Lars Engwall

Management consulting : emergence and dynamics of a knowledge industry

knowledge. They rightly caution us to attend not only to the forces that drive homogeneity of management practices but also to those that lead to variation: the ambiguity of labels, the process of translation, the significance of context, and the political processes inherent in management expansion. Finally, they direct our attention to the impact of management expansion: the increasing importance for all to be able to speak the language of management and the reciprocal effects of management knowledge expansion and institutional change. They conclude their volume by urging more com-Introduction PART I: HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES ON THE CONSULTING INDUSTRY 1. The Acquisition of Symbolic Capital by Consultants: The French Case 2. The Changing Relationship Between Management Consulting and Academia: Evidence from Sweden 3. Management Consultancies in the Netherlands in the 1950s and 1960s: Between Systemic Context and External Influences 4. The Rise and Fall of a Local Version of Management Consulting in Finland PART II: ORGANIZATIONAL PERSPECTIVES ON THE CONSULTANCY FIRM 5. The Internal Creation of Consulting Knowledge: A Question of Structuring Experience 6. Knowledge Management at Country Level: A Large Consulting Firm in Italy 7. Collaborative Relationships in the Creation and Fashioning of Management Ideas: Gurus, Editors, and Managers 8. Consultancies as Actors in Knowledge Arenas: Evidence from Germany PART III: RELATIONSHIP PERSPECTIVES ON THE CONSULTANCY PROJECT 9. Managers as Marionettes? Using Fashion Theories to Explain the Success of Consultancies 10. Promoting Demand, Gaining Legitimacy, and Broadening Expertise: The Evolution of Consultancy-Client Relationships in Australia 11. The Burden of Otherness: Limits of Consultancy Interventions in Historical Case Studies 12. Managers and Consultants as Embedded Actors: Evidence from Norway

Tit for tat in small steps: the internationalization of Swedish banks

Earlier studies of the internationalization of manufacturing firms have shown that they tend to start their foreign operations in countries that are culturally close to their own and then gradually move to more alien ground. If banks follow their customers abroad, we would expect their internationalization to assume a similar pattern. Their penetration of foreign markets could also be expected to be related to direct foreign investments and exports. An empirical test in the case of major Swedish banks did not support this hypothesis. Instead these banks tended to concentrate their internationalization efforts to important financial centres. Thus they have not only chosen to establish themselves in places where many international banks are already working, but they have also tended to follow each other in a pattern of tit for tat. The nature of this process supports the idea suggested in earlier studies that internationalization is generally a gradual process, starting with minor commitments which are developed over time.

The Vikings versus the world: An examination of Nordic business research

This paper presents the results of an analysis of the articles published by Nordic management scholars in the 15 most important business research journals during the period 1981-1992. The analysis shows that the predominance of North American scholars in these journals is massive. However, although Nordic management researchers account for only about 1% of all the authorships, they constitute an important minority in the field. These Northerners are more successful in the European journals and tend to focus mainly on accounting and organizational problems. Their frame of reference is heavily influenced by the Carnegie-Tech tradition, that is the works of Richard M. Cyert, James G. March and Herbert A. Simon. This means that their publication behaviour in international journals is rather similar to that which appears in the Scandinavian Journal of Management.

Mercury Meets Minerva

Abstract Business schools constitute large and important elements of the modern academic system throughout the world. The experiences in Sweden show that this position has not been reached without resistance. The development of the discipline there has occurred particularly during the last three decades as a result of governmental support to business education. Before that, several efforts to prevent the introduction of business administration in the traditional universities could be observed. Early in the present century there were barriers to entry from established departments in the universities, which, however, were overcome by supporters of business education through the creation of private business schools in Stockholm and Gothenburg. These two institutions eventually opposed new proposals to introduce business administration at the universities. They abandoned their resistance, however, as government support was necessary for their own survival. The pattern from Sweden seems to have counterparts in several other countries.

