IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hhb/lufewp/2006_006.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Unpacking the Client(s): Constructions, Positions and Client-Consultant Dynamics

Author

Listed:
  • Alvesson, Mats

    (Department of Business Administration, School of Economics and Management, Lund University)

  • Kärreman, Dan

    (Department of Business Administration, School of Economics and Management, Lund University)

  • Sturdy, Andrew

    (Warwick Business School)

  • Handley, Karen

    (Oxford Brookes University)

Abstract

Increasing attention is being given to professional services in organisation and management theory. Whether the focus is on organisational forms or service processes such as knowledge transfer, the role of clients is often seen as central. However, typically, clients continue to be presented in a largely static, pre-structured and even monolithic way. While some recognition is given to the diversity of organisational clients and, to a lesser extent, individual clients, little attention has been given to the process by which 'the client' is actively constructed, negotiated and contested by actors. This process generates changing and multiple client positions according to different interpretive logics. Drawing on different research projects on management consultancy, we argue that what is meant by the client cannot be taken for granted. Rather, the notion of 'the client' is (inter)actively-produced, dynamic and potentially heterogeneous. This has implications for our understanding of management consultancy and professional services as well as client-consultant dynamics, including ways in which they share knowledge, develop relationships and engage in project activities.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhb:lufewp:2006_006
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.lri.lu.se/pdf/wp/2006-6.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Paul R. Carlile, 2004. "Transferring, Translating, and Transforming: An Integrative Framework for Managing Knowledge Across Boundaries," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 15(5), pages 555-568, October.
    2. Schein, Edgar H., 1997. "The concept of client from a process consultation perspective : a guide for change agents," Working papers WP 3946-97., Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Sloan School of Management.
    3. 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.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Anne Casati & Corine Genet, 2014. "Principal investigators as scientific entrepreneurs," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 39(1), pages 11-32, February.
    2. Momparler, Alexandre & Carmona, Pedro & Lassala, Carlos, 2015. "Quality of consulting services and consulting fees," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 68(7), pages 1458-1462.
    3. Jessica Persson & Ann Svensson & Ingela Grönbeck Lindén & Sven Kylén & Catharina Hägglin, 2022. "Aspects of Expansive Learning in the Context of Healthy Ageing—A Formative Intervention between Dental Care and Municipal Healthcare," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(3), pages 1-16, January.
    4. Emmanuelle Vaast & Geoff Walsham, 2009. "Trans-Situated Learning: Supporting a Network of Practice with an Information Infrastructure," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 20(4), pages 547-564, December.
    5. Daniele T. P. Souza & Eugenia A. Kuhn & Arjen E. J. Wals & Pedro R. Jacobi, 2020. "Learning in, with, and through the Territory: Territory-Based Learning as a Catalyst for Urban Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-19, April.
    6. Marte C.W. Solheim & Ron Boschma & Sverre Herstad, 2018. "Related variety, unrelated variety and the novelty content of firm innovation in urban and non-urban locations," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 1836, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised Oct 2018.
    7. Swan, Jacky & Goussevskaia, Anna & Newell, Sue & Robertson, Maxine & Bresnen, Mike & Obembe, Ademola, 2007. "Modes of organizing biomedical innovation in the UK and US and the role of integrative and relational capabilities," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(4), pages 529-547, May.
    8. Tzeng, Cheng-Hua, 2018. "How foreign knowledge spillovers by returnee managers occur at domestic firms: An institutional theory perspective," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 27(3), pages 625-641.
    9. Winkler Renata, 2014. "Training and knowledge transfer at the interface of cultures," Management, Sciendo, vol. 18(1), pages 1-14, May.
    10. Maria Franca Norese & Diana Rolando & Rocco Curto, 2023. "DIKEDOC: a multicriteria methodology to organise and communicate knowledge," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 325(2), pages 1049-1082, June.
    11. Marco Tortoriello & Ray Reagans & Bill McEvily, 2012. "Bridging the Knowledge Gap: The Influence of Strong Ties, Network Cohesion, and Network Range on the Transfer of Knowledge Between Organizational Units," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 23(4), pages 1024-1039, August.
    12. Maggie Chuoyan Dong & Yulin Fang & Detmar W. Straub, 2017. "The Impact of Institutional Distance on the Joint Performance of Collaborating Firms: The Role of Adaptive Interorganizational Systems," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 28(2), pages 309-331, June.
    13. Daniel Ebakoleaneh Ufua, 2020. "Exploring the Effectiveness of Boundary Critique in an Intervention: a Case in the Niger Delta Region, Nigeria," Systemic Practice and Action Research, Springer, vol. 33(5), pages 485-499, October.
    14. Jared Fortune & Ricardo Valerdi, 2013. "A framework for reusing systems engineering products," Systems Engineering, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 16(3), pages 304-312, September.
    15. 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.
    16. Burcharth, Ana Luiza Lara de Araújo & Lettl, Christopher & Ulhøi, John Parm, 2015. "Extending organizational antecedents of absorptive capacity: Organizational characteristics that encourage experimentation," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 90(PA), pages 269-284.
    17. Justin J. P. Jansen & Michiel P. Tempelaar & Frans A. J. van den Bosch & Henk W. Volberda, 2009. "Structural Differentiation and Ambidexterity: The Mediating Role of Integration Mechanisms," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 20(4), pages 797-811, August.
    18. Kodama, Mitsuru & Hashimoto, Keisuke, 2024. "Research on high-end disruptive innovations - Analysis and insights from the video conferencing systems market," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    19. Alison Bullock & Zoё Slote Morris & Christine Atwell, 2013. "Exchanging knowledge through healthcare manager placements in research teams," The Service Industries Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(13-14), pages 1363-1380, October.
    20. Hunt, Chris & Bui, Binh & Fowler, Carolyn, 2008. "A Risk-focused Performance Management System Framework for Planning Change in Organisations: New Zealand 'Gentailers' and the ETS," Working Paper Series 4013, Victoria University of Wellington, The New Zealand Institute for the Study of Competition and Regulation.

    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:hhb:lufewp:2006_006. 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.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with 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: Elsbeth Andersson (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ielunse.html .

    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.