The failure of consulting professionalism? A longitudinal analysis of the Institute of Management Consultants
(2016) In Management and Organizational History 11(1). p.48-65- Abstract
Abstract: This paper offers a longitudinal analysis of the Institute of Management Consultants (IMC). Drawing on archive sources, we consider the manner in which the IMC sought to institutionalize a form of expertise specific to management consultants. Rejecting attempts to locate the boundaries of such expertise within idealized, archetypal frameworks, we analyse the IMC’s attempts to secure occupational closure in the field of consulting by means of normative, cognitive and symbolic mechanisms. While others account for the Institute’s professional project as a failure consequent upon consulting’s fragmentary knowledge base, we suggest that this project did not so much fail as drift towards another ‘hybrid’ form. In an attempt (a) to... (More)
Abstract: This paper offers a longitudinal analysis of the Institute of Management Consultants (IMC). Drawing on archive sources, we consider the manner in which the IMC sought to institutionalize a form of expertise specific to management consultants. Rejecting attempts to locate the boundaries of such expertise within idealized, archetypal frameworks, we analyse the IMC’s attempts to secure occupational closure in the field of consulting by means of normative, cognitive and symbolic mechanisms. While others account for the Institute’s professional project as a failure consequent upon consulting’s fragmentary knowledge base, we suggest that this project did not so much fail as drift towards another ‘hybrid’ form. In an attempt (a) to account for this shift and (b) to outline its key contours, we offer an archival analysis that explores the manner in which the Institute sought to reconcile the multiple interests and competing logics that construct professionalism within the field of consulting.
(Less)
- author
- Butler, Nick LU and Collins, David
- organization
- publishing date
- 2016-01-02
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- hybridity, Management consultants, professional project, professionalism
- in
- Management and Organizational History
- volume
- 11
- issue
- 1
- pages
- 18 pages
- publisher
- SAGE Publications
- external identifiers
-
- wos:000373128000004
- scopus:84961241914
- ISSN
- 1744-9359
- DOI
- 10.1080/17449359.2016.1151363
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 41ef0b78-05e0-4b47-aef3-065eaa357f18
- date added to LUP
- 2016-09-21 08:12:47
- date last changed
- 2025-01-12 11:40:51
@article{41ef0b78-05e0-4b47-aef3-065eaa357f18,
abstract = {{<p>Abstract: This paper offers a longitudinal analysis of the Institute of Management Consultants (IMC). Drawing on archive sources, we consider the manner in which the IMC sought to institutionalize a form of expertise specific to management consultants. Rejecting attempts to locate the boundaries of such expertise within idealized, archetypal frameworks, we analyse the IMC’s attempts to secure occupational closure in the field of consulting by means of normative, cognitive and symbolic mechanisms. While others account for the Institute’s professional project as a failure consequent upon consulting’s fragmentary knowledge base, we suggest that this project did not so much fail as drift towards another ‘hybrid’ form. In an attempt (a) to account for this shift and (b) to outline its key contours, we offer an archival analysis that explores the manner in which the Institute sought to reconcile the multiple interests and competing logics that construct professionalism within the field of consulting.</p>}},
author = {{Butler, Nick and Collins, David}},
issn = {{1744-9359}},
keywords = {{hybridity; Management consultants; professional project; professionalism}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{01}},
number = {{1}},
pages = {{48--65}},
publisher = {{SAGE Publications}},
series = {{Management and Organizational History}},
title = {{The failure of consulting professionalism? A longitudinal analysis of the Institute of Management Consultants}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17449359.2016.1151363}},
doi = {{10.1080/17449359.2016.1151363}},
volume = {{11}},
year = {{2016}},
}