Knowledge in 21st Century Management Consulting: Between Consultants, Clients, and Business Schools

Submission #15995 Knowledge in 21st Century Management Consulting: Between Consultants, Clients and Business Schools Primary sponsor: Management Consulting Division Other sponsors: Management Education and Development Division Although management consultants are often seen as knowledge brokers between business schools and their clients, there are disconnections between education and practice. This is particularly the case for strategy tools, whose purpose is interpreted in different ways in academia and in consulting, thus generating different expectations about their value, development, and application. Furthermore, the interaction between consultants and clients has been seen as a core laboratory of knowledge development in consulting. Research, however, depicts how this interaction goes beyond knowledge transfer thanks to the liminal nature of consultants, who discuss and continuously build their identities when confronted with clients and academics’ identities. Finally, the boundaries between the three domains, i.e. education, consulting, and business, are increasingly crossed by hybrid organizations able to provide innovative services. Our PDW delves into these topics, exposing participants to a more elaborate picture of knowledge creation in management consulting, focusing on the following questions: How does knowledge flow amongst business schools, consulting companies and their clients? What are the new boundaries between these domains and the new actors on the ground? How do we effectively combine academic work and consulting activities, leveraging the benefits of knowledge creation between research, teaching, and consulting? Alternating presentations with roundtable discussions, participants will engage in a critical reflection on the knowledge connections between the three domains. They will compare the teaching vs. application of some strategy tools encountered in their work life and they will identify how to effectively generate knowledge in the permeable domain of consulting.   Overview of the workshop This PDW panel discussion is designed to combine scholars and practitioners with an interest in strategic management consulting with the aim of stimulating a critical discussion on the topic of knowledge creation and integration in consulting practices. In particular, we raise the issue of the interplay between business schools, management consultants, and their clients as a locus of knowledge creation and transfer that calls for a deeper comprehension. Our panel will discuss the knowledge creation processes and opportunities tapping into the connections between these three domains, with strategic management consulting as an exemplary field of interest. Concerning the relationship between business schools and consulting companies, their interplay has traditionally seen the former providing students with a shared and almost standardized repertoire of business knowledge, and the latter targeting students with job offers. This seems to be a quite naïve picture, and, assuming a more critical view, it is possible to identify significant disconnections between business schools and consulting companies, as is the case with the specific expertise in strategic management. Undergraduate and Masters/MBA courses in fact offer an almost standardized set of tools to students. At the same time, consulting companies develop their own methods, cases, and experiences (Werr & Stjernberg, 2003), with some approaches becoming extremely popular like the BCG and McKinsey matrices. On the other hand, business school academic researchers publish their research findings via journal articles and conference presentations. The publication process requires an important research question, rigorous research design and data analysis which results in the difficulty for consultants to understand and be able to use. The disconnection between consultants and academic researchers at business schools is the so- called research-practice gap that impedes the knowledge flow between them. The flow of strategy tools between business schools and management consultants and their ability to reach clients does not seem straightforward and can exemplify how these different actors make and give sense to those artifacts. For instance, although strategy tools are intended as a means to address complex business realities, research evidence shows that they are expected by managers to serve a variety of functions, not always intertwined with each other: managers ask for tools able to offer different perspectives, disclose relationship between decisions and actions, and sustain connected and systemic thinking (Paroutis, Franco, & Papadopoulos, 2015; Wright, Paroutis, & Blettner, 2013). At the same time, strategy tools become instrumental to communication with clients, who are seen as a primary source for knowledge development in a consulting company (Alvesson, Kärreman, Sturdy, & Handley, 2009; Nikolova & Devinney, 2012). Concerning the relationship between consultants and client companies, the knowledge development processes in consulting companies can be seen as an ambidextrous activity: accumulated and ongoing experience with clients can foster the elaboration of new knowledge identifying similarities across cases and replicating similar approaches (Werr, 2012). Knowledge management capability can sustain the process of innovation through the enactment of specific routines (Fu, 2014). Moreover, consultants as liminal actors often deal with contrasting objectives: knowledge transfer towards clients