5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 1/142
Linn Langangen: 0835194 Maja Øidne Korsen: 0776757
‘BI Norwegian Business School – Thesis’
- Competence Development in
Professional Service Firms -
A Cross-Cultural Study of Professionals in France and
Norway
Date of Submission:
01.09.2011
Supervisor:
Bente Løwendahl
Study Program:
Master of Science in International Marketing and Management
This thesis is a part of the MSc program at BI Norwegian Business School. The school takes no responsibility for the methods used, results found and conclusions drawn.
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 2/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
Content
CONTENT.........................................................................................................................................I
ABSTRACT....................................................................................................................................III
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS...........................................................................................................IV
1.0 INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................1
1.1 I NTRODUCTION OF THE R ESEARCH TOPIC AND R ESEARCH QUESTIONS..................................................1
1.2 MOTIVATION FOR - AND VALUE OF THE R ESEARCH............................................................................2
1.3 K EY TERMS................................................................................................................................4
1.4 STRUCTURE OF THE THESIS............................................................................................................6
2.0 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND..........................................................................................7
2.1 NATIONAL CULTURE.....................................................................................................................7
2.2 PROFESSIONAL SERVICE FIRMS.....................................................................................................11
2.2.1 Characteristics...............................................................................................................11
2.2.2 Value Creation in PSFs.................................................................................................14
2.2.3 Management Consulting................................................................................................15
2.3 R ESOURCES WITHIN PSFS...........................................................................................................19
2.3.1 Resource-Based View of the Firm ................................................................................19
2.3.2 Tangible and Intangible Resources within PSFs...........................................................20
2.3.3 Competence ..................................................................................................................21
2.3.4 Knowledge Management and Methods of Knowledge Transfer....................................27
2.4 DEVELOPING AND USING COMPETENCE WITHIN PSFS......................................................................30
2.4.1 Contributors and Constraints to CD.............................................................................30
2.4.2 Evaluating CD...............................................................................................................32
2.4.3 Process for Utilization of Competence..........................................................................34
2.5 SUMMARY.................................................................................................................................35
3.0 RESERCH METHODOLOGY...............................................................................................37
3.1 CHOICE OF DESIGN AND R ESEARCH METHOD.................................................................................37
3.1.1 Case Studies...................................................................................................................38
3.2. DATA COLLECTION AND CONTEXTS.............................................................................................40
3.2.1. Industry Details............................................................................................................40
3.2.2. Respondents..................................................................................................................40
3.2.3 Interviews and Written Material....................................................................................43
3.2.4 The Interview Process and Transcription.....................................................................44
3.2.5 Interview Concerns........................................................................................................46
3.3 DATA A NALYSIS........................................................................................................................48
3.4 R ESEARCH QUALITY...................................................................................................................49
Page i
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 3/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
3.5 PRESENTATION OF THE FINDINGS..................................................................................................53
3.6 SUMMARY.................................................................................................................................54
4.0 FINDINGS, ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
..........................................................................................................................................................55
4.1 CULTURE..................................................................................................................................55
4.1.1 National Culture ...........................................................................................................55
4.2 CD THROUGH I NVESTMENTS.......................................................................................................60
4.2.1 Mentor Programs and Support Systems........................................................................60
4.2.2 Courses and Training....................................................................................................65
4.2.3 Evaluations and Measurement......................................................................................72
4.2.4 Technical Tools..............................................................................................................76
4.3. CD THROUGH DAILY OPERATIONS..............................................................................................85
4.3.1 Learning by Doing.........................................................................................................85
4.3.2 Learning from Others....................................................................................................92
4.4 SUMMARY.................................................................................................................................98
5.0 CONCLUDING REMARKS AND MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS
........................................................................................................................................................101
5.1 CONCLUDING R EMARKS............................................................................................................101
5.2 MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS......................................................................................................102
5.2.1 Communication – the Crucial Glue.............................................................................102
5.2.2 Aligning Firm Goals with CD of Professionals...........................................................104
5.2.3 Supporting the Contributors and Reducing the Constraints of CD ...........................105
5.3 LIMITATIONS............................................................................................................................106
5.3.1 Choice of Literature and the Issue under Investigation..............................................107
5.3.2 Methodology................................................................................................................107
5.4 SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER R ESEARCH ......................................................................................112
REFERENCES.............................................................................................................................114
APPENDICES ..............................................................................................................................131
APPENDIX 1: I NFORMATION LETTER SENT TO COMPANIES IN FRANCE......................................................131
APPENDIX 2: I NFORMATION LETTER SENT TO COMPANIES IN NORWAY....................................................132
APPENDIX 3: E NGLISH GENERAL I NTERVIEW GUIDE ...........................................................................133
APPENDIX 4: NORWEGIAN GENERAL I NTERVIEW GUIDE .....................................................................135
APPENDIX 5: PRELIMINARY THESIS R EPORT.......................................................................................137
Page ii
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 4/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
Abstract
Competence has received increased interest over the past decades as it is
identified as an important contributor to value creation in firms. Professional
service firms (PSFs) are in relations to this, deemed interesting to study, as they
serve as role models in the development of resources for value creation, and are
competing on competence as they are identified as highly knowledge-intensive.
This study set out to investigate how competence is developed in PSFs and the
main contributors and constraints to competence development (CD). Also our
cultural knowledge and experience with France created perceptions that
differences could occur in relation to how CD is influenced across borders.
Therefore we aimed to include a cross-cultural aspect in this study. Based on a
qualitative case study of professionals in France and Norway, altogether 37 cases,
the results are the following:
• We found that firms down-prioritized CD of their professionals. The focus
and understanding of its importance seemed to be present, however clients and
business development were often given higher priorities.
• Culture influences CD in the way that it affects especially the culture for
sharing and asking questions within- and across borders. Communication has been
identified through our findings as crucial “glue” for CD.
• CD through investments made by the firms and daily operations are two
important routes to development whereof the latter, namely CD through daily
operations, served as the most crucial route for all professionals in both countries.
• Differences across levels of newly employed, seniors and partners and
how they develop competences do exits, however far more similarities than
differences can be found, also across borders.
After studying CD and viewing it as an intangible resource within PSFs, we
question if PSFs can still be viewed as role models in terms of CD. Also, whether
CD is vital for the PSFs competitiveness can be questioned as these firms are
down-prioritizing this.
Page iii
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 5/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
Key words: culture, professional service firms, professionals, competence
development.
Acknowledgements
We offer our sincerest gratitude to our supervisor, Professor Bente Løwendahl,
who has supported us throughout our thesis with her patience, suggestions,
comments and knowledge, whilst allowing us the room to work in our own way.
Thank you for supporting us throughout this challenging process, and for sharing
your valuable information and knowledge, and providing us with fruitful insights,
discussions and constructive guidance. You are our Mentor!
We would also like to thank all of our respondents in the different PSFs both in
Paris and Oslo. Thank you all for taking the time in your busy schedules to
contribute to our sample, making this master thesis possible. We highly appreciate
the trust and openness that you have all shown us, resulting in many interesting
and fulfilling interviews, serving as fundamental information for our study.
Furthermore, we would like to thank Professor Siw Fosstenløkken. Through her
doctoral dissertation we found the motivation to continue her work on competence
and competence development, across borders.
Lastly, our sincerest gratitude also goes to the people close to us who have been
there all the way supporting us.
Oslo, September 1st, 2011
Linn Langangen Maja Øidne Korsen
Enquiries about this master thesis can be sent to [email protected] or [email protected]
Page iv
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 6/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
1.0 Introduction
1.1 Introduction of the Research Topic and Research Questions
The purpose of this study is to analyze how professionals develop competence
emphasizing on identifying the main contributors and constraints to competence
development (CD). The aim was to perform a cross-cultural analysis between
France and Norway to explore if there are any differences on how competence is
developed among the French and Norwegian professionals. We are in our study
solely focusing on the industry of management consulting. The overall research
question can thereby be presented as the following:
How does competence development take place in PSFs in Norway and France?
Culture will in this thesis have a predominant role for the analysis and
interpretation of the findings at later stages. Thereby we have introduced
Hofstede’s cultural dimensions (2001). The main differences between the two
countries that might be relevant are ‘individualism’, ‘power distance’,
‘uncertainty avoidance’, and ‘masculinity’. When referring to the professionals’
nationality we hereby discuss the French and Norwegian culture despite the
multinational working environment within PSFs. We will elaborate more on this
matter within the second chapter of this study. The thesis is focused on a
collection of international management consulting firms situated in the two
countries. The logic behind the locational choices is that both of us have studied
in France, hence we found it interesting to make the most out of this experience
by introducing an international perspective in our study.
We have paid attention to how CD takes place. Tsoukas (1996) stressed that it is
important to study how employees say that they develop competence, going
beyond what companies and partners state that they do in this matter. Itami (1987)
emphasizes the need to regard particular learning investments made by the firm as
well as CD in daily work. As stated by Nordhaug (1993), detecting what
contributes and constrains CD in PSFs will help these companies in understanding
what initiatives to further improve and develop, maintain, and nurture. We have
Page 1
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 7/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
chosen to investigate CD on three levels within our target companies; newly
employed, seniors, and partners. We found this interesting due to the fact that we
expected differences to occur between the different layers of professionals. Based
on previous studies on competence (e.g. Nordhaug, 1993; Løwendahl &
Nordhaug, 1994; Fosstenløkken, 2007) we were also aware of people developing
different types of competences at work, hence we found it appropriate to include a
classification of types of competences. Based on the abovementioned dimensions
we found it beneficial to amplify the overall research question through the
following sub questions:
(i) How does national culture of the professionals and the companies’ influencetheir development of competence?
(ii) What are the main contributors and constraints of the professionals’
competence development through investments made by the firms in competence
development processes?
(iii) What are the main contributors and constraints of the professionals’
competence development through daily operations?
1.2 Motivation for- and Value of the Research
It is now widely recognized that ‘services account for a very large part of
economic activity and that the service sector constantly increases its share of
GDP, employment, and international trade’ (Løwendahl, 2009:17). Services
account for 79% (2010) of the GDP in France, and 57.8% in Norway
(Nationmaster, 2010). More specifically, professional service firms (PSFs), which
this study will focus on, constitute a significant sector of the economy, despite
being measured by their size, numbers, or influence (Greenwood et al., 2005).
PSFs can be found within the broader category of knowledge-intensive firms
(KIFs) (Løwendahl, 2009), as KIFs overlap with, and include, the notion of
professional service organizations (Alvesson, 2001). These professional service
organizations offer services to clients within areas such as e.g. accounting,
advertising, architecture, communication consulting, engineering design, legal
Page 2
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 8/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
advice, and management consulting (e.g. Maister, 1993; Empson, 2000;
Løwendahl, 2009). It is claimed that KIFs will figure prominently in future
economies, and hereby it makes sense to study PSFs in order to learn more about
the nature of these firms and to understand how they handle themselves
successfully (Greenwood & Suddaby, 2006). PSFs are becoming ever more
prominent in economies the world over (Delong & Nanda, 2003 cited in
Greenwood et al., 2005), and are among the world’s biggest and geographically
complex business enterprises (Greenwood et al., 2005).
PSFs typically lack the hard-nosed bottom line focus and hierarchical
management structure, and have been likened to ‘herding wild cats’ (Løwendahl,2009:69). The organizational structure, as described above, creates the challenges
considering management. Furthermore, it is crucial for management to know what
drives each of the professionals, what makes their work satisfying and how they
most effectively develop competence. With this thesis we seek to contribute with
insight on these matters. It might be difficult for managers to gain full and
unbiased information regarding their professionals. Therefore we hope that
through our conduction of interviews, and with us being more neutral to thecompanies, it can increase the chances of the respondents to answer honestly. Our
findings might shed light on issues that can increase insight and understanding
useful in relation to e.g. recruitment, training, investments in CD and future
retention.
Lorsch and Tierney (2002:24) state that ‘[T]he central difference - and
distinguishing characteristic - of the PSF business model is its reliance, its
absolute dependence, on skilled and motivated professionals’. These companies
assert knowledge as their foundation for value creation and competitive power
(e.g. Løwendahl, 2009; Stabell & Fjeldstad, 1998; Empson, 2000), and a growing
interest in knowledge as a competitive asset suggests the benefit of studying PSFs.
The critical task of their competitiveness and success is their ability to process
information and manage knowledge, making these organizations successful
examples. Moreover, we clearly view PSFs as valuable to study because they
contribute to a significant sector of the economy. Also, we regard it as essential to
Page 3
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 9/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
devote more research to the professionals within these firms, as believe that their
CD is a crucial building block for firms in general.
Previous literature have also emphasized the need for research regarding
competence and its development because of the highly competitive and
increasingly knowledge-based economy, which can be characterized by rapid
changes and frequent development of technological advances (Drucker, 1993).
Furthermore, to stay competitive for a long-term survival, CD is argued to be of
great value for PSFs (Løwendahl & Revang, 1998). A problem concerning
competence was revealed in Fosstenløkken’s (2007) PhD dissertation. Her results
suggested that the PSFs she investigated were far from particularly sophisticatedin prioritizing, organizing and developing measures for systematic development of
expertise (Innovations Report, 2007). CD was found to have a low priority in the
firms studied. The responsibility for their professional development was left to the
employees themselves. We found these findings surprising, as a large number of
researchers (e.g. Sveiby, 1997; Empson, 2000) have identified competence within
PSFs as vital to competitive ability and value creation. We were motivated by
these results to further investigate whether the same tendencies could be foundwithin management consulting firms. We also found it interesting to extend her
research by incorporating an international dimension and thereby also
investigating potential differences across borders. To our knowledge no research
has discussed and undertaken the same topic as a cross-cultural study between
France and Norway. By examining the professionals and their perceived CD, we
have strived to detect and address the possible differences and/or similarities
across levels, within the two geographical contexts.
1.3 Key Terms
In this section we want to introduce the key terms ‘national culture’, ‘professional
service firms’ (PSFs), ‘professionals’ and ‘competence’ in a general matter, as
these terms will be central throughout our thesis. The definitions and explanations
Page 4
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 10/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
of these key terms are chosen based on their appropriateness for the later
discussions in relation to our sub research questions.
National culture is by Kubr (1996:105) defined as ‘the values, beliefs, behavioural
norms, habits and traditions that characterize human society in a particular
country’. Despite the fact that one may find several distinct cultures within one
country, we have chosen to regard only one national culture in each country.
Culture has in this study been based on Hofstede’s (2001) cultural dimensions,
and will be more closely introduces in chapter two.
Based on the definition by Løwendahl et al. (2001), PSFs are knowledge-intensivefirms employing professionals with a high degree of knowledge who work closely
with clients to deliver a service with a high degree of customization. This is
however only an extract and interpretation of the whole definition which can be
found in the literature review in this study.
The professionals within the service firms are here viewed as highly educated
people, and members of a highly professionalized occupational group. Theseindividuals enable PSFs ability to deliver unique and customized solutions
(Løwendahl, 2009), as referred to above. Since highly skilled workers belongs to
a category that may include the categories of knowledge workers and
professionals, and the three terms often is used interchangeably, we will refer to
the people working in a PSF as professionals. Further, we find this term
appropriate as the employees within PSFs refer to themselves as professionals,
have a professional orientation and emphasize the importance of professional
behavior.
Furthermore when we discuss CD of the professionals, we choose to base this on
the definition of work-related competence made by Nordhaug (1993:50): ‘the
composite of human knowledge, skills, and aptitudes that may serve productive
purposes in organizations’. The suitability and relevance of this definition, and the
discussions of these elements, will be thoroughly introduced in chapter 2.
Page 5
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 11/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
1.4 Structure of the Thesis
The thesis consists of five main chapters. Chapter 1, as seen, describes the
research topic, our main- and sub research questions, motivation for- and value of
the research, and key terms. Chapter 2 continues by presenting the theoretical
foundation for our study. This includes literature on national culture, PSFs,
resources within PSFs, and the aspect of developing and using competence.
Thereafter, chapter 3 addresses methodological considerations, with particular
emphasis on research design, data collection- and context, analysis, and research
quality. Chapter 4 contains a conflation of the findings, linked with analysis and
discussions. This chapter is based on cross-case comparisons of the three different
levels of professionals, in addition to the cross-border differences between France
and Norway. National culture, CD through investments and CD through daily,
operations will here be highlighted. The thesis is completed by chapter 5, which
presents concluding remarks containing managerial implications, limitations and
suggestions for further research.
Page 6
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 12/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
2.0 Theoretical background
This part of the report will focus on literature that we identify as relevant to the
research question presented. This chapter is comprised of four main parts, which
are organized under the headings ‘National Culture’, ‘Professional Service Firms’,
‘Resources within PSFs’, and ‘Developing and Using Competence within PSFs’.
The first section will present literature regarding issues of culture, and its potential
impacts on CD will be presented with focus on Hofstede (2001). Further, PSF
characteristics are presented, and we continue with what we consider as some of
the main resources of such a firm. Here, intangible resources will be central, and
competence will be predominant in the overview as it is determined as a critical
resource in PSFs. Further we will present a more in-depth overview of previous
literature on the topic of developing and utilizing competence.
2.1 National Culture
This section of the literature review will consider culture and its potential effects
on professionals CD. Since this is a cross-cultural study we see it necessary to
include cultural aspects, as we assumed that the nationalities of the headquarters
(HQ) of the firms and the professionals would most likely affect our findings.
National culture is by Kubr (1996:105) defined as ‘the values, beliefs, behavioural
norms, habits and traditions that characterize human society in a particular
country’.
We have considered the French and Norwegian culture, as this is where the
respondents were situated, and thereby these are the main cultures of comparison.
Additionally, since most of the companies’ HQs are based in the United States,
the U.S. culture will also be taken into consideration. When discussing culture we
are here referring to the collective level. To include culture we have chosen to use
Hofstede’s (2001) studies on national culture, based on his studies within IBM, as
he has developed by far the most influential national cultural work that is known
to be the most widely cited in existence (Steenkamp, 2001; Jones, 2007; Western
Page 7
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 13/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
Libraries, 2011). With such a groundbreaking body of work one cannot escape
criticism (Jones, 2007), and some of the most common criticisms are linked to the
one-company approach, national divisions and cultural homogeneity (Graves,
1986; Olie 1995; Søndergaard 1994; Nasif et al. 1991; Redpath 1997; DiMaggio
1997; McSweeney 2000 in Jones, 2007). Recent research has found that culture is
in fact fragmented across group and national lines. Despite the criticism, the
theory of Hofstede still remains significant.
Here all four of Hofstede´s primary dimensions (2001) would be of interest,
namely ‘individualism’ (IDV), ‘power distance’ (PDI), ‘uncertainty avoidance’
(UAI) and ‘masculinity’ (MAS). At a later point, he added a fifth dimension after
conducting an additional international study. This dimension was named ‘long-
term orientation’ (LTO) and was applied to 23 countries whereof one of them was
the U.S. Due to the fact that this dimension has not been applied to either France
or Norway, it will not be considered as we thereby lack a basis for comparison.
Figure 1 and 2: Norway and France- Cultural Dimensions (Sources: Hofstede, 2009)
Figure 3: United States - Cultural Dimensions (Source: Hofstede, 2009)
Page 8
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 14/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
Individualism, and in individualistic cultures, people are expected to take care and
look after oneself and their immediate family (Hofstede, 2009). In other words,
the ties between people in the society can be viewed as rather “loose”.
