|
|||||
|
|
Management innovation through standardization: Consultants as standardizers of organizational practice |
|
| Authors: | Christopher Wright Andrew Sturdy |
| Institution: | a Discipline of Work & Organisational Studies, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia b Department of Management, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TN, UK c Oxford Brookes Business School, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford OX33 1HX, UK |
| Abstract: | Management innovation and the consultants who promote and support it are both typically associated with the ‘new’, with departures from the norm and from standard approaches. Indeed, standardization is often seen as an impediment to innovation, especially in the current ‘post-bureaucratic’ era. This article challenges such a view, arguing that consultant-led management innovation is often highly standardized. Based upon qualitative research into internal consultancy in large business organizations, both standardizing agendas and standardized methods are identified from a range of consultant-led management innovation programs. The analysis then points to some of the structural and cultural features of organizations that lead to managers favouring incremental, standardized approaches to change, even if these are often contested. In conclusion, the article points to the need to consider a range of different dimensions in the relationship between standardization and management innovation. |
| Keywords: | Management innovation Standardization Management consultancy Organizational change Change methods |
| 本文献已被 ScienceDirect 等数据库收录！ | |