Translating management ideas: consultants as language artificers
Main Article Content
Abstract
Using translation theory and management ideas literature, we aim to understand how organizational consultants use linguistic elements to circulate management ideas. We carried out a qualitative study with 16 consultants, using content and rhetoric analysis in semi-structured interviews. Results indicate the use of translation throughout the consultants’ work, allowing them to obtain legitimacy in the field. We showed that to move between different segments and organizational sizes, consultants persuasively use rhetoric, combined with practical and theoretical knowledge, through a mechanism we call ‘translation into practice,’ which aims to adapt concepts to the realities consulted. Consultants also resort to specific vocabularies and language games, emphasizing the strategic importance of language use for this occupational group that aims to professionalize itself in contemporary society.
Downloads
Metrics
Article Details
Cadernos EBAPE.BR undertakes to contribute to the protection of authors’ intellectual rights. On this matter:
- It uses the Creative Commons BY (CC-BY) license for all texts it publishes, except when there is indication of specific holders of copyrights and property rights;
- It uses the similarity verification software of content - Plagiarism (Crossref Similarity Check);
- It takes actions to fight against plagiarism and ethical misconduct aligned with the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
Further information on the Code of Ethics adopted by Cadernos EBAPE.BR can be found in Ethical Standards and Code of Conduct.
References
Abrahmson, E., & Piazza, A. (2019). The lifecycle of management ideas: innovation, diffusion, institutionalization, dormancy, and rebirth. In A. Sturdy, S. Heusinkveld, T. Reay & D. Strang (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of management ideas (pp. 42-67). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Berglund, J., & Werr, A. (2000). The invincible character of management consulting rhetoric: how one blends incommensurates while keeping them apart. Organization, 7(4), 633-655. Recuperado de https://doi.org/10.1177/135050840074008
Bort, S., & Kieser, A. (2019). The consumers and co-producers of management ideas. In A. Sturdy, S. Heusinkveld, T. Reay & D. Strang (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of management ideas (pp. 231-248). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Browning, L. D., & Hartelius, E. J. (2018). Rhetorical analysis in management and organizational research, 2007-2017. In Ø. Ihlen, & R. L. Heath (Eds.), The handbook of organizational rhetoric and communication (pp. 81-93). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons Inc.
Czarniawska, B. (2009). Emerging institutions: pyramids or anthills? Organization Studies, 30(4), 423-441. Recuperado de https://doi.org/10.1177/0170840609102282
Czarniawska, B., & Joerges, B. (2011). Travels of ideas. In B. Czarniawska, & G. Sévon (Eds.), Translating organizational change (pp. 13-48). New York, NY: Gruyter.
Czarniawska, B., & Sevón, G. (2005). Translation is a vehicle, imitation its motor, and fashion sits at the wheel. In B. Czarniawska, & G. Sevón (Eds.), Global ideas – how ideas, objects and practices travel in the global economy (pp. 7-12). Copenhagen, Denmark: Liber & CBS Press.
Donadone, J. C. (2002). A apropriação e recontextualização de práticas organizacionais. RAE Eletrônica, 1(1), 1-14. Recuperado de https://doi.org/10.1590/S1676-56482002000100016
Donadone, J. C. (2005). A difusão de conceitos gerenciais, imprensa de negócios e o mercado de consultoria nos anos 90. GESTÃO.Org – Revista Eletrônica de Gestão Organizacional, 3(1), 26-38. Recuperado de https://periodicos.ufpe.br/revistas/gestaoorg/article/view/21568
Doolin, B., Grant, D., & Thomas, R. (2013). Translating translation and change: discourse-based approaches. Journal of Change Management, 13(3), 251-265. Recuperado de https://doi.org/10.1080/14697017.2013.822670
Engwall, L., & Wedlin, L. (2019). Business studies and management ideas. In A. Sturdy, S. Heusinkveld, T. Reay & D. Strang (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of management ideas (pp. 159-176). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Faust, M. (2012). Sociological perspectives on management consulting. In M. Kipping, & T. Clark (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of management consulting (pp. 139-164). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Firsova, S., Bilorus, T., Olikh, L., & Salimon, O. (2022). The landscape of post-institutional practice variation theories: from traveling ideas to institutional inertia. International Journal of Organizational Analysis. Recuperado de https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOA-12-2021-3061
Glückler, J., & Armbrüster, T. (2003). Bridging uncertainty in management consulting: the mechanisms of trust and networked reputation. Organization Studies, 24(2), 269-297. Recuperado de https://doi.org/10.1177/0170840603242004
Hedmo, T., Sahlin-Andersson, K., & Wedlin, L. (2005). Fields of imitation: the global expansion of management education. In B. Czarniawska, & G. Sevón (Eds.), Global ideas – how ideas, objects and practices travel in the global economy (pp. 190-212). Copenhagen, Denmark: Liber & CBS Press.
