The article contains the results of a four-year, two-phase research project and draws on such sources as ethnographic data, a survey, formal interviews and various writings.
The first phase used an in-depth study of Scandtel Consulting to develop a preliminary understanding of the challenges involved in managing corporate consultancies for customer solutions. Considerable ethnographic data was accessible because one of the authors was a part-time Scandtel Consulting employee. The data included observations of informal dialogues with consultants and managers, internal meetings and workshops, formal and informal management communications, postings in electronic forums and more. Seventeen semistructured interviews and a survey concerning the perceived identity of Scandtel Consulting (141 respondents, a response rate of 50.1%) also were carried out among people within Scandtel Consulting.
In a second phase, the validity and generalizability of central management challenges found in the Scandtel Consulting case were elaborated upon and tested against data from a larger sample. Eleven interviews were conducted, mostly with CEOs and presidents of corporate consultancies. A workshop with executives of corporate consultancies on managing the challenges provided additional insights and validation. To broaden the empirical basis of the research further, 25 corporate consultancies and their parent organizations were studied through secondary material such as Web sites and scholarly literature.
Data analysis followed a grounded-theory approach (generating theory on the basis of detailed insights from fieldwork). Given the sparsity... To read the complete article, login or sign-up using the form below.
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