The Anatomy of Network Building in Management Consulting Firms

In management consulting practices, three operating modes can be identified: creativity, experience and procedure based practices. These operating modes differ along a number of dimensions: the types of the work system, client relationships, management effort and external network relationships. By elaborating conceptually the different operating modes it becomes possible to deduct some propositions of the contrasting ways in which network relations are built to and linked with the different operating modes. The framework and propositions can be used as a baseline in detecting anomalies in fieldwork contexts and for making sense of the ways in which capabilities are mobilized to the different aspects of the work system.