Professional Services Firms

The unspoken side of mutual adjustment: Understanding intersubjective negotiation in small professional service firms

by Oliver Mallett

International Small Business Journal, forthcoming. Co-authored with R. Wapshott

This article critically analyses intersubjective negotiation in the context of the small firm employment relationship,... more This article critically analyses intersubjective negotiation in the context of the small firm employment relationship, generally acknowledged as ad hoc, contested and negotiated, producing mutual adjustment between owner-managers and employees. Drawing on detailed qualitative empirical material from three small professional service firms, we argue that explicit instances of formal or informal negotiation cannot be understood as discrete events disassociated from ongoing, everyday intersubjective negotiations. The negotiation of employment relationships and working practices, especially in ambiguity-intensive small professional service firms, frequently draws on the perception of other actors' value or interests rather than on any direct engagement with them. This intersubjective guesswork underlying mutual adjustment is potentially dysfunctional as outcomes can arise that satisfy neither owner-manager nor employee interests. We suggest that understanding employment relationships in small professional service firms requires greater focus on individuals’ perceptions and the ways in which their relative positions are structured in intersubjective mutual (mis)recognition.

Competence Assessment and the conceptualization of the ideal professional in professional service firmsl

by Annika Schilling

Paper co-authored with Andreas Werr and presented at the 5th International Conference on Management Consulting, Adacemy of Management, Management Consulting Division, Amsterdam, 2011.

This paper investigates what competence is sought for and promoted by Professional Service Firms (PSFs) in different... more This paper investigates what competence is sought for and promoted by Professional Service Firms (PSFs) in different professional service sectors. The study is based on interviews in 23 PSFs in 8 different professional service sectors in Sweden and focuses on the HRM practices and processes in these firms. Recruitment criteria emphasized in the PSFs are presented and compared in order to find patterns within and between the professional service sectors of how the competence of the ideal professional is conceptualized. This results in a discussion of the limited importance of formal knowledge, the skills and attitudes of a “generic professional”, industry specific skills and attitudes and the balancing act between different competence attributes in PSFs.

Keeping track of talents: HRM related use of ICT in professional service firms

by Annika Schilling

Paper co-authored with Jan Löwstedt and Andreas Werr and presented at the Nordic Academy of Management (NFF) conference at Stockholm University, Sweden, 2011.

"Talent factories" and "expert houses": patterns of human resource management in professional service firms

by Annika Schilling

Chapter co-authored with Andreas Werr in the book The future of knowledge intensive service work (eds. IPOB, Marburg: Metropolis, 2011.

Managing differences in post-merger integration: The case of a professional service firm

by Annika Schilling

Article co-authored with Jan Löwstedt, Marie Tomicic and Andreas Werr and published in Nordiske Organisasjonsstudier, 2003.

This paper takes a process perspective on post-merger integration in professional service firms. Based on a... more This paper takes a process perspective on post-merger integration in professional service firms. Based on a longitudinal study of a merger between two consulting companies, it is suggested that the management of differences plays an important role in shaping the post-merger integration process. Four different ways of managing differences are identified in the four phases of the post-merger process. The interplay between the integration process, the ideational context and the economic environment explain the transition from one phase to another, suggesting that post-merger integration processes in professional service firms are highly context-sensitive. It is also suggested that post-merger integration processes need to be understood as an emerging interplay between the internal dynamics of the integration process and the external dynamics of the economic and ideational environment of the merger.

Understanding professionls' reactions to strategic change: the role of threatened professional identities

by Annika Schilling

Article co-authored with Andreas Werr, Sébastien Gand and Jean-Claude Sardas and published in The Service Industries Journal, forthcoming 2012.

This article develops and demonstrates the utility of a framework for understanding professionals' reactions to... more This article develops and demonstrates the utility of a framework for understanding professionals' reactions to strategic change in professional service firms as an interplay between a strategic intent, its manifestation in organizational roles and practices and its fit with existing professional identities. The application of the framework with three case studies shows that strategic changes may threaten different aspects of professional identities (self-enhancement, self-continuity and self-distinctiveness) which in turn tends to lead to different kinds of resistance from the professionals (exit, voice for opposition or voice for renegotiation). The article also links these different reactions to the locus of identification of professionals, which may be either ‘local’ or ‘cosmopolitan’.

Why do Turkish Cypriots set up businesses in Britain? The case of Turkish Cypriot Solicitors and Restaurateurs in Britain

by Mustafa Ozbilgin

Inal, G., Özbilgin, M. and Karatas-Ozkan, M. (2008) Why do Turkish Cypriots set up businesses in Britain? The case of Turkish Cypriot Solicitors and Restaurateurs in Britain, in Talip Kucukcan (ed), Turks in Europe, Istanbul: ISAM.

This article is concerned with the business set up reasons of Turkish Cypriots in Britain, mainly in London,... more This article is concerned with the business set up reasons of Turkish Cypriots in Britain, mainly in London, highlighting the multiple impact of on their business set up reasons and choices in the restaurant and legal sectors. We examine four key reasons that account for the experinces of Turkish Cypriots in founding businesses in Britain. The first three reasons are examined, drawing on a thematic review of the extant literature, whilst the fourth reason is informed by a field study. First, we explain the significance of history in shaping the experiences of Turkish Cypriots’ entry into business sectors in Britain.  Second, migration is explored in terms of its impact on choices and constraints of business formation for the Turkish Cypriots in Britain. Third, we reveal how intergenerational change marks their business set up patterns and routes. Fourth, we examine the significance of lived experience through a field study conducted among Turkish Cypriot solicitors and restaurateurs in Britain (Inal, 2007). Finally, the article draws out key conclusions reflecting on business set up patterns of Turkish Cypriot community in Britain.

Integrating Professional Work and Life: Conditions, Outcomes and Resources

by Stephan Kaiser

Managing offshore branch campuses : An analytical framework for institutional strategies

by Farshid Shams

Published in journal of studies in international education, May 2012, 16(2)
DOI: 10.1177/1028315311413470

The aim of this article is to develop a framework that encapsulates the key managerial complexities of running... more The aim of this article is to develop a framework that encapsulates the key managerial complexities of running offshore branch campuses. In the transnational higher education (TNHE) literature, several managerial ramifications and impediments have been addressed by scholars and practitioners. However, the strands of the literature are highly scattered and not addressing the issues coherently and consistently. Therefore, in the first section of this article, we review the literature and highlight this fragmentation. In the second section, we borrow and explore a paradigm from the strategic management literature, known as the dichotomy of global integration (I) versus local responsiveness (R).This paradigm leads us to construct a multidimensional framework that proposes a perceptive insight into the field by reframing, reconceptualizing, and synthesizing the managerial complexities from a strategic perspective. It also highlights the hazards of taking polarized strategic stances (global integration or local responsiveness); the analysis suggests a “both-and” approach.We argue that the framework could be used as an analytical tool for TNHE institutions to reflect on their positions and potential change strategies.