Individualism refers to the opposite of collectivism, which is to what degree
individuals are integrated into groups. In collectivistic societies people have built
strong ties within their group, e.g. their family and/or extended family. When
considering the cultures of interest in this study, they can all be regarded as being
more individualistic. Both France and Norway have an approximate score of
about 65 out of 100, and so the expected differences among the nationalities in
terms of individualism are likely to be few. The U.S on the other hand, scores 91
out of 100, making it a potentially more “extreme” case. Since most companies inour study are U.S. based, the differences may not be that few after all. There are a
limited number of countries in the world having individualism as their highest
score - the U.S. is, however, one of them. Within firms where individualistic
cultures may have left its traces, one may question the degree of collaboration or
willingness to collaborate in terms of e.g. sharing information upon request and
internal competition amongst professionals.
Power distance can be interpreted as human inequality such as prestige, wealth
and power (Hofstede, 2001). France and Norway weights status and consistency
among these areas rather differently. France scores almost three times as high as
Norway on power distance, with an approximate score of 63. This may have
important implications for later findings. Within organizations, power distance is
often related to hierarchical structures, however as PSFs have been identified as
having rather flat structures, this may not be as predominant compared to other
types of firms e.g. manufacturing firms (Løwendahl, 2009). Thereby it is of
interest to see whether there are differences between the structures of the firms in
the two countries, as this might have implications for the degree of openness and
culture for asking questions across levels within the firm. This is especially
because the U.S. and France are known for having greater hierarchical influences
in work situations (Hofstede, 2001). In other words, the “distances” between the
different levels are more distinct than it would be in Norway, where an egalitarian
situation would occur as according to Hofstede’s dimensions. Egalitarianism
Page 9
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 15/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
refers to situations containing more equality regarding power and its distribution
defined from below (Hofstede, 2001).
The third cultural dimension we view as important is uncertainty avoidance,
which can be explained as to what degree members of a certain culture feel
threatened by uncertain- or unknown situations (Hofstede, 2009). France scores
approximately twice as high as Norway and the U.S., at around 80 out of 100. In
work situations this may result in appreciation of rules, norms and directions, as to
avoid unstructured situations. For PSFs we feel that this might be rather
challenging as novel situations might arise in relation to novel client problems
within the rapid changing economy we have today. Furthermore, Fosstenløkken’s(2007) findings suggested that professionals were often left to themselves, which
in turn may create ambiguous situations. Moreover, without strict rules and
guidelines, there might also be different views regarding as to whether this may
constraint or contribute CD among individuals. We also assume that the wish of
avoiding unsure situations in the French culture might influence the professionals’
need for feedback and evaluations. This because they may have a higher need for
reassurance and appreciation that they are on “the right track”.
The last dimension of interest is masculinity, which versus its opposite
(femininity) is described as follows: ‘dualities of the sexes is a fundamental fact
with which different societies cope in different ways; the issue is what
implications the biological differences between the sexes should have for the
emotional and social roles of genders’ (Hofstede 2001:279). Related to work
goals, feminine cultures are more focused on social goals such as relationships,
helping others, quality of life and tenderness. On the contrary, masculine cultures
are recognized as being more egocentric and careers oriented, also rather focused
on the efficiency of the delivery as well as material success. Norway is known as
scoring extremely low on masculinity, with about eight out of 100. France, even
though not identified as a very masculine oriented culture, scores five times
higher than Norway, and the U.S. more than seven times as high. Within PSFs the
effects of masculinity or femininity may in turn influence the responses from the
professionals regarding CD. To the extreme, one might assume that CD is viewed
quite differently within the two cultures. In feminine cultures the ability to
Page 10
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 16/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
develop competence might be viewed positively in terms of career development,
hence by having a social goal and maybe improving their social situations in
terms of job satisfaction. On the other hand, we might presume that feminine
cultures may not give as high priority to CD, as they value more social goals and
thereby possibly family instead of careers. Also one may question the focus on
CD if feminine cultures prioritize team collaboration and team values, more than
each professional’s development. In less feminine cultures however, CD might be
viewed positively in terms of helping the professionals achieving their career
goals, becoming more competitive in the job market, and hence assist them in
generating larger revenues. At later stages in this study we will link Hofstede’s
cultural dimensions to our findings as it can contribute to explanations to the potential differences between the two countries.
2.2 Professional Service Firms
This section firstly defines PSFs according to the pragmatic definition proposed
by Løwendahl (2009) before turning to the characteristics of PSFs. Thereafter a
brief presentation of value creation in PSFs will be viewed before turning to a
presentation of the management consulting industry.
2.2.1 Characteristics
The professional services industry is one of the largest and most diverse in
modern economies. The industry includes more than one million firms on a global
basis, and is highly fragmented (International Data Corporation, 2010). The
industry consists of a broad aggregation of firms all serving the same private and
public sector client base, and also each other (Kubr, 1996). ‘The actual content of
the services delivered by the hired professionals may range from help in defining
the problem to be solved, to a complete process of problem definition, solution
development and implementation, result control and follow-up’ (Løwendahl,
2009:18).
Page 11
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 17/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
The significance of the professional service industry that sets it apart from other
industries will be introduced in the following section of the thesis. Organizations
can be categorized as knowledge-intensive where the majority of employees are
experts or professionals, and the most important input or stock is knowledge
(Starbuck, 1992). PSFs are highly depending on the knowledge of the
professionals, which in turn is embedded in intangible products or services and
necessary in order to be competitive (Løwendahl, 2009; Starbuck, 1992). PSFs
distinguish themselves from traditional firms in the way that their business model
is based on customizing intellectual property in collaborative relationships.
Advisory professionals do not perform services for clients, but they collaborate
with them, empowering and enabling them to solving their own problems:‘Professional services rely to a large extent on the interaction between
knowledgeable buyers and highly educated service providers who engage in some
form of joint problem solving activity’ (Løwendahl, 2009:18).
According to Lorsch and Tierney (2002:24), ‘firms that attract and retain the best
people and motivate them to build enduring client relationships, put the firm first,
and follow through on strategic imperatives are the firms that ultimately win’.Consulting firms’ business management energy is centered on elevating the
utilization of their consultants’ time, aiming to develop service offerings or skill
sets that clients will find compelling. Eventually, their basic goal is appropriately
charging and receiving payment from clients. In most professional services
segments, the client relationships and satisfaction determine repeat business and
referrals. Due to relatively low barriers to entry, the competition is intense in most
segments and consequently the service level expected from clients is high. Hence,
the PSFs aim to ensure customer satisfaction through deliverables of the highest
possible quality and meeting client expectations throughout the whole
engagement process (International Data Corporation, 2010).
PSFs are significant subjects for research because they represent a growing sector
within modern western economies of both employment and value creation (e.g.
Aharoni, 1993; Løwendahl et al., 2001). With their flat structures, service-
oriented workforce, and participative decision processes, PSFs can provide a
model toward which larger, more hierarchical organizations can turn for direction
Page 12
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 18/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
as they become leaner, quicker, and more flexible (Liedtka et al., 1997). As PSFs
rely almost purely on skilled human capital, they are often perceived ‘as
harbingers of organization forms in an increasingly human capital-intensive or
knowledge-intensive economy’ (von Nordenflycht, 2006:1). They shape
managerial thoughts and actions through their advice to clients. As PSFs were
among the first to develop and use systems for knowledge management, they are
by some companies viewed as role models (Løwendahl et al., 2001). We will
elaborate on knowledge management under the section ‘Resources within PSFs’.
The performance of the firm ultimately depends upon the performance of its
professionals. Hence, a PSF not only competes for customers, it also compete for talented professionals. They ‘…are forced to attract and retain qualified people
who can adapt their repertoires to meet the demands of the task ’ (Kärreman,
Sveningsson & Alvesson, 2002:73). Even when services are replicated from one
project to another, the marketing of services requires the development of close
relationships with each client (Morris & Empson, 1998). This illustrates the
critical role of the professional workforce as they represent, operate, and translate
the knowledge essential for the firm’s output. Also they play a key role in thefirm’s relationships with clients. In this study, client matters are not included
among our research questions; issues related to clients will be briefly mentioned
where we find it natural as to potentially extend the readers’ overview and insight.
Furthermore, this issue will appear in our ‘Suggestions for Further Research’.
After viewing the importance and uniqueness of PSFs, we have chosen to
summarize the characteristics of PSFs in accordance to the pragmatic definition
proposed by Løwendahl (2009:22), which classifies the firms based on the
services they deliver. She states that professional services:
1. Are highly knowledge intensive, delivered by people with higher
education, and frequently closely linked to scientific knowledge development
within the relevant area of expertise.
2. Involve a high degree of customization.
3. Involve a high degree of discretionary effort and personal judgment by
the expert(s) delivering the service.
Page 13
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 19/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
4. Typically require substantial interaction with the client firm
representatives involved.
5. Are delivered within the constraints of professional norms of conduct,
including setting client needs higher than the profits and respecting the limits of
professional expertise.
2.2.2 Value Creation in PSFs
The most critical and valuable resources of PSFs are identified to be competence
and client relationships (Winch & Schneider, 1993; Sveiby, 1997; Empson, 2000).
These matters are interlinked, as good client relationships nurture a positive
reputation (Stabell & Fjeldstad, 1998). Favorable relationships can in turn
generate access to attractive clients and professional workforce. However, having
an attractive client portfolio is in itself seems not to be sufficient for long-term
sustainability and profitability.
Within a bigger picture, the PSFs needs to pay attention to value creating
processes proposed by Løwendahl (2009): (i) selling ‘a credible promise’; (ii)
delivering what has been promised; and (iii) learning from the selling and delivery
processes, in order to improve both efficiency and effectiveness in future projects.
The first process is what differentiates PSFs form traditional manufacturing firms.
Selling a credible promise concerns persuasion of clients about their capability of
value creation. Regarding the professionals that are engaged in this process, CD
can directly add value in terms of individual, collective and/or organizational
learning. The next process includes both professionals and client representatives
to perform the activities needed in order to deliver what has been promised. In
terms of quality, it is concerned with both the actual quality of the deliverance,
and perceived quality. The last process is about the post learning processes for the
professionals, as to enhance and secure future quality in service delivery. This
third process is by the PSFs the most neglected one, which we identify as a rather
unfortunate fact, as PSFs and CD are dependent on learning. We will elaborate on
the matter of competence under the section ‘Resources within PSFs’.
Page 14
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 20/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
Due to our capacity constraints, client relationships and value creation will not be
of focus in chapter 4 where we analyze and discuss our findings. After presenting
the theoretical foundation of PSFs, we are now turning to our primary focus,
namely the management consulting industry.
2.2.3 Management Consulting
The consulting firms included in this study are treated anonymously hence we are
withholding specific company descriptions, however we have chosen to provide
the reader with a broader overview of the industry at focus. We will here look
more into the management consulting industry as we consider it beneficial to
present the context and our perception of the industry as this may affect the
presentation and discussion of findings at later stages.
The industry includes a wide-ranging set of highly diverse services; hence we
have selected a generic industry definition suggested by Kubr (2002:10):
‘Management consulting is an independent professional advisory service assisting
managers and organizations to achieve organizational purposes and objectives by
solving management and business problems, identifying and seizing new
opportunities, enhancing learning and implementing changes’.
Unlike professional business services, such as physicians or accounting, the
management consulting industry has no professional accreditation or certification
systems, and is not a protected occupation (Armbrüster, 2006). Although industry
associations do exist they are not formally approved professional associations
regulating the practice. Maister (1993) defines the industry as having a quasi-
professional status due to the knowledge-intensity of its services. Nonetheless, the
field of management consulting is still evolving, providing space for competing
ideas of appropriate consulting practice to coexist (Reihlen et al., 2010).
Management consulting outlook
The prominent consulting firms have been advising and reshaping the largest
organizations in the world since the 1920s (McKenna, 2006). Over the past half-
century, the diversity and volume of the market for management consulting
Page 15
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 21/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
services has grown significantly, both in terms of revenues and number of people
recruited (Løwendahl, 1992). Today, the industry shows signs of increasing
maturity (Reihlen et al., 2010). It is still a fairly young industry, however due to
its progress towards a fuller institutionalization (DiMaggio & Powell, 1983) and
large growth rates during the last decades, McKenna (2006) states that
consultancy services are being added to a mature frame. Another indicator of
maturity is the stratification of elites and non-elites, which vary in terms of
reputation and size (Greenwood & Suddaby, 2006).
In the early years, management consulting delivered unique expertise that the
clients did not have. Clients today are becoming increasingly sophisticated andhave developed more demanding attitudes and expectations (Lowe, 2004).
Modern buyers questioning and challenging the views of professionals has
become more predominant – they will ask for justifications, second opinions and
even claim service in the form of excellent ‘beside manner’ in addition to
technical advice (Wiley Knowledge for Generations, 2010). As previously
mentioned, the client-consultant relationship is essential to PSFs (Schön, 1983),
since the professional services are produced in interaction with the client.
The professional services industry, hence also management consulting, is also
faced with market dynamics affecting and implicating the way the businesses are
run (Wiley Knowledge for Generations, 2010). This was recently experienced due
to e.g. the financial crisis. General decrease in demand created by cost cutting
among clients, created fluctuations that disturbed the demand for consulting
services. In such cases, the dilemma for the consultancy firms lies in tight cost
control versus holding on to their people so that they are in the best place when
upturns comes in the long run. Effective recruiting is critical if a firm is to uphold
or increase its capacity to perform. At the utmost importance is also retaining
knowledge accumulated by key professionals, and utilizing it through training of
young professionals. An additional element is that the value of information
diminished as availability increases, hence effective application of knowledge is
becoming a differentiator between firms (Wiley Knowledge for Generations,
2010).
Page 16
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 22/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
The Anatomy of a Consulting firm
The structure of management of consulting firms are centered on the degree of
customization in their activities, and the extent of client interaction (Maister,
1993). The value of the firm is often embedded in the specific talents of their
highly skilled individuals. Leverage, knowledge and experience are the basic
elements of their business models, where the leverage structure is the relative mix
of newly employed, seniors and partners. When the professionals progress and
spiral upwards in the firm, the roles and thereby level of responsibility, and their
work tasks, will evolve. The roles of the professionals may have an explanatory
effect on our findings at later stages in terms of the potential differences in CD on
the three levels mentioned. A right balance in the matching of skills required bythe work to the skills available in the firm is crucial. However, due to resource
constraints it will be impossible to assign the most appropriate people to the
specific projects at all times. The companies’ staff may lack necessary
competence, or professionals with the desired competence may happen to be
occupied on a different project. Consequently, this may also lead to the
professionals being put on repetitively similar projects that we believe could serve
as a constraint to CD. In coping with this issue, the companies engage in resource preplanning, where they identify future projects and the human resources needed
to determine the availability of personnel and the most cost-effective ways of
replacing skills and knowledge shortages. To facilitate this, the firms engage in
actively allocation of assignments, routing staffing requests, ‘…to trade off among
the conflicting pressures of professional development; client demands for quality,
cost effectiveness, and speed; and the preferences of the firm’s members’
(Maister, 1993:157). To what extent this actually functions successfully remains
for our findings to indicate. As a general remark, the service-delivery cost will
decrease the larger the proportion of newly employed to seniors and managers. As
a strategy to win projects, consulting firms market themselves based on their
reputation and their high-profile key professionals, e.g. through their experts,
senior consultants and/or partners. Success in winning projects ‘depends on the
qualities of the professionals as perceived by potential clients’ (Løwendahl,
1992:506). After being awarded projects, they will reallocate the scarce experts
across other projects and clients. Due to shortage of experts, less experienced
consultants will be brought in. Increasing the proportion of newly employed to be
Page 17
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 23/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
used in projects, reduces the costs of the projects. By developing and investing in
the skills of its junior members, the firm adds to the only resource it has to sell:
professional judgment and talent (Maister, 1993). Whether the resource allocation
of staff actually contributes to professionals’ CD, will be illuminated in chapter 4.
People
The young professionals entering this industry are highly ambitious and career
oriented (Maister, 1993). Both the individuals and the organization share
excessive expectations for progress and career development. In the early stages of
their careers, professionals need to develop the necessary technical skills to
perform at work. From a firm perspective, they are intended to deliver e.g.exceptional work for clients, learn how to cooperate with peers, how to manage
teams and how to work with partners who have different skills and preferences.
The individuals entering these firms are openly entering a system inspired by an
“up-or-out” policy, where they either should pursue a career that will lead to long-
term success in the firm, or a timely decision to leave. As professionals progress
in their careers they must learn to deal with the diverging pressures that come
from managing important client relationships, whilst taking on increasing internalresponsibilities regarding the management of the firm. The system within PSFs
might be viewed as Darwinian, since the candidates with the most potential will
spiral upwards, and vise versa. The up-or-out promotional system is highly
present, and the expectations for ‘what constitutes a reasonable period of time of
each stage of the career path’ clearly stated (Maister, 1993:7). When individuals
are not showing progress as expected, they will, either by their own choice or at
the suggestion of the firm, abandon the company. All newly employees face a risk
of not making it, and this creates a pressure to work hard and succeed. We believe
that our interviews might provide insights into how professionals are being
evaluated within the firms under investigation. Further we hope to reveal the
consultants’ perceptions in terms of how the evaluation systems affect their CD.
For many firms the goal is to develop as many young professionals as possible.
Many managers within professional service firms are able to identify a few
professionals who they view as crucial to the company and its survival (Maister,
1993). This is major issue for PSFs, as they need many professionals of this
caliber. These are often the skilled individuals with experience and ability to solve
Page 18
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 24/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
complex problems, often referred to as the experts. Further they are characterized
by bringing in the biggest fees and often have large networks outside of the
company. These experts, and also professionals who have the potential to become
experts, choose the companies to work for with great care (Maister, 1993).
2.3 Resources within PSFs
This section is dedicated to resources within PSFs. First, the resource-based view
(RBV) of the firm is introduced. Based on the previous argumentations for
competence as an essential resource within PSFs, our paper has its foundation in
the RBV. In this view, intangible resources are recognized as fundamental to
value creation and competitive ability (Fosstenløkken, 2007). Thereby we will
secondly introduce the terms of tangible and intangible resources, whereof the
latter will be our focus. Thirdly, within intangible resources, competence and
relational resources can be found, where competence is our focal point. Lastly, we
will turn to knowledge management (KM) and methods of knowledge transfer, as
we find these aspects important for professionals’ CD.
2.3.1 Resource-Based View of the Firm
According to the RBV of the firm, performance differences across firms can be
attributed to the variance in the firms’ resources and capabilities (Hitt et al.,
2001). Resources will be more closely defined under the next section; ‘Tangible
and Intangible Resources within PSFs’.
Valuable, rare, poorly imitable and non-substitutable resources and capabilities
(Barney, 1991, cited in Hitt et al., 2001) comprise the firms unique or core
competences (Prahalad & Hamel, 1990) and thus generate lasting competitive
advantage. These competences come from previous investments made by the firm,
and from learning-by-doing (Prahalad & Hamel, 1990). Managers need to identify
how they create value within their organizations in order to create more value
relative to their competitors. Due to the characteristics of PSFs, creating firm
value through replication of efficient routines and procedures becomes extremely
difficult, as the services they produce are heterogeneous and jointly solved
Page 19
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 25/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
between the professionals and clients in each unique project. In PSFs, firm value
cannot reside in capital equipment and economies of scale from the use of
equipment, so what is then the source of competitive advantage and value creation
in these firms? We will look into these sources this in the following section.