Introduction The Dissemination of Management Knowledge

or as a whole package but was introduced carefully and adapted to existing constraints and sensibilities. Finally, regarding the different individuals and groups sponsoring its implementation, the authors also found considerable variation in the case firms. In particular, and maybe surprisingly, accountants appeared to have no special affinity with the fashion. Overall therefore, the article contributes to the critique of dissemination theory, which suggests that the adoption of management ideas is mainly driven from the outside of companies and that the latter can at best reinterpret or translate these fashions. While broad ideas like ‘knowledge’ and ‘intellectual assets’ circulate in and around organizations, they—according to Fincham and Roslender—need to find a resonance with companies’ current and historic situations in order to be taken up by managers. Adoption therefore seems as much a product of organizational demand as the supply of ideas—a finding that is broadly in line with many previous studies on the ‘Americanization’ of European and Japanese firms after the Second World War.

The Americanization of Nordic Management Education

Based on the new institutional theory, this article analyzes the basic structures of academic management education in the Nordic countries. First, it provides evidence on the institutional development and role models. Second, it demonstrates how significant actors have adopted ideas from abroad. Third, it presents evidence of the effects within institutional structures by means of data on curricula in the four Nordic countries. The development has to a considerable extent implied a move from a European, primarily German, inspiration to an American one.

Foreign bank penetration of newly opened markets in the Nordic countries

The opening to foreign banks in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden provides us with an opportunity to study entry, survival and success in a situation where the entrants were subject to the liability of foreignness but not the liability of newness. We find that despite low survival rates, on balance the entrants gained market share (in terms of the assets of the banking system) over time. Our results for the role of time, links to the home market and problems facing domestic competitors were strongly in accordance with expectations in the cases of Denmark, mixed or indeterminate for Finland and Norway, and strongly opposite in the case of Sweden. Lastly, our results are broadly consistent with the Stiglitz-Weiss argument that new entrants, in this case foreign banks, buy entry by accepting worse lending risks.

Banks in Industrial Networks

Banks are important institutions by reason of their role as intermediaries between the holders of surplus capital and those in need of financial resources. They are therefore often mentioned as vital nodes in modern economies, with substantial power positions in relation to their clients. In recent years deregulation and the development of information technology have prompted several observers to conclude that the former long-term relationships in banking have disappeared. This development is analysed in the present paper with the help of a model of industrial networks, focusing on relationships, dependencies, connections and positions. In addition the dynamic and uncontrollable character of networks is stressed. It is argued that the changes mentioned will imply new relationships and banking links with a wider industrial network than before. Some relations are likely to disappear, and new ones established. In this process banks will actively employ different strategies in order to link and control activities in the industrial network.

Foreign role models and standardisation in Nordic business education

This paper presents an analysis of role models for the two oldest business schools in the four Nordic countries -- Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. The schools are studied with respect to their institutional development and their present curricula. The data presented lends support to the idea that cultural affinity has been important to the choice of such models, and that national followers have tended to adapt to domestic leaders. It is also shown that the Nordic business schools appear to exhibit a mix of local and US features.

Preface: The Transfer of Management Knowledge to Peripheral Countries

Recent literature has increasingly recognized the expansion of management knowledge and its application beyond its original cultural and institutional context (e.g., Engwall and Kipping 2004; Sahlin-Andersson and Engwall 2002). Most empirical studies in this respect have examined the influence of U.S. management and technology models on Europe and Japan after World War II (e.g., Djelic 1998; Kipping and Bjarnar 1998; Kudo, Kipping, and Schröter 2004) or the application of Japanese management techniques in Western companies during the 1980s (e.g., Lillrank 1995; Pascale 1982; Shiomi and Wada 1996). Particular attention has been devoted to the different carriers of management knowledge, including productivity centers, business schools, consultancies, and multinationals (e.g., Amdam, Kvålshaugen, and Larsen 2003; Engwall and Zamagni 1998; Kipping and Engwall 2002). In many cases, the adoption and adaptation of U.S. or Japanese management ideas and practices are seen as an important ingredient for the subsequent success of companies from these countries in international markets (e.g., Kudo et