1. Management as consultancy - a case of neo-bureaucracy; 2. Neo-bureaucratic management and consultancy; 3. The research study; 4. The work activities of the consultant manager; 5. Managing relationships as a consultant manager; 6. The occupational and career tensions of the consultant manager; 7. The identity boundaries and threats of the consultant manager; 8. Conclusion; Appendix 1. Details of UK interview respondents; Appendix 2. Details of Australian interview respondents; Appendix 3. Key features of UK internal consultancy units (ICUs); Appendix 4. Data analysis on standardisation in UK and Australian case studies; References; Index.
Written for researchers, professionals and students, this book examines the dynamics and dilemmas of internal management consultancy.
Andrew Sturdy is Professor of Management at the University of Bristol. His research interests focus mainly on issues of power and identity in the production and use of management ideas, especially in relation to management consultancy and organisational change. He has advised on consultancy to the UK Management Consultancies Association (MCA), Institute of Consulting, the UK National Audit Office and the media. Christopher Wright is Professor of Organisational Studies at the University of Sydney. His research focuses on managerial and professional identity and organisational change. He has acted as a consultant and adviser to a range of private and public-sector organisations on the use of consultants and organisational change. Nick Wylie is Senior Lecturer in Human Resource Management at Oxford Brookes University. He researches the links between internal consultancy and the HR function, and has published widely in this field. His work on internal consultancy received a best paper award at the 2010 Academy of Management Conference. He is an adviser to the Institute of Consulting in the UK and has substantial management experience in a number of multinational financial services organisations.
'The central proposition of this book is highly intriguing and
captured my attention immediately. The authors argue convincingly
that we need to re-think our assumptions about what management is
and the role of management consultants as external experts doing
different things to managers. It will have a very substantial
impact on academic debate and, perhaps more importantly, on how
practicing managers see their roles and careers.' Timothy Morris,
University of Oxford
'In an age of information and connectivity, power and advantage for
organisations is no longer gleaned through controlling information
flows and decisions through a structured chain of command.
Organisations are evolving to respond to the new 'networked
economy', and from this has evolved what Sturdy, Wright and Wylie
term the 'consultant manager'. Management as Consultancy is
thought-provoking, and provides important insights for
organizations to grasp in the evolving world of work.' Charlotte
Park, Partner and Managing Director, Mercer Singapore
'Both the research and conclusions in this book are aligned with
learnings from our global network of internal management
consultants, many of whom are internal consultants by role but not
in formally designated groups. These are often subsets of various
functional areas of the enterprise which have business partnering
type roles - such as HR, IT, Quality, Auditing, Project Management
and others - and are increasingly realizing its importance for
future success. Our focus is to help develop the necessary level of
professionalism to maximize their impact, and this book provides …
[a] useful resource.' Bill Trotter, Managing Director, Association
of Internal Management Consultants, USA
'… of interest to managers fascinated by the theory of management
or to students studying management at postgraduate/post-experience
level … This is a complex book, offering food for thought and many
topics for debate … worth reading by a serious manager or leader.'
Andy Cowe, Management and Consulting Book Club, Chartered
Management Institute
'Overall, the book is a timely contribution, not just to research
on consultancy, but more broadly to our understanding of
management. Few studies successfully manage to do both and this
certainly succeeds in opening up an area for future research to
more fully explore the extent to which consultancy has pervaded the
field of management.' Crawford Spence, Management Learning
'This book is a good reminder that management consultant is not a
homogeneous group and that there are distinct classes of
professionals within it … Original and stimulating work …
illustrating the blurring of management and consulting careers in
neo-bureaucratic organizations.' Marion Brivot, Organizational
Studies
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