Struggling to organize across national borders: The case of global resource management in professional service firms

Abstract

A growing body of research has challenged the commonly accepted view that multinationals have evolved into globally integrated networks, demonstrating instead that such organizations are sites of conflict between competing rationalities emerging from distinctive national institutional contexts. However, this research has neglected professional service firms (PSFs) in spite of them often being held as exemplars of the integrated network model. This article redresses this imbalance by focusing, in particular, on how PSFs seek to coordinate the horizontal flow of their human resources as a mechanism of inter-unit knowledge sharing. Drawing upon interviews in four PSFs, I show that these organizations have developed resource management systems that cannot simply be reduced to national institutional contexts. However, I also demonstrate that the process of resource management is subject to inter-unit conflicts that undermine its raison d'être. I argue that these tensions are symptomatic of both the Anglo-American model of multinational management and cross-national differences in market conditions.

Consultancy's Consequences? A Critical Assessment of Management Consultancy's Impact on Management

“…As we have seen, consultancy is often presented as a global phenomenon and certainly, as McKenna claims, as being 'deeply embedded in all of the developed economies' (McKenna, 2006, p. xiii). Indeed, partly as a consequence of the need to respond to the needs of multinational clients and to take advantage of economic changes in different regions, international consulting firms have offices spread widely (Boussebaa, 2009;Jones, 2003). Furthermore, their influence is likely to extend beyond that of their particular office locations.…”

The work of global professional service firms

“…For instance, research in the context of some of the largest international management consultancies shows how employees, whilst subscribing to the idea of the 'global' firm, tend to act in ways that, paradoxically, militate against global integration (Boussebaa, 2009;Boussebaa et al, 2012).…”

Knowing your boundaries: Integration opportunities in international professional service firms

“…industry deregulation, technological developments, and increased globalization) have led to an internationalization of PSFs (Brock, Powell, & Hinings, 1999;Flood, 1995;Greenwood & Lachman, 1996;Segal-Horn & Dean, 2007). IPSFs are able to integrate some of their service offerings globally (Boussebaa, 2009;Faulconbridge, et al, 2008;Segal-Horn & Dean, 2009). Their multidisciplinary practices often lead to a portfolio of services with different underlying business models and, thus, opportunities for global integration to achieve economies of scale.…”

“…Professional services are generally considered to be difficult to standardize (Løwendahl, 1997;Maister, 1993) since knowledgeable individual local experts are central to what these firms offer. Nevertheless, an increasing number of professional service firms (PSFs) are internationalizing and, thereby, gaining scale advantages (Boussebaa, 2009;Brock, 2006;Brock & Powell, 2005;Faulconbridge, Beaverstock, Muzio, & Taylor, 2008;Greenwood & Empson, 2003;Hitt, Bierman, Uhlenbruck, & Shimizu, 2006;Segal-Horn & Dean, 2009, 2007. Our empirical investigations involve different business models in two mature IPSFs that serve both local and global markets.…”