Publications
Publications
- 2012
- The Oxford Handbook of Management Consulting
Structuring Consulting Firms
By: Tim Morris, Heidi K. Gardner and N. Anand
Abstract
This chapter presents a model of the way in which consulting and other professional-service firms organize themselves and grow. We will argue that the fundamental structural-design challenge for consulting firms, like other professional firms, is to adapt appropriately to market and institutional demands. Central to this challenge are decisions about how best to organize the expertise they marshal to compete. Expertise is organized at two levels: at a micro level through flexible project-team structures and at a macro level principally through units called practices. Macro structural choices define and promote development of the practice portfolio.
Keywords
Experience And Expertise; Management Practices And Processes; Demand And Consumers; Service Operations; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Projects; Groups And Teams; Consulting Industry; Service Industry
Citation
Morris, Tim, Heidi K. Gardner, and N. Anand. "Structuring Consulting Firms." In The Oxford Handbook of Management Consulting, edited by Matthias Kipping and Timothy Clark. Oxford University Press, 2012.