Guess who's coming to dinner? Structures and uses of liminality in strategic management consultancy

Abstract

Organizational studies have recently drawn our attention to the importance of liminality in our working lives. This transitional timespace is characteristic of precarious or mobile employment such as temporary, project and consulting work especially. It is understood as a fluid and largely unstructured space where normal order is suspended and which is experienced as both unsettling and creative. This article critically explores liminality through a detailed study of the neglected activities of business dinners and back-stage management consultancy. We argue that liminality can in fact be a highly and multi-structured, comfortable and strategic or tactical space. We find that the use of wider norms and routines of eating and socializing as well as of hierarchical patterns of working and of exclusion and inclusion shape the experience and outcomes of liminality. Moreover, we highlight how the context of liminality is sustained by highly structured organizational activities in the production of domestic and public meals. We conclude that business meals mark a traditional, rather than modern, practice where ‘official secrets’ continue to grease the wheels of commerce. At the most senior levels especially, the liminality between work and private spheres can be far from unsettling and fluid.

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

“…Sturdy, 1997aSturdy, , 2009Sturdy, Schwarz and Spicer, 2006;Sturdy, Wylie and Wright, forthcoming;Sturdy et al, 2009). It is structured as follows.…”

“…Engwall, Furusten and Wallerstedt, 2002) Back-stage promotion/networking can bypass resistance and/or undermine more transparent or alternative forms of agenda setting and decision making and/or can generate resentment (e.g. Jones, 2003;Saint-Martin, 2004;Sturdy, Schwarz and Spicer, 2006) Consultancy business needs for new products reinforces turnover of management ideas and intensifies change and performance imperatives (e.g. Kieser, 2002) Seeking 'sell on' in projects can generate anti-consultancy sentiment and provoke more controlling/professional purchasing practices and/or help develop longer-term client relations (e.g.…”

Instrumental client relationship development among top-ranking service professionals

“…Although prior studies have already established this kind of behavior among service professionals (Sturdy et al, 2006. ), we showed how service professionals purposefully took clients out of their comfort zones (namely, the conventional business setting of the office) and encourage relationship development at a more personal level, drawing on emotional bonding.…”

“…Indeed, an interpersonal 'fit' between the consultant and the client is considered a critical success factor in service provision (Fullerton & West, 1996, p. 41). Such a 'fit' is underpinned by trust, cooperation and informal interaction (Nikolova et al, 2009;Sturdy, Schwarz, & Spicer, 2006). The art of creating an interpersonal fit has become more important, as consultants have to make more effort to retain their clients, due to increasingly competitive environments (Nikolova et al, 2009).…”

“…Informal client relationships play an important role in this regard (Czarniawska & Mazza, 2003;Levin & Cross, 2004;Sturdy et al, 2006;Taminiau et al, 2013). This study has provided insights into the different ways in which topranking women and men within large professional service organizations use networking styles in informal client contact, which is primarily important toward fostering understanding of how to maintain a competitive edge within professional service firms, and more effectively drawing from a firm's talent pool.…”