1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910821645003321

Autore

Sturdy Andrew

Titolo

Management as consultancy : neo-bureaucracy and the consultant manager / / Andrew Sturdy, Christopher Wright, Nick Wylie [[electronic resource]]

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Cambridge : , : Cambridge University Press, , 2015

ISBN

1-316-23599-8

1-316-25301-5

1-316-24923-9

1-316-25112-8

1-316-23410-X

1-139-10806-9

1-316-24733-3

Edizione

[1st ed.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (vii, 242 pages) : digital, PDF file(s)

Disciplina

658.4/09

Soggetti

Business consultants

Management

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Cover; Half-title page; Title page; Copyright page; Contents; Tables; Acknowledgements; 1 Management as consultancy - a case of neo-bureaucracy ; Introduction - a book about management and about consultancy; Towards a framework of neo-bureaucracy; Aims and structure of the book; 2 Neo-bureaucratic management and consultancy ; Introduction; Neo-bureaucratic managerial work - activities, occupations and identities; Management and the tensions of organising; Mechanisms of change - towards management as consultancy?; The changing relationships between management and consultancy; Conclusion

3 The research study Introduction and project background; Research design: the sample; Data analysis; Conclusion; 4 The work activities of the consultant manager ; Introduction; Classifying management activities: purpose, structure and relationships; What do consultant managers do? Change, integration and strategic efficiency; How do



consultant managers work? Project/programme management, methodologies and control; Conclusion; 5 Managing relationships as a consultant manager ; Introduction; The consultant manager and 'client relations' - relationship management; Adding value

Maintaining independence and autonomy from responsibilitySenior management sponsorship; Managing competition: interactions with external consultants; Collaboration and co-production: social ties and partnership; Conclusion; 6 The occupational and career tensions of the consultant manager ; Introduction; Occupational segmentation and the blurring of management and consulting careers; Occupational appropriation of consultancy; Management education and management as consultancy; A consulting 'diaspora': the organisational importation of consultancy; Occupational instability and tensions

Conclusion7 The identity boundaries and threats of the consultant manager ; Introduction; Organisational membership, boundaries and ambivalence; Crossing internal boundaries: the structural ambiguity of the consultant manager; Specialist expertise: the distinctive knowledge of the consultant manager; Playing the game: the political boundaries of the consultant manager; Interpersonal aspects of the consultant manager identity - targeting and using client trust and credibility; From stable ambivalence to rejection - the contradictions of being an 'outsider within'; Conclusion; 8 Conclusion

IntroductionManagement as consultancy - an overview; New and old tensions; Consultancy as management - the external consultant is dead;  long live the consultant manager?; Future research; Closing thoughts; 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 analysison standardisation in UK and Australian case studies; References; Index

Sommario/riassunto

The nature of management is changing: managers are becoming more like consultants, focusing on projects, functional integration, change and 'clients'. This timely book is based on a large-scale, international study of new management practices and examines the emergence of consultant managers. It breaks new ground in our understanding of this hybrid role, uncovering working practices, identities and occupational dynamics, to shed light on both management and consultancy. It unpacks the changing relationship between external consultants and management to reveal important implications for the future of consultancy. Both private and public sectors are covered, with a focus on managers in large and multinational organisations such as former consultants and those in specialisms such as human resource management who adopt consulting roles. In addition to advancing our understanding of changes in management, this book offers a demystifying view of consultancy as a whole, from one of the largest ever studies of this occupation.