultancies, consulting engineers, and management consultants are highly people intensive. Consequently, there is more room for individual discretion, eccentricity, delay and error. This article argues that professional services companies can systematically plan the marketing of their services so that they can provide value satisfactions that will create and keep their clients and produce profits.     

The European Consultant: What Motivates and What De-motivates?

Management consulting in Europe has grown rapidly over the past ten years outstripping growth rates in all other major markets. This article reports the findings, over four years, from interviews with 145 management consultants working in Europe. The objective of the interviews was to establish what motivated and what de-motivated these men and women in their work. The survey was conducted as part of the course-work of an MBA/Sloan elective in Management Consulting at London Business School. The article ends with what the students felt they had learnt about the work of consultants.     

Managing consultants

As the consulting industry matures, its future is being shaped by concerns about standards of professionalism. Mark Law challenges clients, consultants and management scholars to work together to strengthen it.     

On Being a Consultant in Business Ethics

What does it take to be a consultant in business ethics? Is the role of the ethical consultant like that of an engineer, a playwright or an interpreter? And where are the women consultants? The author is a scientific researcher in Ethics at Nijenrode, The Netherlands School of Business.     

Assessing some determinant effects of ethical consulting behavior: The case of personal and professional values

A random sample of 207 national business consultants is employed to test the effects of individual values and professional ethics on consulting behavior. The results suggest that the individual values held by consultants are positively correlated with professional ethics, but are negatively correlated with consulting behavior. Moreover, there appears to be no significant relationship between the professional ethics of consultants and business consulting behavior. Findings and issues regarding the effectiveness of codes of ethics and implications for both the provider and recipient of professional consulting services are discussed.Dr. Jeff Allen is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Marketing at the University of Central Florida, Orlando. He received his D.B.A. in Marketing. Professor Allen has published in theJournal of Travel Research theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, and theJournal of Education for Business. Dr. Allen's research interests include social responsibility, distribution management, and the development of marketing strategy.Dr. Duane Davis is currently a Professor in the University of Central Florida's Department of Marketing. Dr. Davis received his D.B.A. in Marketing. Professor Davis has published in theJournal of Psychology, theJournal of Retailing, theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, theJournal of Travel Research, Interfaces, andIndustrial Marketing Management. This research stream largely focuses on research methodology, marketing of services, and strategic marketing management. In addition, Dr. Davis has co-authoredBusiness Research for Decision Making with PWS-Kent Publishing Company.     

Image consultancy in the United Kingdom: recipe knowledge and recreational employment

A person's image incorporates three principal elements: how you look, sound and present yourself. Alterations in the world of work have increased the importance of image in the work place and have created a demand for a new form of recipe knowledge – impression management. This has encouraged the formation of specialist image consultancy companies, as well as the development of new techniques of image construction and management. This article provides an analysis of the image consultancy industry in the United Kingdom. It explores the geography of the industry, motivations for establishing an image consultancy firm, the networks consultants develop and the methods of client acquisition. The results of a postal survey of image consultants are reported.     

Business Crisis and Management Fashion: Korean Companies,Restructuring and Consulting Advice

The concept of management fashion has become increasingly common in studies of management knowledge diffusion, although rarely applied outside of Western economic settings. In this article we examine the activities of one group of management fashion setters, global management consultancies, and their role in the restructuring of Korean industry following the 1997 economic crisis. We find that large Korean companies made significant use of Western consultancies in the aftermath of the 1997 crisis. However, while the engagement of Western management experts provided an impression of reform, the adoption of consultant-directed change has been variable and consultants faced considerable client resistance to the adoption of new practice. The article explores the reasons underlying the limited embrace of Western consulting expertise in Korea and highlights the implications of the Korean case for management fashion theory.     

Success Determinants when Tendering for International Consulting Projects

A unique database on individual proposals is used to analyse competition among consulting firms (CFs) for international projects. CFs, which sell services based on human capital, focus on developing countries when operating abroad and, thereby, are highly dependent on development agencies (DAs). The DAs have strict tender rules and claim that skill and experience are the most important factors when proposals are evaluated. Both economic theory and the results of the estimations suggest, however, that long-term relationships (LTRs) between the CFs and the clients are at least as important as traditional skill and experience factors. The LTRs are here measured by means of information about whether the CF has previously worked for the client (repeat purchases) or has visited the client. The results indicate that the client in some cases has pre-decided which CF to select. The client invites several CFs to compete for the tender anyway, either because he is forced to do so by the financier, or because he wants to subject an old supplier to competitive pressure. As the tender rules do not seem to be followed, a policy implication would be that the DAs can skip, or at least relax, their strict tender rules, or strengthen the sanctions associated with violations of the rules.     

Ethical dilemmas in organization development: A cross-cultural analysis

The purpose of this study was to examine the nature and extent to which cultural differences bear on perceptions of ethical Organizational Development consulting behaviors. U.S. (n=118) and Taiwanese (n=267) business students evaluated eleven vignettes depicting potential ethical dilemmas. Respondents judged the ethicality of each vignette, the likelihood of the event's occurrence and the party responsible for the event's occurrence. Multivariate Analyses of Variance revealed significant cultural differences in perceptions of ethicality, and group differences in perceptions of the events' likelihood of occurrence. U.S. subjects provided higher ethicality ratings than the Taiwanese, and lower ratings on the likelihood of occurrence. Response distributions resulting from the identification of the responsible party were similar for six of the eleven vignettes. When differences did occur, it appeared that the Taiwanese were more inclined than the U.S. subjects to view responsibility as shared by the client and the consultant. The results suggest the need for the incorporation of cultural differences in a code of ethics for the profession and the need for cross-cultural ethics training for partitioners.Louis P. White is Associate Professor of Management at the University of Houston-Clear Lake. His articles have appeared in theAcademy of Management Review, theTraining and Developing Journal, Gaming and Simulation, andHuman Relations. He is also the author ofProfessional Ethics and Practice in Organizational Development (with Kevin C. Wooten), Dr. White received his Ph.D. in Industrial Psychology.Melanie J. Rhodeback is an active Human Resource Management consultant, writer and speaker, and the owner of Rhodeback & Associates, a firm specializing in data analytic strategies to improve management decision making. Her research and consulting interests include the assessment of attitudes, values, ethics, and equity. Dr. Rhodeback serves as adjunct faculty at the University of Houston-Clear Lake in the School of Business and the School of Human Sciences & Humanities.     

