The Feminine in Management Consulting : Power, Emotion and Values in Consulting Interactions

Through live material from consulting practice and an historical review of advice-giving to pre-modern leaders, this book uncovers a distinctive feminine discourse of management consulting. This new lens challenges current literature on management consulting that relies on established (masculine) images. Contents 8 List of Tables and Figures 13 Acknowledgements 14 Introduction 16 Starting points 17 The unfolding 'feminine' 18 ‘Critical consulting' practice? 20 What am I aiming to achieve? 21 The shape of the book 21 Part I: Consulting: Exploring the Terrain 26 Chapter 1 Studying Consulting from the Inside: What Do I Mean by Consulting and How Did I Research It? 28 Introduction 28 Defining consulting? 28 The context of my consulting work 29 The consulting work I studied 33 How I approached the research 36 Researching women 41 Chapter 2 Consultants, Confidantes and Consorts: A Genealogy of Consulting and Advice-Giving to Organisational Leaders 44 Introduction 44 Developing a 'genealogical' review 46 Advice-giving in the ancient world 48 Early centuries in Europe 55 The Renaissance 57 Towards the modern: 17th and 18th centuries 65 Women's roles: from confidantes and consorts to consultants 66 Conclusions 79 Chapter 3 Images of Consulting: What Currently Shapes How We See Consulting and How It Works? 83 Introduction 83 Consulting as an economic transaction 86 Consulting as a service 87 The 'advice industry' 93 The 'knowledge industry' 101 Consulting as a profession? 110 Consulting as performance and rhetoric 112 Women in consulting 120 Conclusions 122 Chapter 4 Consulting as a Discursive Practice 126 Introduction 126 Learning from the genealogy: 'feminine' discourses of advice-giving 126 Discourses of consulting from contemporary ('masculine') images 128 Contested issues and competing discourses of consulting 129 Where has exploring the terrain of consulting taken us? 135 Part II: Discourse Analysis of Consulting Interactions 138 Chapter 5 Researching Consulting Interactions: From Process Ontology to Critical Discourse Analysis 140 Introduction 140 A process based approach 141 Studying discourse and discursive practices 144 Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) 148 The unfolding research process 155 Chapter 6 Women Consultants in Action: Critical Discourse Analysis of 'Live' Consulting Interaction 164 Introduction 164 The National Policy work 169 The One-to-One work 175 The Strategic Health Authority work 181 The Local Authority work 186 The University work 189 The Voluntary Sector work 196 Reviewing the discourse analysis 202 Chapter 7 Consultants Reflecting on their Work: Critical Discourse Analysis of Reflective Material 205 Introduction 205 Reflective stories from my colleagues 206 Stories from other women consultants 214 My own talk about consulting 219 Men's voices 229 Learning from the CDA process 235 Part III: Making Sense 240 Chapter 8 What is Going On in Consulting Interactions?: Exploring Meta-themes of Power, Emotion and Values 242 Introduction 242 Power in the interactions and stories 243 Emotion in the interactions and stories 248 Values in the commercial process 252 Interwoven themes with gendered dimensions 257 Chapter 9 Femininities and Consulting: (Re-)animating a 'Feminine' Discourse of Consulting 261 Introduction 261 Locating the 'feminine' 262 The 'feminine' in my study 268 A 'feminine' discourse of consulting 284 Conclusion 288 Chapter 10 Toward a 'Critical Consulting' Practice: The Contribution of a 'Feminine' Discourse of Consulting 291 Introduction 291 Where has my work taken us? 291 What can we learn from a 'feminine' discourse of consulting? 296 Developing a 'critical consulting' practice 298 In critical mood... 301 Final words... 