2.3.2 Tangible and Intangible Resources within PSFs
As illustrated in the model below, Løwendahl (2009) distinguishes between
tangible and intangible resources. Tangible resources, as previously mentioned,
refer to e.g. production equipment, technology and buildings, and can be referred
to as highly flexible and general, or highly inflexible and specialized for particular
processes (Løwendahl, 2009). Furthermore, intangible resources can, as illustrated
in the model below, range from ‘relational resources’ in terms of reputation,
loyalty, and relationships on the one hand, and ‘competence’ in terms of
knowledge and capabilities on the other. The intangible resources are more likely
to generate competitive advantage, hence value for the firm (Hitt et al., 2001).
Figure 4. Strategic Resources (Source: Løwendahl 2009:94)
Our study focuses on the latter, namely intangible resources. Taken from
Løwendahl (2009), who in turn builds on Itami’s concept of information-based
invisible assets, resources can be defined as the following: ‘…the people, goods,
and capital a firm can deploy to meet its short- and long-term goals. A small but
Page 20
Tangible
Resources
Intangible
Competence
Individual Collective
Relational
Individual Collective
KnowledgeCapabilities=
Skills+Aptitudes
DatabaseCapabilities=
Skills+”Culture”
ReputationLoyalty
Relationships
ReputationLoyalty
Relationships
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 26/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
increasing number of managers adds information to the list. Consumer trust, brand
image, control of distribution, corporate culture, and management skill are all
informational resources. I call these information-based resources invisible assets,
and they are just as essential for effective operation as the more visible corporate
resources. More than that, I believe they are the most important resources for
long-term success’ (Itami, 1987:12). Even more specifically, since competence
development is our major area of focus, competence as an intangible resource is
highlighted and we will handle this concept in the following section.
2.3.3 Competence
There are many definitions and explanations of competence that are appropriate to
bring up within this discussion, however we have chosen to use the strategic
resources model presented on the previous page, as a basis for the topic of
competence. Hence, we will look into individual competence, as our study sets
out to investigate the professionals and their CD. Despite not being our main
focus, we will also introduce collective competence as it might facilitate a more
complete picture of the interplay between competences that can contribute and
constrain competence.
Individual competence
On an individual level, we choose to apply Nordhaug’s (1993) definition as a
basis for further discussion as he defines work-related competences, which is in
line with the type of competence we are addressing. He states that work-related
competences are ‘the composite of human knowledge, skills and aptitudes that
may serve productive purposes in organization’ (Nordhaug, 1993:50). Nordhaug
explained knowledge as particular information about a subject or within a field.
This type of knowledge can potentially be articulated and transferred. Further, he
suggests that skills are a special ability to perform work-related tasks, and that
these competences are difficult or impossible to articulate. Lastly, aptitudes
‘encompass natural talents that can be applied in work and that form a basis for
the development of knowledge and skills’ (Nordhaug, 1993:51). Aptitudes are as
such, hard to develop. Individuals may possess all three types of competence; yet
the firms employing these individuals must be able to access and mobilize these
Page 21
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 27/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
resources, in order to fully leverage them. Still, the firms cannot fully control
competence residing in individuals, and the individuals themselves are highly
mobile as they can walk out of the office any time and leave the firm.
Further, Nordhaug (1993) distinguishes between formal competence, gained
through e.g. education, training, and real competence. Real competence is referred
to as knowledge, skills and aptitudes that can be applied in work situations.
Hence, his suggestion is that possession of education or documented experience
not automatically can be operationalized in the work-situation. Nordhaug argues
that individual skills and knowledge has to be mediated through aptitudes to turn
operational.
Nordhaug’s definition suits our research question and our initial idea of
knowledge contributing to a large part of an individual’s competence. We find
support for the importance of our focus in Löfstedt (2001), emphasizing the
participation from employees as crucial in the process of CD, and in establishing a
learning organization.
Types of Competences
Since we are dealing with competence, which can be viewed as a quite ambiguous
term, we see it as appropriate to further classify competence to determine the
different types of competence one may develop. Also we feel that this might
contribute to an understanding of the nuances of the broad term competence. By
including this we further feel it enables a more concrete discussion in chapter 4, as
we will connect these typologies to the contributors and constraints of CD, in
relations to our second and third sub research question. There are many different
classifications one may apply to competence, however we have chosen to follow
Nordhaug’s (1993) typology on competence where he combines the dimensions of
‘task specificity’, ‘firm specificity’, and ‘industry specificity’. A model depicting
these competences is included on the next page.
Page 22
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 28/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
Figure 5. A competence typology (Source: Nordhaug, 1993:58)
‘Meta-competence’ is firm nonspecific, industry nonspecific, and can be utilized
in accomplishing a variety of tasks. Examples of this type of competences are e.g.
literacy, analytical capabilities, knowledge of foreign languages and cultures,
capacity to tolerate and master uncertainty, ability to communicate, ability to
cooperate with others, negotiation skills and ability to adjust to change. The main
contributor to meta-competences is the formal education system. However, certain
examples of meta-competences such as creativity, analytical capabilities and
social capabilities may come from other sources work experience and
socialization processes.
‘Industry competence’ relates to acquaintance with the industry, and is known for
having low task specificity, low firm specificity, and high industry specificity.
Examples of industry competence might be e.g. familiarity with the history of the
business, knowledge about the industry structure and current development, ability
to analyze the operations and strategies of competitors and knowledge about key
persons, networks, and alliances in the industry. Industry competences can be
developed through experience of working within an industry, joining industry
associations’ meetings and seminars or it might be transferred through external
consultants in possession of industry specific knowledge.
‘Intra-organizational competence’ is characterized by low task specificity and
high firm specificity. Examples might include knowledge about colleagues,elements in the organizational culture, such as symbols, sub cultures, history,
norms, ethical standards, overviews of communication channels, informal
Page 23
F I R M S P E C I F I C I T Y
LOW HIGH
I N D U S T R Y S P E C I F I C I T YLOW HIGH
LOW
TASK SPECIFICITY
I
Meta-
competences
II
Industry
competences
III
Intraorganizational
competences
HIGH
IV
Standard technical
com etences
V
Technical trade
com etences
VI
Unique
com etences
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 29/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
networks and alliances within the firm, mastery of organizational dialect or code
and knowledge about the firm’s strategy and goals. This type of competences may
mostly stem from every-day learning at work, e.g. through interaction with
colleagues or observations.
‘Standard technical competence’ has high task specificity, low firm specificity,
and low industry specificity and includes a wide range of generally technical
competences. This type of competence can embrace knowledge of generic
budgeting and accounting principles and methods, skills in computer
programming, knowledge of standard computer software, craft skills and technical
professional skills that can be applied across industries. The main generators of standard technical competence are identified as education and training.
‘Technical trade competence’ is known to be task specific, industry specific, and
firm nonspecific. Hence, one may use this competence in other firms, within the
same industry, however it can only be used in accomplishing one or a few limited
work tasks. Examples are skills in building automotive vehicles, aircrafts,
assembling computer hardware, hair cutting etc. Technical trade competences can be developed through vocational training that is limited to only one specific
industry. Also it can be developed through practice and experience in practical
work within the industry.
‘Unique competence’ is highly firm specific and task specific and applies to only
one or a few tasks in one firm only. It includes knowledge and skills related to
operation of unique technology and routines. Examples could include skills
related to the use of specialized tools crafted in the firm, knowledge about
rationalization devices that have been developed exclusively within the company,
skills in operating specialized, local filing or data systems or skills related to the
administration and maintenance of organizationally idiosyncratic routines or
procedures. This type of competence can only be taught within the one firm
however through various methods such as informal learning, in-house training, or
mentoring processes.
Page 24
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 30/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
After viewing individual competences, we will now turn to competences on a
collective level.
Collective competence
Despite our focus on professionals’ competence, and thereby individual
competence, we still see it as necessary to include an explanation on a collective
level since we believe that our findings may touch upon collective issues. At this
point, however, we cannot determine to what extent the collective competences
influence the individuals develop.
On a collective level, competence may refer to information databases, proceduresand culture (Løwendahl, 2009). These categories correspond to Nordhaug’s
individual competence elements discussed earlier in this chapter; namely
knowledge, skills, and aptitudes. Here, competence is concerning collectively
developed routines, procedures and ways of doing work that are shared within the
organization. This collective competence may include e.g. codified knowledge,
norms, routines, culture, language, best practices, and values (Kogut & Zander,
1992; Løwendahl, 1992, 2009). One of the keys to developing and utilizing professional competence to benefit on an organizational level is by ‘reducing the
firm's dependence on its key people’ (Sveiby, 1997:66). This is partly the reason
for why companies invest in technical tools, as to store and facilitate sharing of
knowledge on a firm level. In chapter 4 we will present how technical tools
contribute and/or constraints CD.
Firms’ competence building and competence leveraging activities, represent gap-
closing activities of significant importance for a firm’s competitive position, it
represents important input to the creation of the firm’s ‘organizational knowledge’
(Ylinenpää & Nilsson, 2000; von Krogh, Roos & Slocum, 1994). Furthermore we
will argue that knowledge is one of the main contributors to a professional’s
competence and thereby find it appropriate to devote a part of the thesis to
knowledge within PSFs (Løwendahl, 2009).
Knowledge
Page 25
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 31/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
As argued by Spender (1996), a firm’s knowledge and its ability to generate
specific knowledge are at the core of the theory of the firm. Grant (1996)
identified knowledge as the most critical competitive asset within a company. The
people within the firm possess a major part of organizations knowledge, and the
firms create value through selection, development and use of human capital
(Lepak & Snell, 1999).
Managers are increasingly realizing that the basis of their competitive advantage
is found in their knowledge base, and that development and exploitation of
knowledge is paramount for the sustainability of such advantages. Hence, better
use of existing knowledge, and more effective acquisition and assimilation of newknowledge, becomes a business imperative (Ladegaard & Syvertsen, 2005). The
reality in many professional services is that knowledge is socially constructed,
context specific and ambiguous, rather than composed of objective, clearly
generalizable rules that can be codified in any form (Alvesson, 1993; Orr, 1996 in
Morris, 2001:822). Since knowledge is presumed to be socially constructed, the
risk of professionals leaving the firm is a lurking threat, and a method of reducing
this risk can be found in the establishment of firm loyalty. We will discuss thismatter in chapter 4.
We have understood that knowledge is a term with many, and partly conflicting,
definitions. Moreover a number of dimensions have been proposed of knowledge,
namely explicit and tacit, embodied and embedded knowledge (Polanyi, 1958,
1966; Granovetter, 1985, cited in Løwendahl, Revang & Fosstenløkken, 2001).
However we want to keep the explanation of knowledge as being ‘tacit’ or
‘explicit’, and in need of different strategies to facilitate transfer between
individuals. Further we will consider knowledge both at the individual- and
collective level.
Due to our categorizing of CD into ‘daily operations’ and ‘investments’, when
dealing with our findings, we found it relevant to choose the following
classification of knowledge: Tacit knowledge is partly embedded in individual
skills and partly collaborative working relationships within firms (Szulanski,
1996, cited in Hitt et al., 2001). This type of knowledge is often rooted in
Page 26
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 32/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
uncodified routines (Liebeskind, 1996, cited in Hitt et al., 2001) and in firm’s
social context. Maister (1993) suggests that tacit knowledge is fundamental to
professional skills; and often difficult to imitate and characterized as unique
(Mowery et al., 1996, cited in Hitt el al., 2001). On the contrary, explicit
knowledge can be codified and thus more easily transferred (Liebeskind, 1996,
cited in Hitt et al., 2001). For the professionals, knowledge is gained through
formal education, intended to provide explicit knowledge specific for their job,
and through learning by doing on the job.
At the collective level, Nonaka (1994) identifies knowledge as created by
individuals, however suggests that firms are key in the process of development.Løwendahl, Revang and Fosstenløkken (2001) state that knowledge is a
combination of skills, routines, norms and values that are developed and shared by
more than one professional. Hence, individuals can be argued to be in the center
of knowledge creating activities. Still, organizational knowledge creation can rely
on the firms creating the right contexts through e.g. organizational set-ups as
through technical tools that can generate storing and transfer of knowledge.
2.3.4 Knowledge Management and Methods of Knowledge Transfer
When discussing knowledge we find it essential to discuss knowledge
management (KM), and methods of knowledge transfer within PSFs. Due to the
centrality of the knowledge aspect we find it appropriate to dedicate a section of
this study to introduce our understanding of KM in regards to CD. An additional
reason, underpinning our choice, is found in knowledge-based organizations
frequently being viewed as role models for other firms, in particular when it
comes to KM (Løwendahl, 2009), as also mentioned in previous chapters. Lastly,
since PSFs can be viewed as role models in KM, and that they have an important
function in creating the right contexts for knowledge creation, we hereby assume
this will influence the professionals’ CD. KM systems, if well functioning, can
contribute positively to professionals’ CD through e.g. having relevant
information easily accessible that professionals can utilize for self-studying and
application in daily work.
Page 27
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 33/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
There is a common acceptance that KM will symbolize the largest competitive
advantage for organizations in the new millennium (Drucker, 1993). As defined
by Boh (2007, cited in Zanjani, Mehrasa & Modiri, 2008:390), ‘KM is managing
the corporation’s knowledge through a systematically and organizationally
specified process for acquiring, organizing, sustaining, applying, sharing and
renewing both the tacit and explicit knowledge of employees to enhance
organizational performance and create value.’ The institutionalized knowledge-
sharing mechanisms allow the company to amplify knowledge embodied in
individuals to the collective level (Nonaka, 1994), so that the knowledge easily
can be accessed and shared throughout the organization. When knowledge is
shared, the value of the knowledge grows and multiplies (Cabrera & Cabrera,2002). As indicated by Alvesson (2002), KM provides the companies with
cultural guidance in the norm of knowledge sharing and ‘willingness to help each
other with advise and the sharing of experiences’ (Alvesson 2002:7).
Through our interviews we expect to gain insight into the way KM is dealt with in
the respective firms, and how the initiatives contributes and/or constraints the
professionals’ CD. Based on literature, we initially believe that potential criticaldimensions with regards to KM, hence CD, will touch upon issues such as
willingness and motivation to share knowledge, accessibility, user friendliness of
the technological infrastructures, and trust. A discussion of these elements
potentially will deem appropriate in chapter 4.
KM as a source of competitive advantage has been widely recognized for more
than two decades (Nonaka, 1991). Several researchers (e.g. Davenport & Probst,
2001) have argued for the importance of KM in an increasingly globalized and
service oriented environment (cited in Forstenlechner et al., 2007). Essential to all
services that are provided, is the actual input of knowledge the company receives
(professionals), and the output (service) it can deliver based on this (Hunter,
Beaumont & Lee, 2002). This in turn provides the firms with the basis for the
service that the company can offer to the client. KM involves both the processes
and the strategies that the firms choose, in addition to the communication.
However there are several important issues that might affect communication
within companies, such as the background of the individuals and nationalities
Page 28
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 34/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
(Mäkelä, Kalla & Piekkari, 2007). However, the majority of research conducted
on KM seems to be focused on the organizational level, and thereby neglects
individuals, although knowledge mainly is shared among individuals and not
organizations. This thesis focuses on individual CD, however collectively
developed systems for KM might influence our findings, and is therefore
included.
KM research has shown that consultants and PSFs do not have a uniform method
of managing knowledge. According to Hansen, Nohria & Tierney (1999)
companies must choose between following a ‘codification’ strategy or a
‘personalization’ strategy. The codification strategy involves knowledge beingtransferred into information, e.g. through databases and other technological
applications. By contrast, in companies that emphasize the personalization
strategy the focus lies in dialogue between individuals, and network building
(Harvard Business School, 1999). However, what is important regarding these
strategies is to choose one of them and not try to implement both. Yet companies
can choose to focus on one of the strategies, using the other in a supporting role.
When trying to assess the strategy choice it is deemed essential to evaluate theknowledge that the company deals with on a daily basis, and whether it is tacit or
explicit. In dealing with tacit knowledge, a personalization strategy might be
needed, whereas with explicit knowledge it may be beneficial to focus on the
codified strategy (Hansen, Nohria & Tierney, 1999).
Concerning the physical sharing of knowledge it is important to keep in mind that
this is a somewhat volunteer process, and thereby incentives plays a large role
within effective inter-firm knowledge transfer (Hansen, Nohria & Tierney, 1999).
Also since employees within a firm cannot be sure of what they will be rewarded
for sharing their knowledge, trust is essential. ‘Without trust the internal market
for knowledge will not function effectively’ (Davenport & Prusak, 1998; Nahapiet
& Ghoshal, 1998; Teece, Pisano & Shuen, 1997, cited in Empson, 2001:210).
After viewing the resources within PSFs, whereof competence has been
predominant, we will now turn to how competence can be developed, how it is
Page 29
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 35/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
evaluated and thereafter the importance of the competence chain to ensure its
utilization.
2.4 Developing and Using Competence within PSFs
In this section we will present previous literature on the topic of developing and
using CD. Firstly, factors that may enhance or inhibit development of competence
will be viewed. Secondly, evaluation methods and tools for measuring knowledge
will be addressed as this is identified as important for firms in aligning internal
behaviors and skills with the strategic direction of the company as a whole.
Lastly, utilization of competences will be turned to, as it is deemed difficult, yet
essential for the organization to reap the fruits of their work put into competence
development (Nordhaug, 1993).
2.4.1 Contributors and Constraints to CD
As described in chapter 1, we gained motivation for the thesis subject from
Fosstenløkken’s (2007) PhD dissertation. We choose to follow her categorization
of contributors and constraints to CD, and further linked them to ‘daily
operations’ and ‘investments’ within the firms. These two routes were built on
Itami (1987) who identified these routes to develop invisible assets. In this section
we will refer to Fosstenløkken’s (2007) main findings in regards to, what she
identifies as, facilitators and constraints to CD. We want to include her findings,
as we want to see if our findings are in line with this previous research on CD, and
because it might generate a better understanding of our second and third sub
research questions, set forth in chapter 1.
Fosstenløkken (2007) investigated CD within four consultancy firms, whereof two
consulting engineering firms and two communication agencies, in Norway. She
found that CD received surprisingly little attention from management in
consultancy firms. CD was found to be of focus in the firms, however was down prioritized. The responsibility for CD was left to the professionals themselves. CD
through daily operations was identified as the major CD facilitator, and was by far
Page 30
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 36/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
more important than CD through investments. In relations to this Itami (1987,
cited in Barney & Clark, 2007:20), he stated that ‘the accumulation and
maintenance of invisible assets indirectly through operations can take more time
than direct efforts, but the results of this process are more reliable’. Itami (1987)
here refers to invisible assets at the firm level, despite this we have chosen to
include his finding as we believe this might be the case on an individual level as
well.
Her facilitators to CD were identified as the ‘informal learning by doing going on
in the day-to-day work for clients, supported by the interaction in intra-firm
relations, client relations, and network relations’ (Fosstenløkken, 2007:291).These findings indicate that CD is an experience-based learning process,
recognized as learning by doing (e.g. Dewey, 1916 in Fosstenløkken, 2007). It
was due to this that her study emphasized on experience as foundation for
learning and development; e.g. the professionals learning conditions. However she
also chose to include organizational investments made to facilitate CD and
learning in groups, as to incorporate the collective learning. On the other hand, the
elements found to constrain CD were concerning ‘high time pressure, unevenwork load, and a lack of routines supporting learning through team composition
and relevant practice opportunities’ (Fosstenløkken, 2007:291).
