IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/servic/v24y2004i3p1-18.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Take the money and run? Organisational boundaries and consultants' roles

Author

Listed:
  • Jim Kitay
  • Christopher Wright

Abstract

Criticisms of management consultants are increasingly common, but are also frequently based on simplistic assertions that powerful consultants exploit uncertain or ignorant clients. We argue that considerable insight to the tensions between consultants and clients can be gained by focusing on the boundary relationship between them. Using the work of Granovetter, we explore how organisational boundaries vary in their permeability. Consultant roles vary from that of ‘outsider’, based on simple market exchange of payment for advice or service, to ‘insider’, in which a web of social ties develops in what are often long-lasting relationships. Although criticisms of consultants are sometimes based merely on misunderstanding the nature of these roles, we argue that tensions frequently arise through the activities of both consultants and clients in terms of their boundary relationships.

Suggested Citation

  • Jim Kitay & Christopher Wright, 2004. "Take the money and run? Organisational boundaries and consultants' roles," The Service Industries Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(3), pages 1-18, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:servic:v:24:y:2004:i:3:p:1-18
    DOI: 10.1080/0264206042000247731
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/0264206042000247731
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/0264206042000247731?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Heusinkveld, Stefan & Visscher, Klaasjan, 2012. "Practice what you preach: How consultants frame management concepts as enacted practice," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 28(4), pages 285-297.
    2. Pauline Jas, 2013. "The role of interim managers in performance improvement: evidence from English local authorities," Public Money & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(1), pages 15-22, January.
    3. Alvesson, Mats & Kärreman, Dan & Sturdy, Andrew & Handley, Karen, 2006. "Unpacking the Client(s): Constructions, Positions and Client-Consultant Dynamics," Working Paper Series 2006/6, Lund University, Institute of Economic Research.
    4. Svenja Keele, 2019. "Consultants and the business of climate services: implications of shifting from public to private science," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 157(1), pages 9-26, November.
    5. Yvette Taminiau & Julie Ferguson & Christine Moser, 2016. "Instrumental client relationship development among top-ranking service professionals," The Service Industries Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(15-16), pages 789-808, December.
    6. Rajneesh Chowdhury, 2023. "Methodological Flexibility in Systems Thinking: Musings from the Standpoint of a Systems Consultant," Systemic Practice and Action Research, Springer, vol. 36(1), pages 59-86, February.
    7. Iuan-Yuan Lu & Teng-Hu Su & Ing-Chung Huang, 2009. "Consulting knowledge and organisation's absorptive capacity: A communication chain perspective," The Service Industries Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(12), pages 2007-2022, June.
    8. Yvette Taminiau & Julie E. Ferguson, 2015. "From purists to players? How service industry professionals develop social skills for informal client relationships," International Journal of Management Concepts and Philosophy, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 9(1), pages 40-62.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:servic:v:24:y:2004:i:3:p:1-18. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/FSIJ20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.