Translating management ideas: consultants as language artificers

Abstract

Using translation theory and management ideas literature, we aim to understand how organizational consultants use linguistic elements to circulate management ideas. We carried out a qualitative study with 16 consultants, using content and rhetoric analysis in semi-structured interviews. Results indicate the use of translation throughout the consultants’ work, allowing them to obtain legitimacy in the field. We showed that to move between different segments and organizational sizes, consultants persuasively use rhetoric, combined with practical and theoretical knowledge, through a mechanism we call ‘translation into practice,’ which aims to adapt concepts to the realities consulted. Consultants also resort to specific vocabularies and language games, emphasizing the strategic importance of language use for this occupational group that aims to professionalize itself in contemporary society.