Fosstenløkken’s findings also suggested that there are between layers differences
in the way the professionals within organizations perceive possibilities for CD,
and that e.g. newly employed and seniors may have quite diverse views on this
issue (Fosstenløkken, 2007, cited in Storey et al., 2009). As the professionals
might have different views of CD contributors and constraints, a distinction of
experience and tenure among the individuals is deemed appropriate. This is due to
the fact that no single individual can have the overall picture of the CD activities
in organizations (Tsoukas, 1996).
We will now turn to issues of evaluation and measurement of CD.
Page 31
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 37/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
2.4.2 Evaluating CD
Despite an overall recognition of the requirements for success, organizations still
strive to find a good method of measuring the development of competence. It is
widely recognized that measuring more intangible concepts, such as competence,
brings with it a lot of challenges. The purpose of measuring intangible assets is
neither to provide a full and comprehensive measuring systems nor to present a
full and comprehensive portrait. This is impossible, hence is the reason why
previous approaches have failed so far (Sveiby, 2001). The firm can control the
elements of tangible assets and organizational competence, whereas the intangible
assets, on the other hand, are controlled by the professionals and contracted to the
organization. As issues of firm reputation and client loyalty are tightly linked to
individuals, rather than firms, the organizations become vulnerable to the potential
of professionals leaving the firm. A challenging element in working with
competence is management’s obligation and need to simplify competence into a
controllable and measurable variable. Management is committed to create
overview, consistency, harmony and strategy aligned development, to be able to
predict development and hence competitiveness. Concurrently, as indicated by
Nordhaug and Grønhaug (1994) and Ulrich (1997) (cited in Boutaiba &Bramming, 2004: 3), ‘management objectives are dominated by a strong strive
and need for complexity, creativity, diversity, autonomy and multiplicity of
competence in a complex and turbulent market.’ The means to ensure
organizational success and the ‘raison d’être’ of competence-based human
resource management system, resides on a range of “promised outcomes”. A
competence-based management is centered around he ability to hire the right
people, train and develop these people to realize their potential, provide appraisalsystems, and identify behaviors and skills that are “proven predictors of success”
(Lucia & Lepsinger, 1999; Spencer & Spencer, 1993). Among the most popular
management development devices in use today, is the 360-degree tool (Toegel &
Conger, 2003).
The 360-evaluation tool is highly useful in ensuring that employees are ‘doing the
right things; clarifying and articulating what is required for effective performance,
such models help organizations align internal behaviors and skills with the
strategic direction of the company as a whole’ (Lucia & Lepsinger, 1999, cited in
Page 32
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 38/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
Boutaiba & Bramming, 2004:3). As further stated by Lucia and Lepsinger (1999),
competence models can facilitate clear job and work expectations, optimize
productivity, ensure hiring of top candidates, improve the 360-degree evaluation
process, adapt to change, align behavior of professionals with strategies and
values of the firm (in Boutaiba & Bramming, 2004).
A general trend in human resource management (HRM) is the movement towards
a more strategic oriented focus, where HR strategies concerning behaviors and
skills are aligned with business strategy. HR-technologies, such as 360-degree
feedback, competence assessment and developmental appraisal systems, are used
as simple, ‘techno-fix’ solutions to the making, distribution, acquisition, accessand application of organizational knowledge (Boutaiba & Bramming, 2004).
Companies use the 360-degree evaluation extensively as a tool to observe and
regard professionals’ competence, and further compare colleagues up against each
other. The problems with such systems are suggested to be that they create
employees and individuals with conceited personalities, preoccupied with their
own appearance and development abilities (Bauman, 2003). Professionals, who
are not evaluated as individuals holding perceptible and classifiable knowledgeand skills, will not appear competent. With this type of evaluation individuals will
be concerned about their work-life appearance, whether their appearance is
aligned with the firm’s expectancies and requirements on employee development
and their appearance as a competent, continuously changing and solid employee.
Additionally, another concern about this tool, due to its popularity, is that it has
been stretched to be used in areas beyond its original purpose (Toegel & Conger,
2003). Originally, the purpose was to measure leadership competences, however
today organizations use this tool to measure “everything and everyone”. From an
economical view, utilizing one single system for measuring performance is
viewed beneficial, however few have taken the time to step back and reconsider
its effectiveness. ‘The dilemma is that in employing one tool and one data
gathering process for such diverse purposes weakens the tool and its ability to
deliver on its objectives’ (Toegel & Conger, 2003:299).
In broader lines, defining, capturing and assessing competence and competent
individuals, are challenging tasks. As illustrated above, companies implement
Page 33
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 39/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
tools such as 360-degree feedback in order to evaluate the competence level of
their professionals, and amongst others tools, this might introduce rather precise
performance expectations and measures. On the other hand, in daily operations it
can appear totally arbitrary and based on appealingly subjective criteria what
competence is evaluated to be (Lucia & Lepsinger, 1999). We hope to gain
findings indicating how the evaluation is carried out within the companies under
investigation.
In addition to being developed and measured, it is essential that competence is
planned, acquired and utilized for optimal benefit, which will constitute the last
section of this chapter.
2.4.3 Process for Utilization of Competence
The stages of planning, acquiring, developing and using competence all together
comprise what is called the ‘competence chain’ in organizations, as seen in the
model below (Nordhaug, 1993). This part of the thesis will mainly be issued
around the last stage of Nordhaug’s model, namely ‘competence utilization’.
" #$ %&' &( ) &!
* &+&,#%$ &( ' !
- . ' &/ ( 0,!
" #$ %&' &( ) &!
1 ) 2 3 454' 4#( !
!
" #$ %&' &( ) &!
6 ,0( ( 4( 7 !" #$ %&' &( ) &!
8 ' 4,490' 4#( !
Figure 6. The Competence Chain (Source: Nordhaug, 1993:28).
The utilization of competences is vital for the organization to reap the fruits of
their work put into competence development (Nordhaug, 1993). Needless to say,
otherwise the process and investments put into CD will be of waste. As discussed
Page 34
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 40/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
earlier, sharing competence is important for PSFs. However, sharing alone does
not necessarily improve firm performance. More specifically it contributes by
laying the ground for effective utilization (Haas & Hansen, 2007).
The collection of competences in a firm can be referred to as the organizations
portfolio of competences (Nordhaug & Grønhaug, 1994). An essential point
regarding this portfolio is that it must be “understood” by both professionals and
management (Nordhaug, 1993). However, as consulting firms along with other
firms, embrace professionals contributing with different kinds of competences, a
challenge for the firm becomes to coordinate and utilize the competences that are
spread out among a large number of individuals (Nordhaug, 1993). On the other hand, more difficulties may arise due to the fact that a number of companies, and
especially knowledge-based organizations, may not be aware of the competences
that are available for potential value creation. In other words they may experience
a problem with under-utilization (Løwendahl, 2009).
Another noteworthy comment made by Nordhaug (1993) was that it is important
to consider the degree of specificity of the competences one possess to determineareas of utilization. In other words, knowing what kind of competence the
professionals are in possession of is not sufficient in itself, however it is also vital
to determine the potential areas of utilization to ensure optimal usage of the
competences. Effective utilization of competences is what may lead to value
creation. Our focus is CD, however it would be interesting to look into the issue
of utilization as the next natural step in value creation for the firm. We will come
back to this in the section ‘Suggestions for Further Research’.
2.5 Summary
The purpose of this chapter has been to review literature relevant to our topic
under investigation, hence our research questions set forth in chapter 1.
First, literature on national culture was presented whereof Hofstede’s (2001)
cultural dimensions were presented as we assumed they could influence our
findings at later stages. Here ‘individualism’, ‘power distance’, ‘uncertainty
Page 35
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 41/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
avoidance’, and masculinity’ were addressed.
Second, literature on PSFs and more specifically management consulting was
presented. Herein, competence is central in these firms as it represents an essential
resource within the PSFs value creation, linked to the process of (i) selling ‘a
credible promise’; (ii) delivering what has been promised; and (iii) learning from
the selling and delivery processes (Løwendahl, 2009).
Third, resources in PSFs were addressed where intangible resources were
identified as essential to a firm’s competitive advantage. Within intangible
resources, ‘relational resources’ and ‘competence resources’ were introduced,whereof the latter represents our main focus. When defining competence,
Nordhaug’s (1993) definition was highlighted and is comprised by knowledge,
skills and aptitudes. As knowledge represents a large part of competence, the last
section was devoted to define knowledge and to introduce the importance of KM
and knowledge transfer.
Lastly, literature on developing and using competence was reviewed. Based onItami (1987) and Fosstenløkken’s (2007) PhD dissertation, two paths to CD were
addressed: CD through ‘investments’ or ‘daily operations’. Further, evaluating
and measuring competence and its development represent a critical challenge for
organizations. A 360-degree feedback is recognized as being heavily used,
however has its concerns. Finally, Nordhaug’s (1993) competence chain was
introduced, as utilization of CD is where the organizations can reap the fruits of
their efforts.
Page 36
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 42/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
3.0 Reserch Methodology
This chapter discusses the methodological considerations and choices that
underlie the research process of this thesis. First, we look into the choice of
research method. Secondly, the context of the data collection will be attended to
in terms of industry, firm, and respondents. Also here the data sources of both
interviews and written material will be addressed, and the actual process of
conducting the interviews. Third, the data analysis is presented. Thereafter, the
quality of the chosen research method and approach is discussed before the last
section considers how the actual presentation of the findings will take place at
later stages of this thesis.
3.1 Choice of Design and Research Method
Research design is related to choices about how one goes about conducting the
actual study. There are three basic designs: ‘descriptive’, ‘exploratory’ and
‘causal’. One of the basic assumptions underlying the choice of descriptive design
is that the researchers have a basic understanding of the specific area being
studied. This approach aims at describing characteristics of an object to be able to
test and determine relationships among two or more variables (Gripsrud, Olsson
& Silkoset, 2004). Causal design is most suitable when researchers seek to test
cause and effects between variables. Lastly, exploratory design is concerned with
generating a thorough understanding and with establishing insights in a particular
area of study; hence this is identified as the most appropriate for this project due
to our type of our overall research question, as our chosen topic requires insight
into the respondents personal experiences, attitudes, and perceptions.
Following this discussion comes the important issue of what methodology to use,
qualitative or quantitative. The methodology determines what we can study, in
addition to the range of possible results and conclusions (Adler, Campbell &
Laurent, 1989). The main focus in quantitative research is on matters related to
structural-, rather than more complex issues of the process (Van Maanen, 1983).
Page 37
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 43/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
Furthermore, quantitative methods are suggested applicable if the aim of a study
is to ascertain ‘how many’, ‘what’, and ‘where’ related questions (Gripsrud,
Olsson & Silkoset, 2004). Qualitative research, on the other hand, leaves more
flexibility for the researcher, which further enables him/her to take fuller
advantage of the richness of data (Wright, 1995). It thereby offers the opportunity
to examine the process of ‘why’ and ‘how’, not just ‘what’. We can then explore
more complex, interdependent issues whereof number counting and statistical
techniques are not of focus, but rather collecting data in its natural setting
(Wright, 1995). A qualitative approach is deemed appropriate for our issue under
investigation since we are dealing with a research question aimed to indicate how
CD is perceived, and we want to explore a complex issue in its real-life setting.Qualitative methods are by Yin (2003) referred to as case studies, which we will
turn to next.
3.1.1 Case Studies
Within qualitative methods, several methods of research can be found, however
we identify case studies as most appropriate. Case studies are frequently used in
various fields of research such as anthropology, psychology, sociology, political
science, and business administration (Eisenhardt, 1989; Yin, 2003). Despite this,
there has in fact not been developed a general definition of case studies adopted
by researchers (Andersen, 1997). However, in business- and management studies,
Yin’s work has played a rather predominant role, making it a frequent reference in
relation to case studies. Yin (2009:18) defines a case study as ‘an empirical
inquiry that investigates a contemporary phenomenon within its real-life context,
especially when the boundaries between phenomenon and context are not clearly
evident’. It allows the researcher to explore both matters concerning individuals,
and firms (Yin, 2003).
More specifically, three main reasons lay the grounds for the choice of case
studies. It is because the form of the overall research question that we have posed
implies ‘how’ and ‘why’ type of question, which gives us the desire to understand
a complex social phenomenon (Yin, 2003). Also a case study ‘allows
investigators to retain the holistic and meaningful characteristics of real-life
Page 38
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 44/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
events’ (Yin, 2003:2). Thirdly, the term CD is, as seen previously, a very
ambiguous term which further complicates the research resulting in the need for a
more in depth understanding, to be able to make further conclusions at later
stages.
Another aspect of case studies that we need to consider is whether to choose a
single case- or multiple case design. In our study, a case, also referred to as unit of
analysis, is each individual professional that has been interviewed. With 37 units
of analysis, we thereby have a multiple case design. Also this design is seen as
appropriate since we want to be able to draw cross-case conclusions. We want to
analyze and draw conclusions about differences and similarities of perceivedcontributors and constraints of CD on three levels, namely newly employed,
senior, and partner level. These categories will be addressed under the section
‘Respondents’. We also want to compare across borders between France and
Norway to see if national culture and HQ nationality influences the way CD is
perceived.
We decided to conduct a multiple-case study, a choice that introduces severalimportant implications. Hodkinson and Hodkinson (2001) have identified positive
and negative aspects regarding case studies. Among positive contributions of case
studies worth mentioning, are the insights they can offer of complex situations or
areas of study. Also multiple case studies can enable researchers to generate novel
theories (Eisenhardt, 1989).
On the other hand, as the findings may be complex, issues around presenting the
results to the readers, arise. The task of presenting and explaining the findings, is
not characterized as easy (Hodkinson & Hodkinson, 2001; Patton, 2002).
Additionally, the large scale of the data gathered may offer problems regarding
the complexity of analysis needed to treat the data (Eisenhardt, 1989).
Furthermore, limited generalizability is regarded as a central limitation, as the
results cannot easily be generalized from the case study to the entire population.
Case study methods may risk describing idiosyncratic phenomena, or that the
researcher may be unable to raise the level of generality of the study and theory
(Eisenhardt, 1989). However, we have sought to identify patterns of how CD
Page 39
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 45/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
takes place within the PSFs. More about positive and negative aspects of case
studies will be viewed within ‘Research Quality’.
3.2. Data Collection and Contexts
In the process of gathering data we decided, together with the respondents, that
the data would be of confidential matter. Also, we ensured that that information
given solely would be used in the purpose of this particular study. It was
important that information could not be traced back to the respective firms, and
even more important, to each of the professionals that were interviewed. The
reasoning behind this was that potential sensitive topics were discussed, of which
we had no intentions to reveal the sender of. Due to these confidentiality
agreements, only a limited amount of information can here be presented regarding
industry details and respondents.
3.2.1. Industry Details
The category of PSFs is wide-ranging and encompasses a long list of industries,
including accounting firms, law firms, advertising agencies, architecture firms,
marketing, public relation service firms, and management consulting firms. These
PSFs share common traits, but operate in different contexts in terms of business
regulatory regime, and business environment. This study focuses on large
management consulting firms in the French and Norwegian context. The
empirical part of the study will provide data from a variety of consultancies. The
collection of data was carried out in France, Paris, and Norway, Oslo, within six
PSFs in Paris and seven in Oslo.
3.2.2. Respondents
Regarding the choice of companies to include in this study, we turned to Yin
(2003), suggesting an either maximizing-, or minimizing differences approach.
Although we in our empirical research have regarded various types of industries
within the broader umbrella PSFs, we chose to follow the minimizing differences
guideline in the choice of firms, and hereby solely selecting management
Page 40
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 46/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
consulting firms.
In the selection of informants we were concerned about differences in experience,
gender, nationality, and positions. In each company a minimum of two
professionals in France-, and three in Norway, were interviewed on different
levels of the firms; newly employed, senior, and partner levels, making it possible
to identify potential differences in what may contribute and constraint CD on the
respective levels in the organizations. Also this was done in order to get an idea of
the contrast between the firms’ visions (top management) and the actual
performance (the professionals) of the organization. This can be referred to as
talk-action gap, supported by Tsoukas (1996) who emphasizes that it is essentialnot only to study what the company says it does (in terms of its top managers) in
its CD efforts, but also how professionals themselves perceive the CD within the
firm - both regarding particular investments in learning facilities, and as part of
daily work.
With seniority we follow Sveiby’s definition (1997) referring to the number of
years employed in the same organization. Although we have not rigidly defineddegree of seniority on number of years employed, we have left this consideration
to the respondents themselves to define. As a general remark, however, we can
state that the average newly employed category refer to one to two years of firm
experience, senior consultants between three and five years, and partners as more
than five years. Nevertheless, it is important to note that the different firms
describe e.g. different evolution paths in terms of career development and number
of years associated to each level. Also the firms have different labels for the
different levels, therefore we hereby refer to them by the levels mentioned above,
as to facilitate comparisons and also in order to not reveal sensitive information in
terms of enabling readers to trace statements back to the specific firms.
In the majority of cases we were unfamiliar with the firms and hereby not able to
choose the respondents. Therefore, potential participants were initially approached
via contact persons, such as HR personnel or CEOs, via phone or directly by e-
mail. Almost all of these approaches were successful in terms of the low degree of
rejection. However in our opinion, having HR personnel and/or CEOs assisting us
Page 41
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 47/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
in identifying suitable respondents in accordance to our selection criteria, was
clearly a benefit in many cases, as they have familiarity with individuals within
the respective firms. After receiving at least one contact in each firm, they further
suggested volunteers for the interviews. Furthermore, information was also
collected from two ‘expert’ interviews and their statements have been used in
terms of contributing to our interpretation and discussion of findings. These key
informants were approached through both an academic network and a talent
network where we had access. They were contacted and included, as they
presumably were especially knowledgeable on the issue of interest. They both had
extensive experience within PSFs in various stages both with- and without
managerial responsibilities. Furthermore, one of the key informants has predominantly focused on PSFs in Norway, whereas the other key informant has
more experience with France and international PSFs. Approaching key informants
has previously been criticized as it can be discussed to what extent the
information given is transferable on large firms. Our conversations with the key
informants were conducted at later stages of our interview process. Their input
was valuable in terms of not only sharing their insight, but also in the way that
they contributed to reassuring that our perceptions and interpretations were in linewith their experience on a general level. Hence, our conversations were of a more
informal matter. Statements from our key informants will not explicitly be
addressed however we believe that their insight provided us with wider
perspectives and possibly a higher level of insight when interpreting our findings.
Overall, the key informants only served a supportive role to us personally in the
investigation process.
All together, our data consists of 37 in-depth interviews, whereof 14 with French
professionals, 21 with Norwegian professionals and two with key informant
interviews - one in Paris and one in Oslo. Finding interviewees in Paris proved to
be more of a challenge than in Norway. In two of the firms it was impossible
within the set timeframe to find respondents on all three levels, as not everyone
who was contacted wanted to participate. In the model presented on the next page,
an overview of the respondents is presented. Newly employed is referred to in the
model as NE, senior consultants as S, and partners as P. Despite differentiating
between males and females in the table, we have chosen not to further
Page 42
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 48/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
differentiate between them in our analysis, since we do not view it as central to
answer our sub research questions.