Heusinkveld, S., & Benders, J. (2012). Consultants and organization concepts. In M. Kipping, & T. Clark (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of management consulting (pp. 267-284). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Hoff‐Clausen, E. (2018). Rhetorical agency: what enables and restrains the power of speech? In Ø. Ihlen, & R. L. Heath (Eds.), The handbook of organizational rhetoric and communication (pp. 287-299). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Kipping, M. (2011). Hollow from the start? Image professionalism in management consulting. Current Sociology, 59(4), 530-550. Recuperado de https://doi.org/10.1177/0011392111402727
Kipping, M., & Clark, T. (2012). Researching management consulting: an introduction. In M. Kipping, & T. Clark (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of management consulting (pp. 1-26). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Kirkpatrick, I., Muzio, D., & Ackroyd, S. (2012). Professions and professionalism in management consulting. In M. Kipping, & T. Clark (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of management consulting (pp. 187-206). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Loewenstein, J. (2014). Take my word for it: how professional vocabularies foster organizing. Journal of Professions and Organization, 1(1), 65-83. Recuperado de https://doi.org/10.1093/jpo/jot004
Loewenstein, J., Ocasio, W., & Jones, C. (2012). Vocabularies and vocabulary structure: a new approach linking categories, practices, and institutions. Academy of Management Annals, 6(1), 41-86. Recuperado de https://doi.org/10.5465/19416520.2012.660763
Machado-da-Silva, C. L., & Vizeu, F. (2007). Análise institucional de práticas formais de estratégia. Revista de Administração de Empresas, 47(4), 89-100. Recuperado de https://doi.org/10.1590/S0034-75902007000400008
Mantere, S. (2013). What is organizational strategy? A language-based view. Journal of Management Studies, 50(8), 1408-1426. Recuperado de https://doi.org/10.1111/joms.12048
McKenna, C. D. (2006). The world’s newest profession: management consulting in the twentieth century. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
McKenna, C. D. (2008). “Give professionalization a chance!” Why management consulting may yet become a full profession. In D. Muzio, S. Ackroyd, & J. F. Chanlat (Eds.), Redirections in the study of expert labour: established professions and new expert occupations (pp. 204-216). New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.
Morris, T., & Lancaster, Z. (2006). Translating management ideas. Organization Studies, 27(2), 207-233. Recuperado de https://doi.org/10.1177/0170840605057667
Mueller, F., & Whittle, A. (2011). Translating management ideas: a discursive devices analysis. Organization Studies, 32(2), 187-210. Recuperado de https://doi.org/10.1177/0170840610394308
Nielsen, J. A., Mathiassen, L., & Newell, S. (2022). Multidirectional idea travelling across an organizational field. Organization Studies, 43(6), 931-952. Recuperado de https://doi.org/10.1177/0170840621998566
Paula, A. P. P., & Wood, T., Jr. (2008). Dilemas e ambiguidades da “indústria do conselho”: um estudo múltiplo de casos sobre empresas de consultoria no Brasil. RAC-Eletrônica, 2(2), 171-188. Recuperado de https://arquivo.anpad.org.br/periodicos/arq_pdf/a_732.pdf
Pope, S., & Bromley, P. (2019). Management ideas and the social construction of organizations. In A. Sturdy, S. Heusinkveld, T. Reay, & D. Strang (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of management ideas (pp. 412-426). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Raffaelli, S. C. D., Garcias, P. M., Espejo, M. M. S. B., & Portulhak, H. (2017). Estratégias retóricas de legitimação nos relatórios da administração: respostas ao movimento antitabagista. Revista de Administração Contemporânea, 21(3), 286-307. Recuperado de https://doi.org/10.1590/1982-7849rac2017150166
Seidenschnur, T., & Krücken, G. (2019). Constructing the consultant as a legitimate actor: the role of active clients in universities. Agents, Actors, Actorhood: Institutional Perspectives on the Nature of Agency, Action, and Authority (vol. 58, pp. 111-33). Bingley, UK: Emerald Publishing Limited.
Scheuer, J. D. (2021). How ideas move: theories and models of translation in organizations. London, UK: Routledge.
Schreier, M. (2014). Qualitative content analysis. In U. Flick (Ed.), The SAGE Handbook of qualitative data analysis (pp. 170-183). London, UK: SAGE Publications.
Siebert, S., Martin, G., & Simpson, G. (2020). Rhetorical strategies of legitimation in the professional field of banking. Journal of Professions and Organizations, 7(2), 134-155. Recuperado de https://doi.org/10.1093/jpo/joaa010
Sturdy, A., Handley, K., Clark, T., & Fincham, R. (2009). Management consultancy: boundaries and knowledge in action. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Sturdy, A., Heusinkveld, S., & Strang, D. (2019). Researching management ideas: an introduction. In A. Sturdy, S. Heusinkveld, T. Reay, & D. Strang (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of management ideas (pp. 1-22). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Suddaby, R., & Greenwood, R. (2005). Rhetorical strategies of legitimacy. Administrative Science Quarterly, 50(1), 35-67. Recuperado de https://doi.org/10.2189/asqu.2005.50.1.35
van Grinsven, M., Heusinkveld, S., & Cornelissen, J. (2016). Translating management concepts: towards a typology of alternative approaches. International Journal of Management Reviews, 18(3), 271-289. Recuperado de https://doi.org/10.1111/ijmr.12106
Wæraas, A., & Nielsen, J. A. (2016). Translation theory “translated”: three perspectives on translation in organizational research. International Journal of Management Reviews, 18(3), 236-270. Recuperado de https://doi.org/10.1111/ijmr.12092
Waldorff, S. B., & Madsen, M. H. (2022). Translating to maintain existing practices: micro-tactics in the implementation of a new management concept. Organization Studies. Recuperado de https://doi.org/10.1177/01708406221112475
Wedlin, L., & Sahlin, K. (2017). The imitation and translation of management ideas. In R. Greenwood, C. Oliver, T. Lawrence, & R. E. Meyer (Eds.), The SAGE Handbook of Organizational Institutionalism (2a. ed., pp. 102-127). London, UK: SAGE Publications.
Wright, C. (2019). Thought leaders and followers: the impact of consultants and advisers on management ideas. In A. Sturdy, S. Heusinkveld, T. Reay, & D. Strang (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of management ideas (pp. 231-248). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.