303 Notes 304 References 311 Index 328 A 328 B 328 C 328 D 329 E 330 F 330 G 331 H 331 I 331 J 331 K 331 L 331 M 331 O 332 P 332 R 332 S 332 T 333 U 333 V 333 W 333 Z 333 9780230207165 Contents......Page 8 List of Tables and Figures......Page 13 Acknowledgements......Page 14 Introduction......Page 16 Starting points......Page 17 The unfolding 'feminine'......Page 18 ‘Critical consulting' practice?......Page 20 The shape of the book......Page 21 Part I: Consulting: Exploring the Terrain......Page 26 Defining consulting?......Page 28 The context of my consulting work......Page 29 The consulting work I studied......Page 33 How I approached the research......Page 36 Researching women......Page 41 Introduction......Page 44 Developing a 'genealogical' review......Page 46 Advice-giving in the ancient world......Page 48 Early centuries in Europe......Page 55 The Renaissance......Page 57 Towards the modern: 17th and 18th centuries......Page 65 Women's roles: from confidantes and consorts to consultants......Page 66 Conclusions......Page 79 Introduction......Page 83 Consulting as an economic transaction......Page 86 Consulting as a service......Page 87 The 'advice industry'......Page 93 The 'knowledge industry'......Page 101 Consulting as a profession?......Page 110 Consulting as performance and rhetoric......Page 112 Women in consulting......Page 120 Conclusions......Page 122 Learning from the genealogy: 'feminine' discourses of advice-giving......Page 126 Discourses of consulting from contemporary ('masculine') images......Page 128 Contested issues and competing discourses of consulting......Page 129 Where has exploring the terrain of consulting taken us?......Page 135 Part II: Discourse Analysis of Consulting Interactions......Page 138 Introduction......Page 140 A process based approach......Page 141 Studying discourse and discursive practices......Page 144 Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA)......Page 148 The unfolding research process......Page 155 Introduction......Page 164 The National Policy work......Page 169 The One-to-One work......Page 175 The Strategic Health Authority work......Page 181 The Local Authority work......Page 186 The University work......Page 189 The Voluntary Sector work......Page 196 Reviewing the discourse analysis......Page 202 Introduction......Page 205 Reflective stories from my colleagues......Page 206 Stories from other women consultants......Page 214 My own talk about consulting......Page 219 Men's voices......Page 229 Learning from the CDA process......Page 235 Part III: Making Sense......Page 240 Introduction......Page 242 Power in the interactions and stories......Page 243 Emotion in the interactions and stories......Page 248 Values in the commercial process......Page 252 Interwoven themes with gendered dimensions......Page 257 Introduction......Page 261 Locating the 'feminine'......Page 262 The 'feminine' in my study......Page 268 A 'feminine' discourse of consulting......Page 284 Conclusion......Page 288 Where has my work taken us?......Page 291 What can we learn from a 'feminine' discourse of consulting?......Page 296 Developing a 'critical consulting' practice......Page 298 In critical mood.........Page 301 Final words.........Page 303 Notes......Page 304 References......Page 311 C......Page 328 D......Page 329 F......Page 330 M......Page 331 S......Page 332 Z......Page 333 PART I: CONSULTING: EXPLORING THE TERRAIN: Consultants, Confidantes and Consorts: A Genealogy of Consulting and Advice-giving to Organizational Leaders; Images of Consulting: What Currently shapes How We See Consulting and How it Works?; Consulting as a Discursive Practice. PART II: DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF CONSULTING INTERACTIONS: Researching Consulting Interactions: From Process Ontology to Critical Discourse Analysis; Women Consultants in Action: Critical Discourse Analysis of ‘Live’ Consulting Interaction; Women’s Stories about Consulting: Critical Discourse Analysis of Reflective Material PART III: MAKING SENSE: What is Going on in Consulting Interactions?: Exploring Meta-themes of Power, Emotion and Values; Femininities and Consulting: (Re-)animating a ‘Feminine’ Discourse of Consulting; Towards a ‘Critical Consulting’ Practice: The Contribution of a ‘Feminine’ Discourse of Consulting A notorious ‘amusing’ anecdote about management consultants concerns a dead horse and how many stupid, worthless, desperate and absurd approaches to tackling it (including of course flogging it) the consultant formulates, while ignoring the immutable fact that the horse is indeed already dead. This story, and others similar, which circulate unchallenged and are endlessly re-told (readers will undoubtedly have their own examples) are part of the complex and ambiguous process whereby the consultant achieves her identity or sense of self and forges her sense of worth or value. Through ‘live’ material from consulting practice and an historical review of advice-giving to pre-modern leaders, this book uncovers a distinctive ‘feminine’ discourse of management consulting that challenges current (masculine) images of management consulting.