Learning from projects? Project working and project management in management consultancy

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Learning from projects? Project working and
project management in management consultancy

• Andrew Sturdy
• andrew.sturdy_at_wbs.ac.uk
• December 12th, 2006

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CONTEXT

• Management consultancy (MCY) is seen as a key,
  growing medium in the flow of business knowledge.
  
• Some debate, in public sector especially, over
  whether clients learn from consultancy (and
  accountability etc)
• The few studies of MCs and kn. flow to clients
  see their role as both a strength (weak ties) and
  a weakness (burden of otherness).
• But how/if knowledge flow occurs is a black box
  research neglect of MCY projects - assume simply
  a matter of sales rhetoric
• MCY work is (mostly) project work, albeit often
  with more uncertainty re objectives and
  evaluation (neglect of consultancy in PM
  literature??)
• Possible insights from project-based learning
  literature for understanding of knowledge flow
  from consultancy?
• How useful are these literatures in understanding
  learning through (consulting) projects?

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Overview

• Some thoughts from a fly on the wall study of
  consultancy project meetings (ESRC - EBK -
  evolution of business knowledge programme) as
  well as informal meetings over meals and from
  policy work on public sector use of MCY.
• Present an outsiders perspective on project
  working and project management
• Draw on consultancy, learning (including PBL),
  inter-organisational relationship and boundary
  literatures
• Complexity and dynamism within projects suggests
  MCY literature under and over-states learning
  potentials
• PBL (project based learning) literature is
  inconclusive learning depends on spatial
  configurations
• Both neglect those excluded (the real outsiders),
  the formality of informality and the power
  effects of the knowledge gained (re projects
  and re management ideas) knowledge for
  what/whom?

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Outsider Status is Significant in Studies of MCY
and Knowledge Transfer

• Advantage - strength of weak ties (new
  knowledge) seen as outside organisational
  politics expert status
• Disadvantage - burden of otherness (knowledge
  clash and de-contextualised) (re trust)
• .reflects a highly organisation-centric view

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Consultants as Outsiders The Dominant View (
the counter)

• Re organisation ie not employees - conflicting
  goals (v partnerships project as primary org.
  liminal and shared space)
• Re work contexts and relations - eg projects v
  line (v projects not new to clients personal
  relations)
• Re social world and background - cosmopolitans
  v locals (v career movement)
• Re knowledge bases - new tools/skills sectors (v
  repeat business re organisation kn. MBAs etc
  shared functions, sectors other clients
  knowledge rubber stamp/audit)
• So, depends on basis of boundary, but also who
  client and consulting systems and when (cf
  project phases?)
• ie cannot assume consultants are outsiders

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Help from (project-based) learning literature?

• Projects mostly seen as especially good for
  learning (and creativity)
• Working closely together finite goals
  reflective practices (eg on progress and from
  evaluation) less associated with functional
  vested interests liminal space fosters
  creativity formalisation process helps establish
  understanding (Vlaar et al, 2006)
• Occurs through learning-by-absorption
  learning-by-reflection (Scarbrough et al, 2004).
• ..creativity and learning mostly assumed on the
  basis of, once again, the diversity (re knowledge
  and background etc) of team members cf
  functional/organisational silos
• But some contrasting views
• Even if new knowledge/learning occurs, problem
  becomes one of transfer beyond project (ie Kn.
  Mgt Tempest and Starkey, 2005)
• Working together can lead to conflict and
  misunderstanding task becomes primary focus over
  time to reflect one off nature hinders learning
  by repetition
• Diversity of knowledge can present too much
  cognitive distance (Nooteboom, 2004) and
  knowledge at stake ie low motivation (political
  will) to discard knowledge (Carlile, 2002).
• So need to consider optimal distance and power
  relations.. Cannot assume projects are good for
  learning

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Not simply strength and burden, but optimal
cognitive (social) distance for different
learning processes
LEVEL OF OTHERNESS BETWEEN PARTIES KNOWLEDGE RELATIONSHIP POTENTIAL
Relatively high cognitive distance (not too high where no mutual language) Explore new ideas exchange explicit, simple knowledge (ie strength of weak ties)
Relatively low cognitive distance (not too low where knowledge is the same) Exploit knowledge exchange explicit, complex tacit knowledge
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Situational spaces for learning Space, power
and agency?
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RESEARCH PROJECT IN BRIEF

• Evolution of Business Knowledge
  (www.ebkresearch.org)
• Research team of 4 over 3 years to June 2006
• Client-consultant relations in the specific
  context of consulting projects in real time (fly
  on the wall) - help/hinder flow of knowledge
• Observation of project and progress meetings and
  interviews etc
• (Also survey of espoused best practice plus
  client interviews of respondents)