Total: 37 interviews
including two key
informant interviews
Norway
(21 interviews)
France
(14
interviews)
Company A NE (x2): f
S: f
P: f
NE: m
S: f
P: m
Company B NE: f
S: m
P: m
NE: m
S: f
P: m
Company C NE: m
S: m
P: m
NE: f
S: f
P: f
Company D NE: m
S: f
P: m
NE: m
P: m
Company E NE (x2): m + f
S: f
P: m
NE: m
P: m
Company F NE: f
S: m
P: f
P: m
Company G S: f
Figure 7: Overview of respondents
3.2.3 Interviews and Written Material
The main sources of data are interviews and previous research on the topic under investigation. According to Patton (2002), there are three types of qualitative
interviews that can be conducted, requiring different preparations,
Page 43
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 49/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
conceptualization, and instrumentation. These alternatives are; ‘the informal
conversation interview, the general interview guide approach and the standardized
open-ended interview’ (Patton, 2002:342). These alternative approaches to
interviews differ in several areas, one of them being the extent to which the
questions for the interview are prepared and standardized in advance. The
‘informal conversation interview’ depends heavily on a spontaneous generation of
questions from the interviewer during the interview, and is sometimes referred to
as unstructured interviewing. When utilizing the ‘general interview guide
approach’ a set of issues or topics is identified before the interview starts, serving
as a checklist for the interviewer in the process. The ‘standardized open-ended
interview’ has a set of clearly defined and carefully worded questions in order toguide the respondents through a similar sequence, leaving little room for
individuality and flexibility (Patton, 2002). Based on these arguments, the general
interview guide approach has been used for our interviews, as it is deemed the
most appropriate method for the issue under investigation. We had a list of key
words and specific questions that were predefined. It was important for us that the
respondents touched upon certain key words and issues. However it was also
important that we could maintain the flexibility to adjust conversations to therespondents and his/her unique experience, and to what would be of interest to
retrieve in-depth information about. Therefore we found the informal conversation
interview too general and not to the point, and the standardized open-ended
interview too rigid.
3.2.4 The Interview Process and Transcription
The interviews were conducted between early January and late July, 2011. The
duration of the interviews varied based on time available of the interviewees,
however all interviews lasted between ½ and two hours. Most interviews were
conducted at the respondents’ respective work place in meeting rooms, however
some were held at external locations such as at BI Norwegian Business School,
and at cafés/coffee shops. Both authors conducted the majority of the interviews
jointly, however a few were conducted separately as one of us was in Paris/Oslo
at the time. The majority of interviews consisted of face-to-face conversations
with the respondents, however due to cost and time constraints, some interviews
Page 44
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 50/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
were conducted via phone or Skype. Skype was preferred when possible, as it
enabled video conversations, leaving room for visual observations and making it
more close to a face-to face conversation. Most interviews were done once,
however a few were interviewed twice in order to elaborate on findings revealed
in the first interview.
When starting the interviews we introduced our topic more thoroughly and gave
the respondents information about the interview and how it would go about. Also
we ensured the interviewees that the information from the interview was of
confidential matter. Thereafter we asked each respondent to briefly introduce
themselves and their background, to enable an assessment of their degree of responsibility. The questions regarding background included e.g. education,
seniority in the company, and work-related tasks. Further, the conversations
became more specific, focusing on the topic of CD of both positive and negative
matters, as well as culture. Throughout the interview we asked follow-up
questions on interesting subjects and made sure they covered the relevant key
words of interest. When ending the interview, all respondents were given the
opportunity to add information on their own initiative. Also, they were asked if they would be available for questions at a later point if necessary. Some follow-up
phone calls and/or e-mails were sent. This was due to new findings occurring later
in the process of conducting interviews, which we found interesting to retrieve
more information on from a larger number of respondents.
Since most interviews were conducted jointly, a tape recorder was generally not
used, however in the cases where interviews had to be conducted by one of us, a
tape recorder was included to enable us to capture as much information as
possible. During interviews, we emphasized on writing down statements as
nuanced as possible, often including general observations such as pauses and body
language. As soon as each interview was completed, information was transcribed
in the aim of preserving as much information as possible, as it was fresh in mind
(Eisenhardt, 1989). In the process of transforming the interviews into written
transcripts, the presentation naturally became somewhat more formal. However,
preserving the spoken form was emphasized. The interviews in France were
conducted in English and thereby transcribed in English, whereas the interviews
Page 45
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 51/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
conducted in Norway in Norwegian, were transcribed in Norwegian. This
translation process can have important implications and concerns regarding
especially interpretation, which we will turn to now.
3.2.5 Interview Concerns
As with other types of research and methods of conducting research, interviews
are also in risk of biases and general attentive issues that should be considered.
Firstly, a concern may be to what extent the professionals are able to discuss,
express, and communicate their opinions, feelings, experiences and perceptions.
This concern could be especially predominant as our issue under investigation
(CD) in the first place is recognized as being rather ambiguous. However,
interviews compared to other approaches, such as observations, may provide the
respondents with time to more closely think and reflect upon the questions or
topics at matter. We did in many situations experience that the interviewees took
the time to think carefully through their responses. Being able to take their time to
think seemed to be appreciated by the respondents, and we also opened up for
clarification questions if questions were unclear or if language would become a
barrier. However, we were aware of the potential biases that may arise due to
respondents talking about previous experiences and perceptions. Here, faulty
memory, exaggeration, dishonesty and misunderstanding of the interview
purpose, can lead to bias in our results (McCrank, 2002). Since we have based our
reporting and analysis of data on the respondents statements, we will leave it to
the readers to make decisions about the credibility of our analysis and our
responses to the sub research questions.
Secondly, the issue of language and translations is an important concern as
interviews with French professionals were conducted in English. In general we
seemed not to have issues regarding misunderstandings or language barriers, as
the level of English was high among all respondents. In some cases, questions
needed to be repeated and/or specified, however it seemed to be related to the
complexity of the topic, and not language barriers. The French interviews in
general required a bit more time, however we considered this as positive as it
might enhance the quality of the output. Also, a concern regarding language is
Page 46
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 52/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
that the perception of words and concepts may differ. The differences in
perceptions of the concept of competence and CD are examples which one should
be aware of. Therefore, we initially asked respondents to briefly explain how they
perceived the concepts. In almost all cases, after we had introduced our study and
issue of interest, this seemingly posed no concerns on the issue of perception. In
the few situations where the respondents had a different perception than the
relevance within this study, we briefly explained and gave examples to make sure
that we had ensured a similar point of departure. Furthermore, when translating
and transcribing the Norwegian interviews, we were again aware of potential
translation barriers. This is because it can pose challenges regarding alterations
due to translations of interviews, used for findings at later stages. However indealing with this, we focused on translating the meaning of statements rather than
on the explicit words.
Lastly, the aspect of confidentiality also raises important questions in terms of
what kind of information the respondents are willing to give. Respondents may
not be comfortable talking about sensitive matters, especially if they may think or
fear that their colleagues, or even partners, can gain access to this information.Therefore, we assured the respondents of the information being of confidential
matter in the beginning of each interview. We also explained how they would be
referred to in the study, namely by labels of newly employed, senior consultant or
partner, and also sometimes by female/male. This would then ensure that no
statements or information could be traced back to each respondent. The
confidentiality agreement worked effectively in the way that most respondents
were perceived as open and willing to discuss potentially sensitive areas.
Actually, the respondents sometimes seemed to enjoy being asked about
themselves and their work, and to talk freely about issues without consequences
or judgment.
Despite aspects or concerns described above, the general interview guide
approach were by us seen as a fruitful way of investigating complex processes,
such as CD.
Page 47
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 53/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
3.3 Data Analysis
The sub research questions identified in chapter 1, will guide the data analysis that
was carried out through a cross-case analysis. According to Yin (2003) a crucial
point in this kind of analysis is to look for similarities and differences. In our
situation, similarities and differences have been identified in terms of what
contributes and constraints CD across levels of professionals, and across borders.
The viewpoints have been themed looking for patterns of similarities and
contrasts, as Patton (2002) suggested. These viewpoints were themed based on
what was repeatedly mentioned by the professionals in the way that it was either
within or through these arenas, that CD was facilitated or constrained. The themed
viewpoints have thereby served as a basis for comparison for our cross-case
analysis. These areas are in the next chapter referred to under the headings ‘CD
through Investments’, and ‘CD through Daily Operations’. More specifically,
examples of the areas are e.g. ‘Mentor and Support Systems’, ‘Courses and
Training’, ‘Learning by Doing’. We believe that this categorization can lead to a
sharpening of the findings, as patterns of similarities and differences might be
easier to grasp by grouping them.
For the analysis and discussion on national culture, and its influence on CD, the
basis for comparison was built on how the professionals perceived certain aspects
related to culture. More specifically we asked questions about areas that we could
link to Hofstede’s (2001) cultural dimensions such as hierarchy and their culture
for asking questions. The culture section does however not include a cross-case
comparison in this context. This is because we expected culture not to influenceone level more than the other, but rather on a collective level. Overall
comparisons have however been made between France and Norway, illuminated
by national culture of the professionals and HQ nationality.
After presenting more thorough information regarding the research methodology,
it is here deemed appropriate to look more into the issue of research quality.
Page 48
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 54/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
3.4 Research Quality
In the early stages of the methodology sections, positive and negative aspects of
qualitative case studies were addressed, and now more specific considerations on
the matter of quality will be reviewed. Patton (2002) states that validity and
reliability are two factors that any qualitative researcher should be concerned
about while designing, analyzing results, and judging the quality of the study.
Methodologically, the overall aim for all kinds of studies is to research reliability
and validity (Patton, 2002). The two terms however, usually refers to quantitative
methods and may not always be directly transferrable to qualitative research
(Golafshani, 2003).
Reliability
Reliability is concerned with the consistency of your measurement (Pedhazur &
Schmelkin, 1991). If another researcher were to carry out the same study again,
would it generate the same results? An important issue to keep in mind regarding
this is that in qualitative research, the researchers impact is prominent as she/he is
the ‘instrument’ (Patton, 2002). The researcher is actively engaging in the
processes of collecting data, interpreting reality, and participating in the context(Patton, 2002). In this study, to enhance reliability, we have been conscious about
these issues throughout our research, as suggested by Patton (2002). However,
people and relations change over time, knowledge about competence,
organizations and society can be viewed as relative (Fosstenløkken, 2007).
Furthermore, the interaction between the researcher and respondent may influence
data. This may be due to fact that the strength of the analysis is depending on
credibility, competence, and rigor of the researcher (Fosstenløkken, 2007).Thereby, the exact same results may be hard to yield despite having the same
purpose and point of departure, using the same methods, and focusing on the same
issues. We hope in this thesis to strengthen reliability by making the research open
for potential scrutiny, as Eisenhardt (1989) suggests. This includes many aspects
of consideration. For example by a stated awareness of the research process,
detailed descriptions of the research design, context, data sources and analysis,
avoiding biased questions in interviews, and by reassuring our understandings of
the respondents answers. Also, we have had a focus on honesty and openness
throughout the whole interview process. With regards to the researchers abilities
Page 49
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 55/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
and skills in any qualitative research, Patton (2002) states that reliability is a
consequence of the validity in a study.
Validity
‘Validity determines whether the research truly measures that which it was
intended to measure or how truthful the research results are. In other words, does
the research instrument allow you to hit ‘the bull’s eye’ of your research object?’
(Joppe, 2000:1, cited in Golafshani, 2003). To enhance validity in this thesis the
main concepts and dimensions used to classify and sort data have derived from
theory. The research question outlined has led the data collection. Additionally, by
relying on multiple people, companies and sources of data (interviews and writtenmaterial), the relationship between the concepts studied and the empirical data
seen as indications of the concept, were possibly enhanced. Interviews were in
most cases conducted together by both of us, enabling subsequent discussions
between us, which is likely to enhance the validity of our interpretations.
Furthermore, since we have worked together throughout the process, our
perceptions of statements from interviewees have not always been aligned. When
this issue occurred we contacted the respondents to reassure that our perceptionsof their responses were correctly interpreted. This was done in order to not
misjudge meaningful responses that could consequently influence our findings
and analysis. Where our perceptions of concepts and theories were not in line, we
searched for answers through lengthy discussions and in additional literature.
Generalizability
Generalizability refers to the ability to generalize the results of our study to other
settings (Lincoln & Guba, 1985). So in our case, could we generalize our results
to other industries? According to Andersen (1997) it is generally viewed as being
more difficult to generalize from qualitative case studies based on theoretical
representation, because of the typically smaller sample. Despite this, our study
includes data found within seven firms (in total 13 divisions in total), which likely
increases the potential for providing more comprehensive insight into the
complexity and variety of CD processes in our firms under investigation, than a
single firm study. However, generalizability will here not closely be discussed, as
we at not aiming at generalizing the results to a larger population. Rather, this
Page 50
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 56/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
thesis aims at describing considerations and proceedings in order to make the
research and insight accessible for others. This is done in order to allow
comparisons with other settings and evaluate the potential analytical
transferability of the findings (Yin, 2003). Through stating the supporting
evidence and making explicit arguments, the readers may themselves judge the
soundness of the statements and claims made in our thesis.
Credibility
Credibility refers to whether the results of qualitative research are credible or
believable from the perspective of the participants in the research or study
(Research Methods Knowledge Base, 2006). From this perspective, the purpose of qualitative research is to describe or understand a phenomenon of interest from
the participant's view; the participants are the ones to judge the credibility of the
findings or results (Eisner, 1991; Patton, 2002). This study can enhance credibility
by providing information about the industry and respondents in general, but also
through providing discussions of the methods used, including the sequence of
empirical investigation and presentation of findings. Additionally the presentation
of the empirical findings is supported by the use of quotes from the interviews, assuggested by Patton (2002). Also, thorough comparisons between our findings
and theory are made and illustrated in this thesis. By doing so, it is illustrated how
our findings can relate to existing theory and thereby one may argue that the
trustworthiness of the results can be strengthened.
In addition to the quality criteria for research we also found it appropriate to
address the ethical aspects as this too relates to the quality of a study.
Ethical Considerations
The National Committee for Research Ethics in the Social Sciences and the
Humanities (NESH, 2009) has developed guidelines for research ethics of which
many could be applied in this study. However, when relating the guidelines to the
methodology, three are of obvious importance and will here be addressed. These
three are; the obligation to obtain consent, the obligation to inform research
subjects, and the confidentiality requirements.
Page 51
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 57/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
First, as a general rule, projects that include individuals, may only take place after
the participants’ free and informed consent (NESH, 2009). When contacting the
interviewees, they were informed that their participation was voluntary. The
respondents always had the freedom to cancel their participation, without bearing
negative consequences. None of the respondents made use of the latter
opportunity.
Second, this study has considered the obligation to fully inform the respondents
(NESH, 2009). This in practice means that the professionals who have been
interviewed, have been given all the information necessary to form a reasonable
understanding of the research field, the consequences of participating in theresearch, and the purpose of the research. This information was provided both via
e-mail prior to the interviews, and was repeated at the beginning of each
interview. Respondents were given the opportunity to ask clarifying questions if
necessary. However, due to this study being exploratory, it was important not to
give the respondents any predisposed ideas, which might have reduced
trustworthiness. Therefore, only sufficient, and not a detailed presentation of the
study, were given before the interviews started.
Third, participants are entitled to receive information about that personal matters
are treated confidentially. The researcher must prevent the use and dissemination
of information that can harm individuals that are subject to the research (NESH,
2009). In the beginning of each interview, all respondents were told that the
information from the conversations would be treated confidentially. Respondents
were also told that statements made, would only be referred as statements
stemming from the respective levels; newly employed, senior consultant or
partner either of French or Norwegian origin, and sometimes also female/male.
At this point, we have sought to provide thorough information about the
methodology of our study, and we will now more closely address how our
findings will be presented in chapter 4.
Page 52
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 58/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
3.5 Presentation of the Findings
In chapter 4, where the main findings regarding culture and CD will be presented,
we had to make choices on what to include and how to present it, as Patton (2002)
have emphasized the importance of. To make the data material comprehensible, it
is necessary to make a selection from the findings. Therefore, readers have to rely
on our choices of findings included. In qualitative analysis, it is important and
necessary to make decisions that provide indications regarding the variations in
the credibility of different findings (Patton, 2002). ‘Hence, selecting material
strengthens credibility and quotes that illustrate what we believe are
“representative” views of the respondents’ (Fosstenløkken, 2007:103). The
statements from the respondents will be presented in italics. Using expressions
such as e.g. ‘all’, ‘most’, ‘few’, and ‘none’ indicate the relative strength of the
findings. The findings will in our study be presented together with the analysis
and discussion, since in case-studies it may not always be appropriate to impose a
strict line between the three components; findings, analysis and discussion
(Thomas, 2011). Further reasons for the appropriateness of combining these
chapters are several. Firstly, we find it appropriate as to avoid repetition.Additionally we feel that it facilitate a more fruitful and thorough discussion,
because we see the issues as naturally interrelated. Hence, we do not see it as
beneficial to impose a strict line between findings, analysis and discussion, since
one infiltrates and merges into the other. We feel that by doing so, the sub
research questions can be discussed in a way that enables broader and more
nuanced “answers”.
Different approaches can be used to present the data in qualitative research.
Despite this, descriptions and quotations are the essential ingredients, and are
thereby used (Patton, 2002). Due to confidentiality agreements, as mentioned
previously, the findings will be referred to as stemming from a newly employed,
senior consultant, or partner.
Page 53
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 59/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
3.6 Summary
This chapter has described how our study was conducted. In relations to the sub
research questions that have been outlined, an exploratory, qualitative case study
design has been used. Our data are based interviews conducted within six
management consultant firms in France and seven in Norway, in total 37
interviews. Additionally, two key informants have been interviewed whereof one
French and one Norwegian. The respondents differ in terms of gender, tenure,
experience and education. The data sources for this thesis are mainly interviews,
however supported by selected literature. To enhance research quality and
credibility, we pursued openness in relations to the research process and also
ethical guidelines were followed.
The next chapter of this study will contain the main empirical findings from the
37 interviews. These findings will be presented together with the cross-case
analysis and discussion.
Page 54
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 60/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
4.0 Findings, Analysis and Discussion
This chapter of the study contains the empirical findings of the sampled firms. We
have chosen to conflate the findings with analysis and discussion altogether.
Thomas (2011) suggested that findings, analysis and discussion might be
conflated into one chapter, depending on the nature of your work as mentioned in
chapter 3. First, the cultural aspect and its influence on CD development will be
discussed. A comparison across borders will here be addressed as to see to what
extent one may find differences in firms with the same HQ nationality. Then, the
main contributors and constraints to CD through investments made by the firms,
and through daily operations, will be of focus. Here, the three levels of
professionals will be referred to, to be able to compare and view contrasts and
similarities of what contributes and constraints CD among the three levels. The
comparisons are guided by the three sub research questions, as posed in chapter 1.
Also, the types of competence developed or inhibited from the CD processes will
briefly be presented. This is done as competence has been identified as an
ambiguous term and we want to illustrate the nuances in competences, enabling
more concrete examples of what the CD processes can generate.
4.1 Culture
(i) How does national culture of the professionals and the companies’ influence
their development of competence?
4.1.1 National Culture
Differences do exist on the four cultural dimensions posed by Hofstede (2001),
however the effects of culture are less significant compared to our initial beliefs.
In the initial stages, national culture was expected to have an influence on the
companies and their way of operating, which in turn could influence how the
professionals develop competence. However, we are not in a position to state to
what extent the culture may influence, but only how it may influence CD. When
Page 55
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 61/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
comparing the different cases across the national borders the findings were
surprising in the way that national culture seemed to have less influential power
than first expected. We will here not compare the different levels of professionals,
as culture did not seem to influence one level more than the other, rather it
influenced more on a collective level. Here the comparisons will be made between
France and Norway illuminated by national culture of the professionals or HQ
nationality. We also asked professionals if they had any thoughts on the potential
difference one may find across borders. Most respondents thought similarly as us,
that differences would occur and be clearly evident in certain cases across the four
cultural dimensions that were discusses in chapter 2.
