Managing international professional service firms: a review and future research agenda

Abstract

PurposeResearch on international professional service firms (PSFs) has grown in recent years, reflecting the increasing relevance of these firms in the global economy. However, to date, no attempt has been made to systematically examine and integrate this literature. This study reviews the body of knowledge on the international management of PSFs and proposes a future research agenda that aims to strengthen the research on international PSFs, by applying the conceptual lens of PSF characteristics.Design/methodology/approachA systematic review of 108 empirical articles on the management of international PSFs was carried out.FindingsThe authors analyse where, how and what research was carried out on the international management of PSFs, and find that currently the field offers few opportunities to integrate findings or explain differences across different types of international PSFs. In recommendations for future research, the authors show how the lens of PSF characteristics can help overcome these issues and unveil promising avenues for future research that will lead to a more fine-grained theorising and understanding of the international management of PSFs.Originality/valueThe study provides a comprehensive state of the art of research on the international management of PSFs and a future research agenda, which builds on PSF characteristics to explore and better understand the heterogeneity of international PSFs, in order to develop more robust explanations of their behaviour and open new research avenues.

Unsettling West-centrism in the study of professional service firms

“…Much of this research has been developed based on studies conducted in transnational PSFs and, understandably, the themes of 'internationalization' and 'globalization' have received attention too. The literature on these themes is substantial and this is not the place to review it (see e.g., Boussebaa and Faulconbridge, 2016;Boussebaa and Morgan, 2015;O'Higgins et al, 2022), but I will return to it below. Suffice to say at this stage that a growing number of PSFs operate internationally and the largest are often said to be 'global' in scope, capability and impact.…”