The Case Against Small Business Consultants:

Accounting firms are widely, but not universally, cited sources of external consulting to small businesses. The reasons for non-use of consultants provided by previous studies include demographic and attitudinal barriers. This paper explores the important role human interaction may play to form additional barriers and extends previous models to show dual evaluation loops. The model extension suggests that customer orientation training should be emphasized among employees at lower levels in large consulting firms.     

Ethical Values of Executive Search Consultants

The present research was designed to investigate the absolute and relative levels of ethical convictions of executive search consultants, or "headhunters", in regard of their search practices. Executive search consultants were defined as trained specialists who helped client organizations identify and evaluate the suitability of job candidates for top, senior, and middle-level management and executive positions. Despite frequent reports of unethical search practices in the media, results based on a sample of 184 headhunters and non-headhunter executives showed that headhunters were inclined to adhere stringently to a selected set of ethical values, both in absolute terms and in comparison with the expectations of non-headhunter executives. The differences had implications not only for the integrity and continued existence of the headhunting profession, but also for the ethical development of new executive search consultants. Future research directions were suggested.     

Ethical and moral considerations and the principle of excellence in management consulting

This paper discusses the diversity of specializations, applications, practices and practitioners of management consulting (and the standards and criteria); ways in which consultants do, can or should relate to or contribute to the effectiveness of executives and/or specialized staff personnel (considering the usual partial overlap in knowledge and experience); optimization of contribution; advancing the profession as a whole, etc.In situations of great complexity, the creative contributions derived from judgment — when the factual foundations are sound and adequate — can often be especially valuable to clients. The necessary and appropriate foundations for these are also considered; all in connection with the concept of excellence, as inseparable from ethics.     

The Use of Co-ordination Theory to Improve Service Quality in Executive Search

This article considers service quality in a business service industry - execirtive search. It uses co-ordination theory to idtentify the ‘service garps’ which occur in the use of executive search consultancies and considers the ways in which these gaps can be closed. The use of an executive search consultant turns the recruitment process into a three-way relationship -between client, consultant and candidate -and raises the possibility of further service gaps than those identified in the service quality literature. This article finds that there are gaps in expectations evident in all three arms of the relationship but that they are much wider where the candidate is involved. The use of a consultant introduces uncertainty into the process (especially on the part of the candidate), the issue of who has responsibility for what within this relationship is not satisfactorily resolved or communicated. Ways in which the process can be managed to reduce the size of the expectations gaps are considered.     

Christopher McKenna. The World's Newest Profession: Management Consulting in the Twentieth Century

In this engrossing study of management consulting, ChristopherMcKenna seeks to understand the prominence of consulting withinAmerican business. Focusing on a small set of elite consultingfirms, but frequently discussing others, McKenna argues thatthe legitimacy and knowledge sold by consultants to their clientswere rooted in the growing complexity and internationalizationof the American economy (the forces conventionally invoked toexplain consulting's rise), as well as changes in federal regulationsin the 1930s, 1950s, and 1980s.     

External consultants in organisations: evaluating the Spanish case

The article looks into the importance of the work performed by external consultants and consulting as a function in Spanish public and private small and medium-sized industrial organizations that could potentially seek the services of an adviser. The study was conducted by asking them whether they considered the results of the adviser's project to be useful, and about its quality. The aim of the research was to examine what was felt by public and private organisations concerning the use of specialised external advisers, bearing in mind the different reasons that influence politicians, in the case of public companies, and the directors of private companies to engage such services. The former sought to obtain as many votes as possible in the next elections (since the basic purpose underlying the analysis carried out by the external adviser is to maximise the welfare of society). The directors of private firms, on the other hand, sought to obtain returns from the capital invested in engaging the adviser and, thus, maximise the company's profits. Data were obtained by means of personal interviews conducted in organisations that had used consulting services.     

Ethics for Management Consultants

Management consultants and their moral standards and behaviour have been questioned and caricatured, but it is not sufficiently appreciated that they frequently have to operate in situations which are characterized by ambiguity, ignorance, uncertainty and sensitivity and they cannot always simply apply ethical rules in cooperating with their clients. In addition, more attention should be given to the ethics of the client, and "dual ethics" should be a joint concern. Research among consultants and clients has identified several ethical dilemmas frequently experienced by consultants which are explained and explored. Dr Poulfelt is Associate Professor of Management at the Department of Management, Politics and Philosophy at Copenhagen Business School, Blaagaardsgade 23 B, DK-2200 Copenhagen N, Denmark.     

Developing critical thinking through student consulting projects

The authors present survey results from faculty at 44 universities on the role of student consulting projects in developing business students' critical thinking. They conclude that students can improve critical thinking by engaging in guided primary and secondary research to inform their business assumptions that underpin business planning and financial modeling in consulting projects. Results also suggest that instructors newer to the practice of using student consulting tend to emphasize objective results (e.g., application of disciplinary skills and research methods), whereas experienced users seem to focus on the subjective consulting process (e.g., managing client relationships and evaluating information quality and fit for the project).