None of the two cultural dimensions - uncertainty avoidance and masculinity
seemed to influence how the professionals developed competence across borders.
Regarding uncertainty avoidance, we assumed that the French culture, scoring
higher on uncertainty, could influence the need for clearer task specification
and/or need for frequent feedback and evaluations. Few differences could be
found across borders as professionals, both in France and Norway, on all levels
appreciated autonomy and feedback on their work and had no special needs for clear task specification. Regarding masculinity we raised the question whether
this dimension could influence in terms of focus and priority on CD. However no
major differences could be found across borders. CD seemed to be viewed and
prioritized quite equally. We will come back to the prioritization of CD under the
next two parts of this chapter, namely CD through daily investments and through
daily operations.
However on the dimension of power distance, differences could be found across
borders regarding CD. The French culture is known to have larger power distance,
which may influence the communication and asking culture within companies.
This was evident in some situations, meaning that it seemed to influence on a
collective level within some of the firms in France. This in turn, had a negative
effect on CD. Other respondents when being asked to tell about the French
perception of hierarchies could not relate to this being a problem at all. More
specifically it seemed to influence the asking culture and interaction between
professionals across layers. Regarding vertical interaction, which is concerned
Page 56
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 62/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
with interaction between layers, accessibility was clearly affected by the higher
power distance in France. This could be exemplified through the fact that few
newly employed in France, felt they could approach especially partners with
questions. The horizontal interactions, which deal with e.g. within-layer
interactivity and collaboration seemed not to be affected as much.
Individuality was expected to influence in the way that HQ nationality could
influence degree of collaboration and willingness to share information. Most firms
are U.S.-based and thereby score extremely high on the index for individualism.
Less willingness to share was clearly evident, however only in France. Thereby
we started questioning if HQ nationality was the factor that could explain our results. If so, we should also find a lower willingness to share in Norway as well -
we did not.
Then we started questioning if organizational culture could help explain the
difference. Since organizational culture was not reviewed in the chapter 2, and
this issue occurred during our investigation, we here see it as important to present
theoretical aspects of the organizational culture as an influential element on CD processes. Organizational culture is by Kubr (1996:108) known as ‘a peculiar mix
of values, attitudes, norms, habits, traditions, behaviours and rituals that, in their
totality is unique to the given organization.’ Furthermore, Nordhaug (1993) states
that culture shapes the environment for learning through values and norms
attached to the development of competence. According to Kubr (1996),
organizational cultures are reflections of national culture however including other
aspects as well, such as values and norms. The fact that organizational cultures are
reflections of national culture, could potentially explain our results to a certain
degree in the way that differences occurs in organizational culture across borders.
Since many of the companies are U.S. based, the organizational cultures are
assumed to be reflection of that national culture. However, if organizational
culture were solely a reflection of the U.S. based culture, and that the norms and
values are based on this, we would not see such evident differences regarding the
willingness to share. Hence, we assume the organizational culture is just as much,
reflections of the French and Norwegian culture. If so, the differences that thereby
occur in the organizational culture, in terms of norms and values, may influence
Page 57
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 63/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
how knowledge is shared, and in turn CD. Through our interviews, a Norwegian
partner said that for sharing of knowledge to happen, there needs to be a culture
for it, it must be anchored in the organizational culture through norms and
values, not necessarily through rules and obligations. When viewing the
organizational culture we do feel that it might be the additional norms and values
across borders that can partly explain the differences. However not fully, and we
therefore want to introduce another possible element of culture that might
influence, namely Hall’s (1990) key concepts of nonverbal communication.
Hall is best known for his work in intercultural relations and communication and
especially his studies on nonverbal communication (2011). He has developed keyconcepts of the underlying structure of culture, whereof high and low context
culture is one of these concepts that might contribute to an understanding of this
finding. The characteristics of each of the two cultures are identified in the table
below.
High Context Cultures (France) Low context Cultures (Norway and the U.S.)
Less verbally explicit
communication, less written/formalinformation
More internalized understandings of
what is communicated
Multiple cross-cutting ties and
intersections with others
Long term relationships
Strong boundaries- who is accepted
as belonging vs. who is considered
an "outsider"
Knowledge is situational, relational.
Decisions and activities focus around
personal face-to-face relationships, often
around a central person who has authority.
Rule oriented, people play by external
rules More knowledge is codified, public,
external, and accessible.
Sequencing, separation--of time, of space, of activities, of relationships
More interpersonal connections of
shorter duration
Knowledge is more often transferable
Task-centered. Decisions and activitiesfocus around what needs to be done,
division of responsibilities.
Figure 8: Characteristics of high and low context cultures (Source: adapted from JB Intercultural
Consulting, 2003).
France is according to Hall (1990), defined as a high context (HC) culture and
Norway and the United States as low context (LC) cultures. A few of the
characteristics in the table above seem to be in line with our findings. One
example is the fact that in the French culture, there are strong boundaries between
social groups and between who is regarded as being within and who is an
Page 58
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 64/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
outsider. One can relate Hall’s work to that of Sumner’s early work, as he in his
book ‘Folkways’ (1906) made distinctions between ‘in-groups’ and ‘out-groups’
(in Schneider, 2004). In the French culture it seemed to become an issue of
“them” and “us” as a French senior explicitly put it: we are French… we don’t
like to share with people we don’t know. Another French senior consultant
followed the same path by saying that I’ve been in the same team for a long time.
We haven’t included any new members and we don’t want to include people we
don’t know. When following up his statement, he reasoned that this was because
they did not want to share their knowledge and spend time on this effort if the
team functioned well already. The seemingly lack of culture for sharing can
further be explained by Hall (1990), as he stated that some foreign employeesview the French as sometimes difficult to deal with. The French ‘tend not to relate
well to others; the French are too individualistic to be good team players’ (Hall,
1990:124). One must keep in mind that much may have happened since this book
was published, however our findings do indicate that traces of these cultural traits
still exist. Also HC cultures have less verbally explicit communication and less
written/formal information because they do not always feel the need for
contexting which is ‘the process of filling in background data’ and to explicitlystate all information (Hall, 1990:7). In LC cultures on the other hand, more
knowledge is codified, public, external, and accessible in different situations, and
thereby appropriate to assume in work contexts as well. Due to the high and low
context cultures depending on different methods of conveying information and
knowledge, conflicts between the two cultures could arise (Soley & Pandya,
2003). We feel that these arguments might be possible explanations to the
differences we have experienced in willingness to share information especially
across the French border. Even though, no matter the reason for why professionals
seemed to be more individualistic in France, this cultural aspect functioned as a
clear constraint of their CD. We believe it is a clear constraint as learning from
others was identified through the interviews as an essential contributor to CD.
Learning from others his will be illuminated in under ‘Daily Operations’.
To answer the first sub research question, national culture influences how
professionals develop competence in the way that it affects the interactions among
individuals in the management consulting firms, in both countries. In France, the
Page 59
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 65/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
culture reflects negatively upon CD in aspects related to the culture for asking
questions and sharing knowledge. In Norway, the culture for asking questions can
be perceived quite different due to the lower score on Hofstede’s (2001) power
distance dimension. The attitude for sharing knowledge was found to be more
positive in Norway, despite the similar score on the individuality dimension. We
thereby posed a possible explanation through Hall (1991), who differentiates
between how the French and Norwegian people communicate.
4.2 CD Through Investments
(ii) What are the main contributors and constraints of the professionals’
competence development through investments made by the firms in CD
processes?
All firms in our sample, in both France and Norway, seemed quite conscious
about designing CD efforts for their professionals. CD through investments is here
understood as activities on CD, initiated and invested in by the firm. During our
interviews many activities were mentioned however the following arrangements
were highlighted: ‘Mentor Programs and Support Systems’, ‘Training and
Seminars’, ‘Evaluation Systems and Measurement’ and ‘Technical Tools’. Within
these investments, the main contributors and constraints can be found. Our
findings suggest that investments made by the firm influence the CD processes of
professionals, at all three levels. Hence, these findings support Itami’s (1987)
suggestion that such investments represent an important route to CD.
4.2.1 Mentor Programs and Support Systems
In all of the companies where respondents were interviewed, a mentor support
system can be found. Consultants face extremely challenging and stressful
development requirements. Among numerous other pressing issues, they will face
an increased range and complexity in responsibilities, requests and demands for
leadership and professional skills, meeting the requirements from colleagues,
Page 60
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 66/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
managers and other professionals, and all this in the context of meeting and
placing a large number of new people within a short period (Maister, 1993). In
order to support the new consultants they are often given access to at least one
designated colleague – recognized as a mentor, coach and/or personal manager.
The benefit of this support is that this person is intended to be available for
professional and personal advice and support. The role of the mentor is to assist
the less experienced professionals in their development, and to advise them on
issues such as time management, deciding on priorities, delegation, managing
conflicts and problems, and professional development. Whereas some had support
systems mostly for the newly employed, others had extended the duration up even
to a young partner level. We believe that the need for mentor systems at partner level might have been identified in newer times as markets are changing more
rapidly and clients are becoming even more demanding (Wiley Knowledge for
Generations, 2010).
Contributors
When comparing the respondents, almost all viewed mentor support systems as
positive and crucial for individual development in terms of CD. Most respondentsin both countries, on all three levels, identified mentors as major contributors to
CD. Not necessarily directly, however indirectly through receiving ‘guided
experience’ that contributed to the professionals’ development (Maister, 1993).
Among the reasons mentioned for this positive view, was that mentors contributed
to e.g. professionals setting appropriate goals for their career development, that
they advised them on a broad set of issues, and that they encouraged the
professionals to explore new projects. Most professionals at newly employed
level, mentioned that learning from more experienced consultants was an
important element in their own CD. They referred to their mentors as teachers,
helping them making sense of the system they were a part of.
The main contributors identified through the interviews are in line with previously
identified benefits in literature. Despite our agreement with Maister (1993), who
suggested that the existence of these systems is favorable, our findings moreover
indicate that also senior professionals find mentor systems important. When
comparing across cases, we see that many seniors and partners in both countries
Page 61
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 67/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
find mentors crucial on their level as well. A French partner stated his
appreciation of mentor system, as it recently was implemented on partner level
within his firm: The first year of partnership is very difficult! We have seen a
clear need for this, especially in order to ensure that our partners still develops
and not stagnates after achieving partner status. A Norwegian partner, whom
turned partner exceptionally quickly, acknowledged that this would not have been
feasible without the help from his mentor. The relationship with his mentor was
stated to be central in his fast-tracked development. His mentor had been key in
helping him developing a fortunate client portfolio, with varied projects as to
maximize his insight within several industries and through different types of
projects. Mentors themselves also argue that by sharing their knowledge andexperience, they develop themselves in turns of evolving leadership abilities.
Constraints
Despite the positive aspects mentioned by all three levels in both France and
Norway, negative aspects were revealed as well, although mostly identified by
seniors and newly employed in Norway. Mainly this concerns the issue of
availability, but also regarding the issue of being “lucky”. Some pinpointed thatthe personality and willingness of the mentor to share knowledge and care for
their professionals, as being factors heavily influencing the effectiveness of the
mentors, hence influencing the potential for the professionals CD. In a few cases,
newly employed in both countries stated that they did not take advantage of the
mentoring systems due to poor personality matches between themselves and the
mentor, and partially also due the feeling of bothering their mentors when asking
questions or requesting assistance in different situations. Even though the
professionals were allowed to request a different mentor, we got the impression
that they did not dare to do so, as this was perceived as a negative signal to send.
The issue of the professionals’ perceptions of bothering the mentor could be
explained by the fact that the time spent on mentoring juniors do not count as
billable hours (Maister, 1993). A senior consultant in France stated that he could
acknowledge this problem, linking it to a matter of heavy workloads and time
constraints. He was a mentor for a subordinate himself and stated that: It is not
ideal, because you tend to lose a lot of time, and you will not be patient enough to
invest sufficient time and energy into the recruits´ trial-error approach. He
Page 62
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 68/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
thereafter stated that this was a problem both for the general CD, of both the
mentor and the professional. Mentoring is a time consuming activity, as stated by
Maister (1993). Our remark is that the systems clearly are well intended, however
lack of interaction not only has a negative impact on the usefulness of the
systems, but definitely also for the parties involved as low interaction hinders
fruitful relationships. Reimers (2011) argued that a large part of the success of a
mentoring relationship lies in the trust that evolves over time through informal
and regular contact. We will deal with the issues of trust and interaction more
carefully at later stages of the chapter.
It seems as for the mentor and support systems to function optimally, there is aneed of lowering the barriers for a potential switch of mentors. A senior
consultant in France suggested that one might impose mandatory switches after a
certain period of time. However, in the cases where the professionals are content
with their mentor, and have identified them as a crucial part in their development,
a switch can again foster stagnation, which could have been prevented if there was
no mandatory switch. The argument for establishing long-term relationships
would be that it allows the professional to learn thoroughly from one master.
Regarding availability, the mentors in most cases were situated at the same
location as the assigned professional, however a only few newly employed in
France and Norway identified lack of availability as a major constraint. A senior
consultant in Norway mentioned that this was due to the lack of follow-up
systems or procedures that ensures that the professionals receive the support they
are entitled to, possibly resulting in the professionals not reaching their CD goals.
He further stated that it is then the professional’s responsibility themselves to
initiate changes. Our reflection on the fact that it is up to the professional to
initiate, as they initially are supposed to jointly develop with help from mentors,
lead us in the direction that some professionals might feel left on their own. A few
of our respondents on newly employed level indicated this, in both countries.
However, this especially seemed to be the problem in France where signs of
hierarchy and barriers between levels seemed more evident. A newly employed in
France stated in relations to this: I have never asked a colleague on a partner
level a questions, and I probably never will . This illustrates our general perception
Page 63
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 69/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
of the culture for asking questions across levels in-, especially, French firms.
Without approachable mentors, the professionals within the lower levels of the
hierarchy might have few people to turn to within the company. This is, in turn,
unfortunate. As indicated by Maister (1993), mentoring is a tool intended to
develop tacit knowledge, and hence CD. However in order for this to function
effectively, face-to-face interaction is fundamental. Through our findings we can
support this statement.
When considering the type of competence that can be developed through mentor
and support systems, we identified these as socialization processes. Examples of
competences that can be developed through interactions with other people aremainly meta-competences, intra-organizational competences, industry
competences and unique competences. Within meta-competences, examples of
issues that the mentors can contribute to are the professionals’ capacity to tolerate
and master uncertainty through helping professionals becoming more confident in
their own decisions. Mentors can also contribute to professionals’ ability to
communicate and cooperate with others. Regarding intra-organizational
competences, the professionals can learn about colleagues, the elements of organizational culture, information channels and informal networks etc.
Concerning industry competence, an important generator of this competence is,
according to Nordhaug (1993), through other people with specialized competence
within the field, which we assume mentors in certain cases have. For unique
competences, mentoring processes can enhance understanding and CD on
operation of certain technologies and routines within the company, which may not
necessarily be provided through courses and training. We view these competences
to be important for all levels, however, industry competence is viewed as being
essential on the level of newly employed, as they may be new to the industry and
in need of quickly establishing an acceptable competence level in this area for
their further work.
When comparing the different cases, there are more similarities than differences,
as close to all respondents view mentor and support systems as positive and
highlight the same main contributors and constraints. So what happened to the
“fly solo” attitude that management consulting firms are recognized by? Due to
Page 64
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 70/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
the well-established up-our-out systems among PSFs and management consulting
firms, we would not have been surprised if this was discovered visible in our
findings. Rather, we found that partners and firms in general actively promoted
mentor systems as to help their aspiring professionals to survive. Indeed, seniors’
functioning as mentors have a challenging task in sharing their tacit insights and
knowledge with their receivers, but the intention in itself, is good. Nevertheless,
the mentor system is by us viewed as a “lifeline” for, especially, the young
professionals, where the mentors play a critical role in the transition from being a
rookie turning into a mature professional.
From the perspectives of the seniors and partners serving as mentors, our impression is that being a mentor is perceived as a complicated role, where
finding the right balance between teaching and coaching, pulling and pushing,
holding close and letting go, seems challenging (Ibarra, 2000). In statements from
respondents we also find support for these issues. In addition, as evident in our
findings, the professionals are forced to firstly serve their clients and secure
income, and hence the time available for mentoring, is reduced. Another
constraining element is the rather diffuse boundaries of the mentor role, where the professionals have no training in performing as mentors.
4.2.2 Courses and Training
Training, along with other developmental opportunities such as mentoring, was
found to be highly present in all the firms we studied. They heavily tend to rely on
seminars and courses to continuously develop and staying updated, and it is
through the formal training the professionals gain explicit knowledge (Hitt et al.,
2001). The firms could both internally and externally arrange these courses.
External courses were identified by most partners as being an opportunity that was
given to all of their professionals, however, in reality the case seemed to be quite
different. Many of the respondents on the two lower levels had never received the
opportunity of attending external courses, and some was not even aware of this
possibility. All of the companies had introductory courses and seminars primarily
focused on development of standard technical competence, ensuring an equal
skill- and competence level. All of the companies had annual mandatory training,
Page 65
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 71/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
to a large or less degree, some run courses in concentrated periods of time, others
had them spread out over longer periods – everything having its positive and
negative aspects. The mandatory courses and seminars were often partner
initiated, as all partner respondents referred to one of their responsibilities being
to help develop the knowledge of other professionals of the firm.
Contributors
In general, our findings indicate that courses and training is necessary and helpful
contributors to CD on all levels in both countries. When comparing, differences
could be found in why training was important, however these differences could
mainly be found across levels, and not borders. This was despite the fact that allrespondents agreed that CD through daily operations is far the most important and
helpful part. I believe that only 10% of my competence comes from courses,
whereas 90% comes from what I experience and what I do, this was stated by a
newly employed in Norway. Furthermore, many identified training and seminars
as helpful, but not necessarily due to the initially intended reasons. Some senior
consultants and partners in Norway stated that the most positive aspect about
training was that it served as a platform for network development: Connecting with- and getting to know your colleagues is essential, also this contributes to
another important notion, namely getting to know “who knows what”. This was
found to be vital by a senior consultant in Norway, since it is important to know
whom to contact when you need advice and/or help from more experienced
colleagues in e.g. new project issues. Quickly findings the “right” people was also
crucial in order for the company to put together the “best” team to be able to
deliver optimal service to clients. Further he stated that no system could compete
with this.
In addition to the formal courses, many of the companies had developed different
arrangements to contribute to the CD of their professionals through e.g. crash
courses, summer academies, monthly group discussions and more. One of the
partners in Norway expressed his satisfaction with the system of having crash
courses before new projects as it enhanced the likeliness for his superiors
developing an equal knowledge foundation. It would also reduce the number of
hours required to reading and self-studying outside the office. Furthermore, a
Page 66
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 72/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
newly employed in Norway expressed that she was very content with the firm
initiated monthly meetings. This system mainly aimed to gather a few people
from the same level once a month, to discuss a technical topic. The participation
was mandatory for every newly employed the first two years within the firm.
