Yvette Taminiau

Innovation in management consulting firms through informal knowledge sharing

– The purpose of this paper is to describe the main obstacles for innovation in Dutch consultancy firms by focusing on the strength of informal knowledge sharing as an avenue for innovation., – This paper is the result of an empirical study based on in‐depth interviews with 29 consultants in the Netherlands., – The process of innovation can be problematic in consultancy firms. Consultants do simply not find the time to innovate, since they are mainly rewarded for client related work (billable hours). In order to innovate consultants need to share knowledge with clients, colleague consultants and their experienced superiors. The knowledge sharing routes the consultant can use, as described in this paper, are: codified, formal knowledge and informal knowledge sharing. This paper claims that the most fruitful route to innovation is informal knowledge sharing., – The importance of informal knowledge is supported by Hofstedes description of the Dutch business culture as being feminine, cultivating low power distance (low degree of inequality) and being highly individualistic. However, despite the support of the Dutch cultural setting, which supports informal knowledge sharing, this research describes the lack of management support in the innovation process as one of the main barriers to innovation.

Conflict and learning in inter-organizational online communities: negotiating knowledge claims

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to analyze how learning occurs in inter-organizational online communities, despite highly diverse even conflicting knowledge claims among participants. Design/methodology/approach – We compared two inter-organizational communities in the domain of development aid through inductive qualitative case study. Findings – We found that diverse communities proved more likely to yield conflicting knowledge claims in terms of expertise, value consensus and formal position. However, they were also better positioned for enabling mutual learning, than communities with a more uniform representation. Research limitations/implications – We provide theoretical insights for knowledge management by showing how the negotiation of knowledge claims facilitates mutual learning in inter-organizational online communities. Practical implications – The findings are practically relevant for managers of knowledge-intensive organizations by showing how knowledge is shared in diverse online comm...

Acting on frictions: learning blocks and flows in knowledge intensive organizations

Purpose – It is argued in this paper that opportunities for learning manifest themselves in the form of frictions between the structure‐as‐experienced by actors and the structure‐as‐preferred. These frictions are considered as potential triggers of learning processes. The concept of friction promises to contribute to our understanding of factors that trigger learning processes to develop, a matter that is scantly addressed so far in literature on organizational learning.Design/methodology/approach – Frictions are distinguished and analyzed in three case studies of learning processes within departments of knowledge‐intensive organizations. Six enabling conditions for organizational learning, proposed by Nonaka and Takeuchi are confronted with the findings in a comparison of the three cases.Findings – The cases show that despite the eagerness to learn found within all three departments, learning processes varied from hardly developed to well developed. By tracing what happens with frictions found, insights ...

The strength of social embeddedness: societal and cultural activism, as conditions for early Internet entrepreneurs in Amsterdam

Three theoretical notions from co-evolution, entrepreneurship, and embeddedness are used to understand the interplay between innovation and the structuring of an organizational community. A case study of early Internet activity in Amsterdam is used to chart the relevant processes in the initial phase. In this paper we focus on the Digital City that played a pivotal role in the acceptance of Internet based economic activity. In particular cultural and social activists played a role in envisioning applications of Internet in this early phase. In the social, cultural and economic sectors new organizations sprang up that formed a network that helped to start and legitimate Internet companies. We describe the main organizations, Digital City, XS4ALL and De Waag Society, that emerged from this early phase and which constituted the core group of organizations for the early Internet community in Amsterdam. The dynamics of this early phase suggest that a closer look at mix of organizations will be useful to understand the creation of successful microclimates for technology adaptation and the formation of new ventures.

Convergence or divergence? A comparison of informal consultant–client relationship development practices in Britain, France and Germany

A continuing debate in the field of management and organization studies is whether globalization is giving rise to universal ways of working. This study contributes to the debate by turning the attention to management consultancy work, an area of economic activity that is often said to be highly globalized. Drawing on qualitative research conducted in three nations – Britain, France and Germany – it explores whether and how far the informal client relationships developed by management consultants vary across countries. The findings not only reveal commonalities but also significant differences in how consultants in the three different national contexts approach issues of location, work/private life boundaries, and hierarchy in their client relationship development work. We, thus, find that despite globalization pressures, cross-national differences in management consultancy work continue to matter.

It looks like friendship but it's not, the institutional embeddedness of informal client relationships of Big 4 accountants and consultants compared

This paper offers a description of an explorative study of the importance that accountants and consultants - active in the Big 4-organisations - attribute to informal client contact. The study examined the differences between accountants and consultants from various theoretical angles, using literature on the institutional setting of the two professions as well as literature on relationship management. The differences between accountants and consultants primarily consist of the ways that the representatives of the two professions talk about the strategic use of informal settings, motives for informal client contact, and the significance of institutional rules such as codes of conduct.

Role expectations and agency in the audit tendering process

Purpose - Tenders are generally considered important in auditing research and practice, and are associated with significant difficulties for the auditing profession, as well as for individual auditors in the context of client relationships. The purpose of this paper is to explore the way auditors respond to complex client expectations related to the audit tendering process. Design/methodology/approach - Using a role-theory perspective, the authors analyzed 75 client evaluations of auditors, along with in-depth interviews with high-level auditors. Findings - The authors present a theoretical framework of audit tenders that identifies different formal and informal practices auditors may employ in response to evolving client expectations that arise throughout different phases of the tendering process, and elucidate relevant conditions that may enable or impede these practices. Research limitations/implications - First, the study reveals that, in the context of auditor-client relationships, expectations cannot be considered stable, but may vary significantly throughout the tendering process. Second, the study indicates that auditors are not only determined by the formal tendering procedures, but are also influenced by their level of agency. Practical implications - The framework has practical value by providing individual auditors guidance in managing their client relationships and, further, top management guidance for creating favorable conditions for auditors to meet client needs. Originality/value - The findings provide a deeper and more nuanced understanding of the autonomy auditors have in responding to the contemporary pressures exerted on them.

Instrumental client relationship development among top-ranking service professionals

ABSTRACT Informal client contact forms a crucial part of the daily routine of service professionals, in particular among top-ranking professionals working for consultancy and accountancy firms. In this paper, we investigate how 34 service professionals develop informal client contact, by studying their networking styles. Our study shows many similarities in informal client contact between two groups of service professionals grouped by gender, but we also found subtle differences in what we coin instrumental and expressive relations. Contrary to gender stereotypes, we found that female service professionals tended toward instrumental networking styles, using professionalism and distance and allowing the high quality of their work compensate for network deficits, contingent upon their clients’ gender. Male service professionals drew on expressive relations to develop emotional bonding with their male clients in particular, but nonetheless toward instrumental purposes. Our study contributes to service industries literature by theoretically and empirically establishing the different informal networking styles between top-ranking service professionals, and the role of emotional bonding in particular. In doing so, the paper helps to better understand the intricacies of informal client contact as a critical dimension of the professional services industry.

The process of trust creation between business partners at the golf course: a long-term process

Literature on management, as well as practical experience and various scientific studies, indicates that informal and personal interaction is of crucial importance in the world of business. Locations away from the office provide the proper circumstances for a close bond to be developed. This is particularly true for events (such as informal dinners and outdoor activities like golf). Such settings are regularly used to strengthen and consolidate long-term, trust-based relationships. In the long run, these might lead to business deals. Because these settings are so distinct from the usual professional settings, it is possible to raise personal matters and to have a conversation on far less rigid terms. This study, which focuses on the instrumentality of social relations, shows that informality in business relations is a way to create long-term, trust-based relationships between (potential) business partners at the golf course in the Netherlands.