Special Issue Paper

Configuring expert knowledge: the consultant as sector specialist

  1. Robin Fincham1,*,
  2. Timothy Clark2,
  3. Karen Handley3,
  4. Andrew Sturdy4

Article first published online: 24 OCT 2008

DOI: 10.1002/job.559

Issue

Journal of Organizational Behavior

Journal of Organizational Behavior

Special Issue: Professional Service Firms: Where Organization Theory and Organizational Behavior Might Meet

Volume 29, Issue 8, pages 1145–1160, November 2008

Additional Information

How to Cite

Fincham, R., Clark, T., Handley, K. and Sturdy, A. (2008), Configuring expert knowledge: the consultant as sector specialist. J. Organiz. Behav., 29: 1145–1160. doi: 10.1002/job.559

Author Information

  1. 1

    Department of Management, Stirling University, Scotland, U.K.

  2. 2

    Durham Business School, Durham University, U.K.

  3. 3

    Oxford Brookes University Business School, U.K.

  4. 4

    Warwick Business School, University of Warwick, U.K.

*Department of Management & Organization, Stirling University, Stirling FK9 4LA, U.K.

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 24 OCT 2008
  2. Article first published online: 24 OCT 2008
  3. Manuscript Received: 30 MAY 2007
  4. Manuscript Accepted: 30 MAY 2007

Funded by

  • ESRC. Grant Number: RES-334-25-0004

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Abstract

This study defines an aspect of consultant knowledge that provides credibility without claiming unrealistic status for a field like consulting. Our focus is the “sector knowledge” that consultants accumulate which derives from repeated assignments in the industrial sector in which the client organization resides. This has been under-researched partly because of an emphasis on knowledge as technique and method. But knowledge configured around the sector enables consultants to play the role of the outside expert and draw on a language and experiences held in common with the client. The paper explores the role of consultants as sector intermediaries through a case study of contemporary management consulting in a UK local authority. We see “the sector” as an alternative type of knowledge formation salient for a client-centered occupation like consulting. We also explore sector knowledge as a negotiated setting and dispel overly simple notions of know-how being “brought to” the client. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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