Practically the agenda included that two of the participants presenting a topic,
which further introduced a thorough technical group discussion. A superior or
subject matter expert, “SME”, was present to assist the participants in drawing the
correct conclusions, and supervising the sessions. The outcome was thereafter
logged in the company’s internal database. The summer academies, available for
professionals at all levels, was by a partner in Norway found to be a central
element in the professionals CD, as this was a perfect setting for getting to knowcolleagues and learn from their experiences. Another company had started having
one or two annual meetings with partners in sister companies abroad. Here they
discussed and shared what they viewed as effective training, and further shared
and reviewed domestic experiences on trainings and seminars. This was highly
appreciated among the partners as it opens for continuous updates of the training
repertoire and content, contributes to implementation of best practice training, and
hence potentially motivates the professionals to develop new competence. Also itfunctioned as a motivational factor for partners as they hereby have an arena for
discussing technical competence with people on the same level.
Even though most of the respondents viewed training as a contributor to CD, it
was difficult to determine to what extent. This was firstly because the internal
trainings seemed to differ in matters of content across borders. A senior consultant
in France identified this, and explained that this was due to different client
portfolios, market dynamics and potential differences within the same industries
across borders. These differences would consequently lead to differences in types
of trainings and methodologies needed. In practice this makes it hard to determine
to what extent training is contributing to CD, as different firms have different
ways of training their employees internally, and thereby the professionals do not
have the exact same perception of training.
Page 67
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 73/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
Constraints
During interviews, negative aspects of trainings were also revealed. The issues
repeated the most were down-prioritization, lack of external training, training
being provided at the wrong levels or inappropriate times of the year, and training
sessions being too general. All respondents in both countries recognized the down
-prioritization of training as a major constraint to CD. Courses and seminars
seemed forced down on third place in the firms prioritizing scale, after clients and
business development. This was supported my most respondents, and was due to
the time constraint and heavy work load as the clients comes first and now sets shorter deadlines than before it seems, as stated a senior in Norway. Another
Norwegian senior consultant further explained this by stating that the overall
problem is facilitating consultants’ availability to participate in necessary
trainings. This company has tried to plan the training well in advance in order to
improve the probability of consultants participating. However, the primary
mindset based on clients first and exceeding client satisfaction, complicates
training attendance. Despite the professionals’ awareness of this issue, manyrespondents in both countries agreed that courses offered after office hours,
reduced their motivation to participate. The issue of clients first has during our
interviews not only been expressed as a concern among newly employed and
seniors, but also by a Norwegian partner. He could acknowledge the frustration
that time pressure and heavy workload imposed, and that the clients first focus
resulted in difficulties in finding time to develop competence at firm level and
development of the firm in general: This was because you always needed to be
present and available for the client .
Regarding the issue of too general courses, not relevant to the professionals
specific field or level, a newly employed in Norway stated that sometimes it
seems that the courses are offered solely to ensure that the consultants possess the
skills that our employer is known for – and their reputation. There seems to be no
focus at all on my reputation as an individual consultant, or on what that could be
helpful for me, or the people within my team. Senior consultants in both France
and Norway further supported this and revealed that it sometimes seems like the
Page 68
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 74/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
company is forced to invest in courses, and hence blindly impose them as a matter
of duty. This consequently was found to result in irrelevant courses, not adjusted
to the different levels of expertise, or offered at inappropriate times and/or
periods. To our minds, this line of reasoning might also explain the limited access
to external courses, as most of the firms in our study only required mandatory
attendance on internal courses. That being said, we are certainly aware of other
explanatory elements defending the low degree of external courses – e.g. financial
considerations, logistical issues, and in-house, tailor made solutions, however we
will now look more into the issue of external training.
Regarding external training, most newly employed, however also seniorsexpressed dissatisfaction. The partners were found to be the most satisfied. Most
partners stated that they had European training sessions and meetings abroad
where knowledge was shared in various fields. By the newly employed and
seniors, however, it was stated during several interviews that when they first got
the chance to participate on external training sessions, their attendance was purely
for social reasons. A senior consultant in France stated European training is crap,
it’s too general, it’s about things you usually already know, and let’s be honest we all go there just to have a good time. He further said that since these seminars
were arranged once a year, the consequence was that the content was not updated
and/or specific enough, and thereby irrelevant for many. Also, the consultant
mentioned problematic aspects about the intercultural setting as matters such as
type of clients, and hereby the consultant-client interaction, differs between
countries. Another Norwegian senior consultant also expressed his concern about
the generalization of training, as he believed that the partners did not really
understand the negative effects. He said that too general courses and seminars led
to employees developing similar knowledge and competences, instead of
complementary competences. This could in turn lead to disasters for the
company’s value creation processes since the effects of the general training were
that the professionals were moving in the direction of becoming a more
homogeneous group. He further responded that a company needs expertise in
various disciplines to be chosen by clients. Also he said that many courses did not
contribute at all to his CD, closer to the opposite, as he rather would have spent
time on reading up on technical issues himself. One can argue that through
Page 69
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 75/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
creating a more homogenous group of individuals, trainings might actually serve
the opposite purpose of what the firms initially seek. They want their
professionals to have a variety of competences, possessing different kinds of
knowledge to create the most value in teams and thereby for the clients. If we turn
to Nordhaug (1993), he states that organizations embrace individuals who have
different types of competence. We then question if the type of training described
above, evening out the initial heterogeneity within the firms, reduces the firms’
chances of creating client value? We are only in a position to speculate, therefore
we will move on to the additional issues addressed under subject of external
training.
A newly employed in Norway speculated that external courses were offered in
periods when time pressure and high workload would make it almost impossible
for the consultants to participate. He suggested that it should be obvious for the
partners that participation would be close to impossible during these periods, and
low participation would further lead to cancellation of the courses. This however,
resulted in the company having, as he referred to it, a “clean conscience”
regarding fulfilling their “duty” of providing these courses, leaving no room for the professionals to complain about not being offered external courses. A partner
in Norway further argued the following regarding the lack external courses: There
is a huge lack of opportunities for the employees to go abroad if requested,
because our measurements made by the company indicates that the learning
curve and effects on CD is better when professionals gain experience by working
on projects, rather than being formally trained abroad or externally.
Several newly employed and senior consultants expressed the need for
explanations of the importance of-, and area of utilization of, the courses they
attend, as this would, as they expressed, contribute to the motivation for attending.
If you don’t know how you can use the information, you first of all won’t
remember it, and secondly you will never use it , a senior consultant in France
stressed. If the respondents will not utilize the knowledge, they do not get full
appreciation of the courses as this knowledge need to be put in context and
utilized for optimal CD.
Page 70
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 76/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
Regarding the quality of courses, most firms in this study have no post-course
evaluation. Partners hereby seldom receive feedback on the effectiveness of the
courses, content, relevance etc., and consequently miss out on valuable response
on the professionals learning outcome. Of course, the potential effect of the
courses can be seen in the professionals’ performance over time, however the
long-term effect does not seem to be measured or reviewed. As a French partner
said: they had forms that were given to the attendees right after the course to
receive feedback, but they had no long-term follow-up or measures capturing the
true effectiveness of the training. If this is the case, we believe partners loose
valuable information that may help them in improving training sessions. Also,
without proper measurement systems they can neither measure to what extent theaccumulated knowledge is utilized in daily operations. However, to be able to do
so, partners must acknowledge the explicit need for identifying how and why the
different kinds of training are important, so that the professionals get to optimize
the use of knowledge gained through training. We believe that mandatory
evaluations after training sessions in itself not are an adequate measurement. To
some extent it may also loose its meaning and/or reveal inaccurate results if the
respondents not fully understand the reason and goal with the training in the first place. This is because, in this case, that the professionals cannot say anything
about how they will apply the knowledge in the future; in what areas, how, and to
what extent.
We do see that when comparing cases, the perception of training contributing to
CD, is similar among our respondents. However in what way it contributes,
differs across levels. Different types of competences seem to be developed at
different levels. For newly employed meta-competences, industry competences
and standard technical competences, are the main competences developed. On a
senior and partner level, intra-organizational competences were developed - more
specifically; knowledge about colleagues was highlighted as important. However,
several of the senior respondents clearly stated that it was not only knowledge
about colleagues within the firm that was of importance, but colleagues across
borders. Thereby intra-organizational is not fully covering the types of
competences developed.
Page 71
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 77/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
To comment on the overall findings on the issues of training, we were very well
aware of the respondents being highly educated, highly committed to their work
and in general seemingly satisfied with their status as a consultant. We expected
that the firms under investigation would be “good” at training their professionals,
as the essence of a consultancy firms’ work is to teach others how to do things
differently. So did the findings support our expectations? To a certain degree,
absolutely – the firms’ initial attitude towards learning appeared sincere and
positive. However with time constraints, high workload, indications of too general
courses, and lack of external training and clear training outcomes, the
professionals’ motivation for participating in trainings seemed blunt.
4.2.3 Evaluations and Measurement
Regarding the evaluations and measurement of the professionals, their work
progress and CD - several findings became evident. The main reasons for
measuring and evaluating the professionals were many, e.g. to ensure optimal CD,
create benchmarks for career development and promotion, and long-term profit.
Evaluations and feedback in itself was not found to influence CD directly,
however we choose to include this discussion, as it seems to influence CD
indirectly. In most cases, the evaluations appeared to serve a functional role as
accelerators of processes of CD. These issues will now be more closely
exemplified and discussed.
Contributors
For most respondents in both countries, evaluations and feedback functioned as a
motivation, which in turn, indirectly influenced CD. Most of our respondents said
that they highly appreciated the specific feedback given. This was identified as
factors contributing to the professionals’ willingness to continuously develop, as
they knew how and where to invest their time for improving effectively. Also, the
fact that their work was acknowledged through evaluations and feedback
functions, served as a motivational factor. In some firms, evaluations were
mandatory after each project, or each season (four times a year), whereas some
only once a year. In other firms, it seemed not to be mandatory, but was
implemented in the company culture and norms. As a Norwegian partner stated:
Page 72
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 78/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
no one will hit you in the head if you’re not providing the evaluations, however
we have a culture for giving our consultants feedback in their everyday work, and
I believe most of our consultants get the feedback they need from their supervisors
through their continuous performance. Within a few firms, the professionals
themselves could request certain fields of which they were to be evaluated on,
whereas in others the scales/areas of measurements were fixed, some also applied
a mix of the two. Furthermore, in some cases, the firms used a few scales or areas,
whereas others had numerous parameters to be measured on. In general, the areas
of measurement after projects, varied, however most firms evaluated technical
skills, some also measured consulting skills- referring to e.g. communication
abilities, problem solving abilities, project management skills and their ability toensure positive client-consultant relationships. Additionally, in some firms, the
professionals could choose to be evaluated by his/hers superior (upwards), by
colleagues (sideways) or by people on lower levels (downwards). The Norwegian
partner who shared this information, found this solution to enable a more varied
evaluation, including different perspectives of the firm, as people on different
levels have different focus. A newly employed acknowledged that sideways
evaluations were more relevant in terms of receiving soft skills evaluations, as thecolleagues who evaluated him based it on daily interaction. The downward
evaluation, on the other hand, was more hard skills focused, where he was
evaluated on his standard technical competence.
Through measurements and evaluation of their employees, a Norwegian partner
said that CD was “systematized”: Through these evaluations one can clearly see
if the goals of each individual are reached or not . As CD is an essential criterion
for further promotion within the firm, which further is linked a company’s’ long-
term profit, consultants’ competence level is measured and rated internally. In this
firm, the clients also rated the competence level, however this was far from the
case within all our firms. An unexpected findings to us, was that in the cases
where the senior consultant/team leader received client evaluation on the
consultancy team, these evaluations were not brought on to the professionals
themselves. We found this surprising, as we believe client feedback could be an
essential element to be incorporated in evaluations. As we see it, client
evaluations would be potentially less subjective as the evaluations are stripped
Page 73
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 79/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
from personal relationships bias. Perhaps this could increase fairness in terms of
introducing more objective viewpoints where consultants are evaluated in a
natural setting?
The high appreciation of evaluation amongst the respondents indicates that the
people we met with were highly motivated individuals, wanting to perform well
and highly committed to their jobs. These findings are in accordance with our
expectations formed by reviewing PSFs and the management consulting industry,
where the individuals were characterized as highly skilled and self-driven
individuals.
Constraints
Concerning the negative aspects, two constraints were identified as more evident
and predominant: The evaluations were found to be down prioritized and too
subjective. The main constraint that was clearly identified by most respondents in
France on the two lower levels was the down-prioritization of feedback and
evaluations. Even though it seemed evident that evaluations were intended to be
given after each project, the evaluations were conducted late (from six months toone year post project) or even, in some cases, never conducted at all. A French
partner stated her concern regarding the late evaluations: If the evaluations are
not given at the right time, they are meaningless. Both parties might forget details
that may be crucial for the individuals’ and their CD, as well as the firms CD. We
found it interesting to note, that this respondent also had long experience serving
as an HR manager. Another French partner supported that postponed evaluations
would clearly lead to inaccurate feedback due to memory issues. He further
stated: After the evaluations you usually have 10% of the consultants performing
very well, and 10% who have performed not up to mark. The 80 % of the people
in the middle are difficult to classify and differentiate between. Sometimes we are
not able to explain why some of them are put before others. In these cases, we
argue that the professionals “in the middle” becomes a part of the large “grey
crowd” of the firm, not being acknowledged, seen, hence possibly loosing
motivation.
The second major constraint to CD regarding evaluation systems is the fact that
Page 74
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 80/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
the measurements are perceived too subjective. As colleagues make the
evaluations the personal relationship will naturally affect the results, in both
positive and negative ways, depending on the relationship. A French senior
consultant stated: my partner, who knows me and trusts me, always gives me great
feedback, even though I know that I could have performed better . He expressed
his concerns, as he perceived the feedback system as confusing. He rarely
received instructions on where and how to improve. Thereby for him, the
evaluations served in almost opposite purpose of being a contributing factor of
development.
In order to become successful and of value to the company, you need to grow and learn on a continuous basis, a French partner stated. Several of the respondents on
partner level in both countries, acknowledged the positive effects these systems
might have if applied properly. Therefore, our findings suggesting that evaluations
are down prioritized, is surprising. Again, we believe that this is due to the high
time pressure, since the respondents seem to be aware of the benefits in the first
place. We believe that by delaying the feedback, insecurity among the
professionals might arise, as they “risk” not being credited for their work, and/or are not provided directions for further improvement. According to Bridgespan
(2003) the situations that originally could be viewed as minor glitches, could
develop into becoming a serious problem, and we hereby pose our concerns about
the utilization issues described above.
Regarding types of competences, it is here difficult to identify since evaluations
and measurements are viewed as having an indirect effect on CD. Respondents
themselves highlighted these systems as having positive and negative effects on
CD, however what type of competence they developed based on the evaluations
and measurements are hard for us to determine. During our interviews the
respondents gave examples on what they had to further develop, for example
analytical skills, which can be found within meta-competences. However, several
examples were given that was found within most competence categories and so
identifying those are here seen as neither necessary nor appropriate.
Page 75
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 81/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
As a general remark to our observations and findings with regards to evaluation
and measurement, our initial belief was that the respondents would appear eager
to continuous improve themselves, as our perception is that these individuals are
career driven, committed and highly motivated. To a certain degree we are left
with the impression that this definitely was the case among most respondents.
They are highly concerned about performing well, and also highly focused on
receiving feedback and evaluations “proving” their success. Through our
interviews, however, concerns arose due to professionals feeling evaluated
subjectively, and/or often a long time after ended projects – leaving them with
inaccurate evaluations. The problem of subjective evaluations seemed to be even
more predominant in France. The Norwegians also acknowledged this problemhowever seemed to have applied a “laissez faire” attitude, more settled with the
issues concerning e.g. subjectiveness.
As consultants can be characterized as having an unrealistically high ideal of
performance (Argyris, 1991), inaccurate evaluations and a sense of wrongness in
the way that evaluations are conducted might nurture defensive attitudes among
the professionals. This can spread out in the organization, and this would beextremely unfortunate, as we see it. Another side of this, is that the evaluations
might cause the individuals turning overly obsessed with achieving within the
parameters of the evaluations, causing them to blindly focus on themselves and
their performance, worried about “not making it”, and trying to hide CD
shortcomings from his peers and subordinates. Consequently, the effect of this is
less openness and conceited personalities (Bauman, 2003), fostering
individualistic behavior instead of collectivistic values. Through literature
presented in earlier chapters wee find it evident that this would be extremely
unfortunate for companies in general.
4.2.4 Technical Tools
Hansen and Haas (2001) suggested that explicit and tacit knowledge are
complementary within a firm. Our findings have provided us with an idea of the
different mechanisms implemented in the firms, aimed to facilitate knowledge
Page 76
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 82/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
sharing at organizational level. These are tools that help articulate the competence
ingrained in the brains of the firms members (Hansen & Haas, 2001). This section
of our thesis will introduce the technical tools implemented to store competence at
firm level. More specifically we will address the information
databases/knowledge pools available within the firms, containing e.g.
professionals CV’s, templates, methodologies, and best practice examples. Our
findings indicate that they serve as both contributors and constraints to CD, and
that the technical tools put in place in order to store competence are applied quite
differently in the respective firms.
ContributorsThe technological tools functions as contributors mainly with regards to
individual CD, as they enable professionals having quick and permanent access to
knowledge. The systems contain brief summaries where e.g. the subject at matter
is addressed, the methodology described, and the results presented. Many newly
employed, especially in Norway, stated that the systems provide background info
important for the self-studying process pre-projects, and also security in terms of
knowing that information is available. These findings are in line with researchsuggesting that KM, and hence CD, enhances as technological tools extends the
reach and speed of knowledge transfer (Rasli, Madjid & Asmi, 2004). In general,
the technical tools invested in seemed to be more positively viewed by the
partners and newly employed. According to a French partner, the technical tools
contribute to developing internal intellectual capital within the firm. It was
identified as being helpful when working on new projects, as the professionals
could turn to databases to review what previous consultants had done before.
Amongst partners in both countries, the database was referred to as enabling a
more effective communication and collaboration amongst the professionals. This
was because they could refer to templates and methods broadly addressed in the
databases, which the professionals would more quickly grasp as they all had
access to the same knowledge. A partner stated that the methods referred to in the
databases provide us with a common language. I want communication to flow
effectively, so when I talk about a specific process model that is widely covered in
our databases, people will immediately recognize what I am referring to.
Furthermore, a Norwegian partner stated that they also stress the positive and
Page 77
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 83/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
negative aspects of solutions previously developed, as to ensure improvement and
enhancement in the future. By having the descriptions of the different solutions
stored they could easily go back and review outcomes, detecting shortcomings.
One might presume that one of the reasons for partners viewing the tools so
positively is because they are the ones who have initiated and invested in the
systems. The systems are according to a Norwegian partner very costly, however,
if they function well, it allows information to be reused and consequently enable
cost reduction in the long run. Though partners in both countries did acknowledge
that the systems were not flawless, they viewed them as enablers of quicker
communication, and hence quicker knowledge sharing and consequently CD. Wewill now present the areas where our findings have suggested that the tools have
weaknesses.