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Summary of Case Study Projects
Organisational Actors Project Domain Project Duration Research Hours
Global/Stratco Strategic Analysis/Advice 9 months 60
Imperial/Techno IT Advice/ Implementation 14 months 40
Borough/Worldco e-Procurement Advice 2 years (6 weeks) 40
Prison/Stuart (Network) Project Management Advice and QA 4 months 50 observn. interview
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Some Snapshots From The Research
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Emergent themes/impressions

• Dull!? - politeness with occasional humour (as
  bridge or smokescreen?)
• Knowledge flow (project/change/consulting
  practices and management) sector knowledge as
  mediating field boundary relations
• Project management (not an explicit focus of
  study and only project meetings, not all/most
  project work)
• Global explicit stages and phases
  (pre/appraise)
• Imperial - sign offs and off-line (eg lunch)
  resolution of conflicts (extra-PM relations as
  crucial layers of liminality, but still
  structured)
• Borough loose PM with low risk, low commitment
  project (managed by MCs clients more laid
  back/reactive)
• Prison selling the PM mentality partial buy-in

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Consultants as Insiders I Knowledge, Social
Relations Space

• Stratco cautious about bringing new knowledge
  Worldco/Borough co-producers Stratco Partner
  experience with Global clients educated (MBAs)
  and experienced (re projects and change (low
  cognitive distance)
• Relations - When you can connect with somebody
  on the consulting side you somehow feel they are
  not a consultant, because you can develop a
  relationship with them and an understanding of
  them.
• Space - It is a far more fluid relationship in
  terms of you dont have to have formal phone
  calls or emails . its very natural and very
  dynamic . you basically become part of the team
  to the point that they clients sort-of forget
  that you are actually consultants.

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Consultants as Insiders II - Complexity and
Dynamism

• PM consultant at Prison can be seen as a relative
  insider with the main client socially/spatially
  compared to his peer at Network and in terms of
  management knowledge compared to other client
  team members, but was very much an outsider in
  relation to organisational and sector knowledge
• From static and etic to and dynamic and emic
• Stratco strategic analyst would have been a
  knowledge insider at the start of the project,
  but much less so when operational knowledge began
  to hold more sway.
• Insider-outsider status and roles are negotiated
  and constructed in interaction through various
  relationship practices
• us and them humour
• insider as MC tactic (and resistance)
• inter-personal style

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Gently selling the PM message, Consultant
Just an observation - were not being terribly
focussed this morning? clients respond No,
No. And Im conscious Im being a bit of a
bully, but what does that all mean? Practical
action? .You need to delegate responsibility.
..We seem to have got into the comfort zone of
talking about nitty-gritty detail, because
plannings too hard! laughter So
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What are the implications of insider status for
consultants clients re learning in projects?

• Cannot assume the outsider relationship in
  consultancy or diversity in project work as basis
  of learning
• Need to specify insider/outsider with respect to
  what, whom, how and when?
• If more insiders, then lose burden of otherness
  towards value of knowledge exploitation and
  learning complex and tacit knowledge
• But also lose the strength of weak ties ie
  exploration and new/explicit knowledge (ie MCY is
  conservative at project level)
• In other words, the conventional view may both
  under and overstate the potential for learning
  through consultancy projects.
• Most claimed learning occurs in, and of, project
  practices (eg project, change and consultancy
  management) rather than the big ideas (already
  familiar to team)

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Who then, are the real outsiders?

• I/O in consultancy and diversity in PBL neglects
  patterns of exclusion
• In cases, other employees were excluded (to
  varying degrees) by default and by design (ie
  proscribed/excluded clients)
• Imperial staff and IT mgt kept out
• Prison junior project team members only allowed
  partial access to PM training/concepts
• Absence does not always mean exclusion eg
  evoking (absent) presence of other (eg regulator)

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Closing thoughts and questions.

• All ignores who benefits from the knowledge/s in
  question, if anyone.. (incl PM)
• What happens at margins of PM and what does this
  say about PM eg necessity of off line
  interactions humorous asides status of
  non-PM-savvy managers?
• Optimum slack re learning and innovation and re
  acknowledging uncertainty PM notions?
• CPM critical of management and/or project
  (management v organisation)?...alternatives to
  PM?
• Project managers as agents or cyphers? (architect
  or worker bee?)
• Related discourses (eg re public sector
  consultancy) faith in evaluation and
  procurement/purchasing, yet not practiced widely
  no interest in admitting failure role of CPM re
  policy debate in public sector (cf CIPS)

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Questions/Comments?
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Learning from projects? Project working and
project management in management consultancy

• Andrew Sturdy
• andrew.sturdy_at_wbs.ac.uk