vs. retention of the distinctive elements of their competitive advantage within their company (Czarniawska & Mazza, 2003). In addition, when engaging with consultants, client companies can be exposed to new knowledge that inspires the redefinition of their organizational identity values. Finally, while consulting companies are trying to bridge the gaps between education and practice, business schools are increasingly focused on executive education and are moving toward consulting (Engwall, 2012). These changes are leading to the creation of new hybrid organizations that act as brokers between business schools and consulting, and new business models are emerging that combine elements of the three domains into the form of complex service providers for prospective entrepreneurs and managers. This mixed panorama encompasses both established companies and new ventures or academic spin-offs and open up new perspectives for the interaction between consulting companies, clients, and academia. Why this Workshop can be of interest to the Management Consulting and Management Education and Development IG communities This PDW is intended to develop a critical conversation on management consulting knowledge development. Therefore, Management Consulting Division members are the most appropriate targets in terms of audience, being them both scholars and practitioners who can benefit from our multi-perspective discussion. Addressing the connection between business schools and consulting companies, with a special attention to strategy tools, participants of the Management Education and Development Division can also actively take part in the debate about the different ways in which strategy tools are developed, and on the complementarity between academia and consultancy in creating business knowledge, with the rise of new forms of hybrid organizations. The PDW attendants would benefit from the interaction with the panelist members to develop a critical point of view on the process of knowledge generation in consulting companies, being exposed to recent research outcomes and emerging practice approaches. The composition of our panelist will offer a wide set of perspectives, ranging from strategic management to organizational behavior. Moreover, each panelist will share a significant experience or a novel research stream related to the PDW topics, stimulating a focused discussion and tracing a clear set of counterintuitive and provoking take-home messages. Finally, the participation in the roundtables discussion will enhance critical thinking and stimulate new consciousness about knowledge creation in consulting and the use of strategy tools through the interactions between actors (consultants and academics) endowed with different perspectives. Participants will be exposed to the panelists’ experiences at the boundaries between academia and consulting, discussing how advantages can be gleaned from this liminal condition and how all the parties involved can get the most out of the combination of their research, teaching, and consulting activities. Workshop Format and Panelist Role The primary purpose of the PDW will be to develop a dialog with participants and attendees to explore connections between business schools, consulting companies, and their clients. Two presentation sessions will alternate with two roundtable discussions. In the first presentation sessions Prof. Paroutis and Dr. Fu will provide a summary of their overall research achievements, an exemplary case, and provide their ‘lessons learnt’. After this first presentation round, each roundtable facilitator will introduce a widely used strategy tool (e.g. SWOT analysis, Porter’s Five Forces, BCG Matrix): participants will choose three strategy tools out of those proposed, and sit at three roundtables , each moderated by a couple of panelists. After a brief overview on their experience with the tool, participants will be asked to trace on a flipchart paper the typical purposes of the tool as outlined in teaching, and how the tool has been used in practice, making a critical comparison. In the second presentation phase, Prof. Tagliaventi will introduce the topic of liminality and Prof. Lawton and Dr. Taurasi will illustrate their education and work experience related to research, teaching, and consulting. The second roundtable activity will focus on the sharing of possible approaches to how single individuals or organizations can combine research, teaching, and consulting. Participants will confront their successes and failures in integrating knowledge originating from different sources, and identify pathways to effectively benefit from the interplay of research, teaching, and consulting. The main outcomes will be summarized on a flipchart paper and each roundtable will elect a speaker to present them to the entire audience in the wrap up session. Table 1 presents the format and schedule of this PDW. Time requirements: 2 hours. Proposed date: Saturday, August 6th (late morning).   Table 1. Proposed format of the PDW Time Content Minutes 0-5 (5 mins) Welcome and introduction to the PDW Presenter: Dr. Giacomo Carli Minutes 5-25 (20 mins) Presentation session 1 Knowledge in 21st Management Consulting: Lessons Learned from Academia Presenters: Prof. Sotirios Paroutis - Strategy tools: their evolution, design and impact on management practice Dr. Na Fu - Knowledge management and innovation in management consulting Minutes 25-55 (30 minutes) Roundtable discussion 1 Discussion of three popular strategy tools, with a comparison of their teaching presentation and use in practice. Facilitators: Roundtable 1: Prof. Sotirios Paroutis and Dr. Na Fu Roundtable 2: Prof. Thomas Lawton and Prof. Maria Rita Tagliaventi Roundtable 3: Dr. Giacomo Carli and Dr. Donatella Taurasi Minutes 55-80 (25 mins) Presentation session 2 Liminality and the overlapping of roles and organizations Presenters: Prof. Maria Rita Tagliaventi - Consultants as liminal actors and client-consultant relations Prof. Thomas Lawton - Executive education and overlapping roles of academics and consultants Dr. Donatella Taurasi - New forms of consulting for prospective entrepreneurs Minutes 80-110 (30 minutes) Roundtable discussion 2 How can we more effectively bridge the gap between academia and consulting? Facilitators: Roundtable 1: Prof. Sotirios Paroutis and Dr. Na Fu Roundtable 2: Prof. Thomas Lawton and Prof. Maria Rita Tagliaventi Roundtable 3: Dr. Giacomo Carli and Dr. Donatella Taurasi Minutes 110-120 (10 minutes) Wrap up Moderator: Dr. Giacomo Carli Presenters: one speaker from each roundtable Introducing the Panelists: Dr. Giacomo Carli (submitter). Lecturer in Strategic Management, The Open University Business School, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA, UK. Ph: +44 1908 332884. Email: giacomo.carli@open.ac.uk. Website: http://www.open.ac.uk/people/gc6846 Giacomo’s main research interest is on the process of capabilities development in companies. In his PhD in Management at the University of Bologna, he studied how companies can face external changes developing new capabilities interacting with liminal actors such as consultants collecting data on four consulting projects in large companies. After his Doctoral Degree in 2012, he worked as Postdoc Fellow at the University of Bologna, where he was also Project Manager of the ERA-Net RoboFarm Project for the innovation of farm management. Innovation and new business models for agri-food companies are his second line of research, and he is involved as strategic advisor in two EU-funded research projects (VAROS and PAMCoBA). Giacomo holds a work experience in management consulting as business analyst and project leader in organizational change projects in private service and insurance companies. He presented at the top conferences in management including Academy of Management Meeting, Strategic Management Society Conference and European Group of Organizational Studies Colloquium. He published on Industry and Innovation and its research is in the process of r&r at international journals. Prof. Sotirios Paroutis. Associate Professor of Strategic Management. Warwick Business School, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK. Ph.: +44 024 765 75340. Email: Sotirios.Paroutis@wbs.ac.uk. Website: www.paroutis.org Sotirios Paroutis is Associate Professor of Strategic Management and Assistant Dean at Warwick Business School, UK. His research interests lie at the intersections of strategy practices and processes in challenging and complex organizational settings in the UK and globally. He uses qualitative and quantitative methods to examine the discursive, cognitive and visual activities organizational actors employ when dealing with strategic paradoxes. His work has been recognized with the 2013 Journal of Management best paper award and has appeared in outlets such as: Strategic Management Journal, Journal of Management Studies, Human Relations, Business History, California Management Review and British Journal of Management. His latest book is Practicing Strategy: Text and Cases (2nd edition, 2016, Sage). Dr. Na Fu. Lecturer in Human Resource Management and Organizational Behaviour, School of Business, Maynooth University, Kildare, Ireland. Ph.: +353 1 708 6670. Email na.fu@nuim.ie. Website: https://www.maynoothuniversity.ie/school-business/our-people/na-fu Dr. Na Fu is a Lecturer in Human Resource Management and Organizational Behaviour in School of Business at Maynooth. Before joining in Maynooth University, Dr Fu worked at Dublin City University as a postdoctoral research fellow. The fellowship was funded by the Irish Research Council (formerly IRCHSS). Na received her BA in Engineering from Northeastern University (China) and a Doctoral Degree from Dublin City University in 2011. Dr Fu’s primary research interests are focused on issues that are of central importance to the management and development of organizational innovation and performance. She has explored the wider issue of how human resource and knowledge management links to innovation and high performance, within professional service firms (PSFs). Dr Fu received two international excellence awards for her PhD thesis and one Best Student Paper Award, two Best Paper Nomination Awards, and one Best Paper from the Academy of Management Annual Meetings (2010, 2012, 2014, and 2015), Emerald Research Fund (2011, 2014), and two Best Paper Awards from Irish Academy of Management Annual Conference (2013). Her research has been published in Human Resource Management, Human Relations, Journal of Professions and Organization (lead article), Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources and Employee Relations among others. Prof. Maria Rita Tagliaventi. Associate Professor of Management Engineering, Department of Management, University of Bologna, Via Terracini 28, Bologna, 40131, Italy. Ph.: +39 051 2090203. Email: maria.tagliaventi@unibo.it. Website: https://www.unibo.it/sitoweb/maria.tagliaventi/en Maria Rita Tagliaventi is Associate Professor of Management Engineering since 2001, teaching Organizational Management and Theory and of Organizational Behavior at the School of Engineering. In 1997 and 1998 she was a post-doctoral fellow at Stanford University and she has also been teaching organizational design, organizational behavior, and team management at several major business schools in Italy. Her research activity is focused on: on qualitative research methodology in organization studies, knowledge transfer and innovation processes in teams, social identities and capabilities. Maria Rita is co-author of books and articles in journals, including Industry and Innovation, Journal of Management Inquiry, Journal of Organizational Change Management, Academy of Management Best Paper Proceedings, Human Relations and Journal of Management Studies. She has received several international research awards, among which the “Emerald Management Reviews Citation of Excellence as one of the fifty best articles published in 2006 in management” and Best conference paper at the X conference of the Italian chapter of AIS (Association of Information Systems) in 2013. Since October 2015 she is vice-director of the Department of Management of the University of Bologna. Prof. Thomas Lawton. Professor of Strategy and International Management, The Open University Business School, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA, UK. Ph: +44 (0)1908 654 753. Email: thomas.lawton@open.ac.uk. Website: http://www.thomaslawton.com/ Thomas Lawton is Professor of Strategy and International Management at the Open University Business School and Visiting Professor of Business Administration at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. He is a Founding Member of the Strategic Management Forum, Fellow of the Strategic Planning Society and Fellow of the Royal Society for the Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA). He has worked for over 20 years in consulting and executive development and has facilitated top team workshops and executive programs on corporate and international strategy at universities and corporations in Asia, Europe, the Middle East and North America. Prof. Lawton's work is situated at the intersection of strategic innovation, entrepreneurship and internationalization. His research expertise is in business model innovation; new organizational forms and strategic processes for corporate political activity (CPA) and corporate social responsibility (CSR); and the management and mitigation of political risk when entering and embedding in foreign markets. He is Associate Editor of Long Range Planning and Series Editor of the Strategy Matters book series for Routledge. He has published more than 50 papers and book chapters and is the author or editor of 8 books, including Breakout Strategy: meeting the challenge of double-digit growth (McGraw-Hill, 2007) and Aligning for Advantage: competitive strategies for the political and social arenas (Oxford University Press, 2014). Dr. Donatella Taurasi. Lecturer, Haas School of Business, University of California, and Adjunct Instructor at New Haven University, 44 Tehama St, San Francisco, CA 94105, United States. Email: dtaurasi@newhaven.edu. Website: http://www.galvanizeu.com/faculty Donatella Taurasi earned her PhD in Finance, Financial Markets, and Institutions in the Department of Management at the University of Bologna, Italy. During her graduate studies, Donatella worked as a Visiting Scholar at the Westminster Business School in London, Stern School of Business at New York University, and Haas School of Business at the University of California in Berkeley. Donatella is currently a Lecturer at Haas School of Business at the University of California and at the Fung Institute for Engineering Leadership, and a faculty member at Hult International Business School in San Francisco. At Haas and Hult, she teaches primarily in the area of Finance and Behavioral Finance. Donatella has recently joined the data science education startup Galvanize to teach an Applied Business curriculum tailored for Data Scientists. Donatella’s research interests are in the fields of Behavioral Finance, Asset Pricing, Psychology and Economics, and Household Finance.   Essential references Alvesson, M., Kärreman, D., Sturdy, A., & Handley, K. 2009. Unpacking the client(s): Constructions, positions and client–consultant dynamics. Scandinavian Journal of Management, 25(3): 253–263. Czarniawska, B., & Mazza, C. 2003. Consulting as a liminal space. Human Relations, 56(3): 267–290. Engwall, N. 2012. Business Schools And Consultancies: The Blurring Of Boundaries. In T. Clark and M. Kipping, The Oxford handbook of management consulting: 365–388. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. Fu, N. 2014. The role of relational resources in the knowledge management capability and innovation of professional service firms. Human Relations, 68: 731–764. Nikolova, N., & Devinney, T. M. 2012. The Nature of Client-Consultant Interaction: a Critical Review. In T. Clark and M. Kipping, The Oxford handbook of management consulting: 389–409. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. Paroutis, S., Franco, L. A., & Papadopoulos, T. 2015. Visual Interactions with Strategy Tools: Producing Strategic Knowledge in Workshops: Visual Interactions with Strategy Tools. British Journal of Management, 26: S48–S66. Werr, A. 2012. Knowledge management and management consulting. In T. Clark and M. Kipping, The Oxford handbook of management consulting: 247–266. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. Werr, A., & Stjernberg, T. 2003. Exploring Management Consulting Firms as Knowledge Systems. Organization Studies, 24(6): 881–908. Wright, R. P., Paroutis, S. E., & Blettner, D. P. 2013. How Useful Are the Strategic Tools We Teach in Business Schools?: Strategic Tools Usefulness. Journal of Management Studies, 50(1): 92–125.