Constraints
The central value building activity around information is managing and
structuring the content as to make information easy to find, enable reuse, learningfrom previous experiences and reducing the amount of work being duplicated
(Rasli, Madjid & Asmi, 2004). After comparing across levels and countries, we
found that the main constraint of CD with technical tools was that the IT systems
were extremely difficult, and time consuming to navigate in. The scope of data
was huge and the professionals seemed to get lost the “ocean” of data. This was
especially the case if you did not know exactly what you are looking for, or if you
did not have the correct key words to use in your search. A senior consultant in
Norway made a comment: I would never start searching if I did not know exactly
what I was looking for. I would need a clear purpose. Several respondents on all
three levels, in both countries, identified the utilization issue. This seemed in the
extreme cases to lead to less usage, or even no usage, and this was the case for
both the general databases as well as the CV databases. A senior consultant in
Norway stated: I do not even to spend my time on these systems I rather use
Google. As we see it, the problems with navigating could partially relate to lack of
experience to proper utilize the system, and partially personal preferences as
people use different means in their search for information. It could moreover also
Page 78
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 84/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
reflect the inherent challenges of capturing tacit knowledge in written form. It is
impossible to fully transfer the “whole” picture, and hence professionals may
quite frankly be disappointed about the blunted written version they find in the
databases.
Second to the most constraining factor, was the fact that the systems were time
consuming to maintain. Many respondents, on all levels, in both countries,
identified this constraint. Most of the companies had a CV database aimed at
capturing the overall competence the professionals were in possession of. The CV
databases were argued to contribute to an overview of who knows what within the
company, which is important in terms of knowing whom to approach when e.g.composing teams for certain projects. Also this was identified as helpful for
improved utilization of competence at company level. However major concerns
were identified. The professionals seemed not to have incentives or uniform
standards for updating their CV databases. A French partner said that people are
not updating their CV’s, and one never has the full overview over who knows
what . A Norwegian partner, who was completely aware of these problems, and in
search of a better way to gain overview, further supported this. He realized that far from the company’s full potential was utilized due to this: If only we knew what
our company knows. Another Norwegian partner stated that the system is far from
optimal and it can take days to find the right people. The system needs to be
upgraded, as well as the routines and the incentives to continually update the
database. This then becomes a challenge as Nordhaug (1993) stated when he
addressed the problem of not having an overview of the available competences in
the firm. A completion of the competence chain cannot be obtained, as the last
stage, namely competence utilization, cannot fully be set forth or be optimized. A
French partner openly shared that they did not have these kinds of systems at all
due to the maintenance challenges. Instead they had a planning manager in each
business unit, responsible for identifying e.g. people’s skills, language skills and
experience – a solution that seemed to function better than the CV databases in
this case. A Norwegian partner also suggested, independently of the other partner,
that they were considering such a system. He clearly could see the advantages of
not spending time on updating and/or finding the right incentives for his
Page 79
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 85/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
professionals to update themselves, but rather delegate the responsibility to
someone else.
An additional constraining element regarding the time consuming maintenance
was addressed among seniors and partners in both countries. The most important
reason for the updates being time consuming was that a lot of the information the
consultants dealt with, was tacit, and therefore extremely hard to convey in a
written format (Hansen, Nohria & Tierney, 1999). As a French partner stated:
many of these systems work on paper, but not in reality. Professionals on senior
and partner levels argued that they rather would spend their time gaining new
knowledge from other sources than the databases, as this often proved moreefficient. The reasons mentioned was that it mainly was less time consuming, and
that the information they gained often was more up to date, compared to reusing
of old information and/or solutions.
A third constraint identified was that a majority of the communication between
HQs in country of origin and international divisions was in English. To us, this
was rather obvious finding, and we could not find any noteworthy problems withinformation stored in English among the respondents. The issues rather arose
when back-translating information from the knowledge systems into domestic
languages. Respondents shared issues concerning interpretation, and thereby
appropriate use and application of knowledge. One of the problems regarding the
experience libraries, frequently mentioned among our respondents, was that one is
never confronted with the exact same problem definition in the exact same
context. In other words, the reports could never be fully reused. Hence, the
translation problem further complicates the already existing de-contextualization
problem. Furthermore, regarding the issue of context and reuse of stored
information, several of the professionals, and especially partners, identified this as
a problem. In our view, this can be attributed to application of knowledge
requiring a “knowing subject” who can translate the knowledge in order to fully
grasp the content and its application value (Czarniawska & Joerges, 1996). This
suggests that especially newly employed with limited experience might
experience challenges. Despite recognizing the weaknesses of this system it was
Page 80
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 86/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
not identified as a constraint to CD, as it may benefit the newly employed in their
learning curve.
Based on statements from a few consultants in France early in our interview
process, it became evident that they simply did not update the databases. As we
approached completion of our interview process, we gained a fuller picture
indicating that the information in the databases was in fact not being updated
continuously at all in certain companies in France. The result of this was that our
French respondents actually not were able to find information from projects
conducted in France, only information from international projects. We find the
following statement, made by a senior consultant in France as rather extraordinary: In France we do not want to share, especially not with people we
don’t know. He mentioned that the extremely problematic side of this was that if
the individuals not actively sought for information and updates elsewhere, they
would not be sufficiently updated in general. In relations to this, the French
professionals neither seemed to take advantage of other countries’ project reports,
due to the unfamiliarity with the sender. Nevertheless, central to the
transformation from individual knowledge turning collective, the individuals needto share, and therefore the sharing issues identified above are highly unfortunate.
So what can be done about this problem? According to the same senior
professional it is the people that need to change, not the systems. The sharing and
storing needs to be anchored in the mentality of people, and the company culture
through the support of the top management, for sharing knowledge to become a
part of everyday life. The top managers must signalize and state examples. This
can also be supported by literature. Ragsdell (2009) stated that enhancers and
inhibitors to sharing knowledge can be found within top management support, top
management commitment, a culture that enables knowledge sharing and trust,
appropriate technology to facilitate sharing, and internal knowledge sharing.
A French partner also stated that low degree of sharing through IT systems has
become a problem. He questioned if the French people were “lazier” than others,
however he also acknowledged that the time pressure was the main reason for
limited sharing. Despite some of the partners being aware of the problems, it
might seem as though they are not aware of how little the systems actually are
Page 81
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 87/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
used. We were a bit amazed by the fact that it seemed as none of the firms in our
study had proper measures aiming to track to what extent the systems were used.
We believe that by generating data on this, firms might gain a clearer view on
where money is well spent and where great improvements, or even removals of
certain systems, are beneficial.
We believe it is not relevant to discuss the fact that there seem to be more
constraints than contributors in the case of technical tools, however one should
rather view the relative strength of them. We are not in a position to do so
therefore we cannot state to what extent we feel that the tools are constraining
more than facilitating. What we can state is that major problems have beenidentified, that indicate a need for improvement in order for the tools to become
more meaningful means of CD. Hansen, Nohria & Tierney (1999) suggest that it
is important to make a choice between following a codification strategy or a
personalization strategy, where one of them can have a supportive role. It seems
as though the companies have chosen a personalization strategy by depending
more on interactions rather than a codification (Hansen, Nohria & Tierney, 1999).
Our findings indicate that technical tools are functioning as supportive elements inthe professionals CD.
Regarding types of competences developed, technical tools may both contribute
to- and constrain CD. The main type of competence that could be developed is
standard technical competence of which Nordhaug (1993) states could be
developed through education, training, hence also by self-studying through
information found in technical tools. We, however think that it may also generate
industry competence, and knowledge about the industry. Nordhaug (1993) on the
other hand states that industry competence mainly can be developed through
working within an industry, talking to industry experts or by joining industry
associations’ meetings and seminars. From our point of view, we also identify
self-studying as a generator of industry competence, just as we gained insight into
the consulting industry through doing research ourselves.
We have found, in accordance with previous literature (e.g. Itami, 1987;
Fosstenløkken, 2007) that investments made by the firm is an important route to
Page 82
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 88/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
CD. The knowledge “banks” identified within the firms under investigation
enable each individual consultant to access a broad variety of knowledge and
information, containing search engines that allows them to find specific project or
problems related to present work tasks. The aim is that these systems contribute to
the creation of organizational competence, as well as professionals CD. All firms
within our study are large companies, and hence the volume of data is huge. As an
overall remark we can conclude with findings indicating that technology is an
important component in the professionals CD, whereas IT, in theory, provides the
foundation for automating and centralizing the CD, use, deployment and sharing
of knowledge. Technical tools are enforced to enhance and enable companies’
knowledge generation and codification, however we have found that certaincultural barriers exist, constraining full utilization. As suggested by Rasli, Madjid
& Asmi (2004), the organizations need to overcome these barriers by nurturing an
atmosphere where knowledge and innovation is valued.
On a more general note, our findings are in accordance with Løwendahl (2009)
and Nordhaug (1993) pointing to a major challenges within especially knowledge-
based organizations: the firms have no overview of the competence potentiallyavailable for value creation. This introduces another issue, namely not addressing
latent competence within the organization (Løwendahl & Nordhaug, 1994).
Hereby the firm is likely to under-utilize competence, due to ignorance on the
company’s behalf and/or reluctance from the employees to sharing their
competence. It is the interplay and interaction between technology, techniques,
and professionals that allow an organization to manage its knowledge successfully
(Bhatt, 2001).
In answer to the second research sub question, all three levels in both countries
rely on a mix of internal training, mentoring systems, evaluation systems and
technical tools to develop their competence. IT tools are recognized as one of the
central factors for effective KM (Sarvary, 1999; Choi, 2000). However, through
these investments also major constraints to CD could be found. From the cross-
case analysis a surprising finding was that what the professionals view as
contributors and constraints to CD is more similar than different.
Page 83
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 89/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
The model on the next page serves as a summary of the main contributors and
constraints to CD through investments. Findings related to France and/or Norway
are indicated with F and/or N, where F and N are not specified, findings concerns
respondents in both countries.
CD through investments: Contributors ConstraintsMentor Programs and
Support Systems
- Contributes to career
development (Most)
- Enables variety in projects
(All)
- Discussions on technical
matters (NE)
- Mentors functions as role
models and motivators (NE)
- Lack of availability of
mentors (NE)
- Difficult to switch mentors
(NE)
- Heavy workloads hinders
optimal mentoring (NE + S)
Courses and Training - Contributes to network
building and knowledge
about colleagues (All)
- Contributes to several types
of competences: meta,
industry, intra-organizational
and standard technical
competence (All)
- Down-prioritized (NE + S)
- Time pressure hinders
ability to participate (All)
- Courses after office
hours/busy periods reduce
motivation to participate (NE
+ S)
- Restricted access to external
courses (NE + S)
- Too general trainings (NE +
S)
- Not adapted to levels of the
professionals (NE + S)
Evaluations and
Measurement
- Specific feedback on areas
of improvement functions as
a motivation to improve(Most NE, F)
- Down-prioritized (delayed
or not given at all) (Most)
- Subjectivity (All, especiallyin F)
- Not detailed enough (NE +
S)
- Dishonesty, and
preoccupation with individual
performance (NE, especially
in F)
Technical Tools - Availability of information
serves as a safety net (NE)
- More effective
communication (P)
- Navigation problems and
time consuming (All)
- Maintenance is time
consuming (All)
- De-contextualization (Most)
Page 84
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 90/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
Figure 9: Summary of CD through investments.
Next, CD through daily operations will be addressed.
4.3. CD Through Daily Operations
(iii) What are the main contributors and constraints of the professionals’
competence development through daily operations?
Our findings suggest that the overall most important ground for CD is ‘daily
operations’. This is in line with Itami (1987) stressing the importance of learning
through daily operations in CD, stating that ‘the “learning by doing” effect
enables the firm to accumulate the necessary invisible assets to carry out future
strategy in the course of its everyday operations’ (Itami, 1987:161). The main
contributors to CD through daily operations were found to be learning from
others, and learning by doing. Our main constraints were found to be high pressure, and low willingness to share knowledge. Compared to Fosstenløkken’s
(2007) results, she also found daily operations to be the most important CD arena,
where learning by doing in project work for clients was the primary facilitator of
CD, and time pressure the main constraint.
4.3.1 Learning by Doing
After comparing the different cases we found that all respondents, in both
countries, pointed to learning by doing in project work as the main contributor to
CD, and learning. Both when working alone and together with colleagues this
experience and hands on learning was identified as crucial to CD. In other words,
our findings suggest that the overall similarity in CD in daily operations is that the
professionals learn from both individual experiences (e.g. Kolb, 1984) and from
collective social interactions (e.g. Lave & Wenger, 1991). In addition to these
general similarities, we have observed differences and distinctions between the
three levels of professionals. Most of the newly employed highlighted the
Page 85
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 91/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
importance of working with more experienced professionals in their daily work.
For the senior professionals, they found great value in guiding the less
experienced as well as working with client responsibles. A senior consultant in
Norway stated 99% of his learning comes from informal learning in everyday
work. Further, as emphasized by all respondents, the learning output will differ
due to project role, -phase and –size. Most partners pinpointed the fact that the
daily operations can be viewed as a socialization process, where the professionals
gain understanding of their individual roles within the organization (Kaiser &
Ringlstetter, 2011). The socialization process is closely connected to corporate
culture that establishes values and norms for knowledge sharing and interaction,
as mentioned in the previous section concerning national culture (Kaiser &Ringlstetter, 2011). The findings support the notion of the companies exercising a
personalization strategy, as described in ‘Knowledge Management and Methods
of Knowledge Transfer’.
On the other hand, most respondents bring forth high time pressure, repetitively
similar projects and team composition as constraints to CD. For the further
discussion of these issues we find is suitable to deal with these separately.
High Pressure
Almost all French and Norwegian respondents emphasized the high workload and
pressure of their job as a major constraint to CD. As indicated by Maister (1993),
time represents a scarce resource in PSFs. ‘Many PSF projects are characterized
by time pressure towards deadlines and also face heavy cost pressure’
(Kvålshaugen et al., 2006:6). The professionals are expected to dedicate
‘enormous working hours, highest flexibility and constant employee motivation’
(Kaiser & Ringlstetter, 2011:117). The high pressure introduces several
challenges and we will deal with some of the most profound issues from our
findings in this section. Firstly, our findings suggest that pressurized and rushed
professionals do not have the time to engage in the interaction needed to develop
the sometimes necessary competence on both an individual and collective level.
As suggested by Hitt el al. (2001), complex forms of knowledge require face-to-
face interaction between partners and associates. Several statements from our
respondents indicate a certain lack of interaction within the firms, but there are
Page 86
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 92/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
between country differences in this case. Within the firms in both countries, the
professionals acknowledge the challenges created by pressure, but in comparison
we found more indicators negatively affecting the interaction, in general, in
France compared to Norway. To illustrate this we are hereby presenting some
examples: A French senior stated that everybody is experiencing a high workload
and pressure, hence everybody will not be willing to devote time to assist co-
workers. Almost no degree of interaction is found between juniors and partners,
and from what I have seen in France there is a more formal separation between
the different levels. There is some kind of natural hierarchy here, and more so
than in other countries. When talking to a partner you weigh your words
carefully. Further, he added that figuring out the informal rules of the company isan especially difficult task in the early phases within the firm. He experienced that
the availability of partners was close to non-existent with regards to approaching
them asking questions. On the question of why this could be, he stated that they
seemed occupied with impressing and maintaining authority by being less
approachable. Another explanatory element mentioned was also that the partners
seemed to not have the time to spend on being approached by subordinates, nor
being willing to devote it: They do not have time and do not want to take the time. I think that this is a French phenomenon. Partners and seniors not being available
was a surprising finding due to literature suggesting the importance of interaction
in the aim of knowledge sharing at organizational level. This findings were not in
line with previous literature such as Senge (1996) stating that the traditional role
of managers being “bosses” are moving towards managers turning into teachers,
with primarily concerns of supporting organizational knowledge development and
learning. Senge (1996) also stressed that the very key in establishing a learning
organization was by ensuring mixtures of people from all levels in the
organization, and not through traditional hierarchies.
As we see it, an additional explanation to the availability issue may be found in
the companies’ responsibility to nurture networks, more specifically client
relationships. As the companies under investigation are highly dependent on their
client portfolio, the client themselves will often also expect to have a personal
interactive relationship with the consulting firm, next to achieving good results
(Czerniawska, 2007). Establishing and maintaining these types of relationship
Page 87
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 93/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
seems as a primary responsibility at the higher levels of the firm (seniors and
partner), hence also occupying a lot of their time.
On one of our questions regarding culture for asking questions within the
company, a French partner suggested that the size of the Paris office in itself was
a huge barrier for managing people and developing “fair” relationships: the ability
to coach them properly, to know them and to be sure that the people discover all
the opportunities within the company is a complex task within a firm having
several hundred partners and several thousand employees. This company had
dealt with the size issue by dividing the firm into smaller business units to better
facilitate interaction and create a sense of belonging and attachment. Another partner stated that people quit if they do not develop a fruitful dialogue and
relationship with their colleagues and superiors. We feel that this exemplifies the
importance of internal company interaction. We find it natural to link these
findings to statements found on issues concerning evaluation and measurement,
presented in the previous chapter. To our minds, the size and barriers for
interaction illustrated here, further illuminates the difficulties of providing good
evaluations within the firms. How can superiors possibly establish a thorough base for evaluation if his superiors are spread out over large firm-internal
distances? We find the initiative of dividing the company into smaller divisions as
fruitful in terms of facilitating closer relationships, more interaction and
potentially also more accurate evaluations.
On a more general note, our perception is that the organizational hierarchy is to a
larger degree present in France, compared to Norway. Consultants at newly
employed level in France, experience the hierarchy as very strong and stated in
interviews that they have little contact with partners, feel small compared to them,
and that they do not know what they are doing. Our overall impression was that
the professionals’ title was perceived as reliable indicators of competence, and
that the French consultants seemed to have great respect for-, and compliance
with, formal hierarchy (Alvesson, 2002). When including cultural aspects, we find
additional explanations for our findings on hierarchy by turning to Mole (2001).
Mole (2001) argues that French companies, in general, are highly centralized.
Further, he suggests that French managers rarely open their mind, and even less
Page 88
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 94/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
their heart, to their subordinates. These descriptions can provide some explanatory
value concerning the rather low degree of between-layers interaction found in
France.
As introduced in chapter two, the newly employed professionals experience a
steep learning curve during the early stages of their careers, and most of the
respondents at this level mentioned high time pressure as a constraint to their CD.
For the senior professionals, spending time on guiding less experienced
professionals was by a few stated to reduce their speed and general work
efficiency, and hence personal CD. A partner in Norway further illustrated this by
saying that keeping a focus on delivering to clients, developing my employees,and at the same time trying to develop our business is something I find close to
impossible. Consequently something has to be down prioritized. Sometimes, sadly
enough, that down-prioritization falls on development of my employees.
Repetitively Similar Projects
Repetitively similar projects were identified by some of the respondents as a
constraint to CD. For the firm, engaging in similar or repetitive projects will bemore cost-effective as the expertise, knowledge and basic methods already
developed can be capitalized all over again. From the professionals’ view, this is
seen quite differently. Exciting, new and challenging assignments are vital to their
motivation and CD development. Many respondents on all three levels, in both
countries, stated this. Quinn, Anderson and Finkelstein (1996) stated that intensity
and repetition of information and tasks are proved to be critical to the
development of advanced skills. People with such intensive experiences increase
their competence and value within the firm. If these people are provided with
growth opportunities through continuously heightened complexity, coaching and
mentoring, and strong incentives to further engage, this will be a facilitator for
success for the professionals. Vise versa, these people will be less satisfied if they
experience a mismatch between the tasks they are given and their competence
level. As identified, challenging and exciting tasks are crucial for the
professionals’ development of CD. However, as stated by a majority of newly
employed in both countries, certain projects require that the people involved have
experience in specific fields. Consequently, many newly employed and even
Page 89
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 95/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
seniors do not receive the opportunity to participate in these projects, even though
it is in line with the personal development plan often created together with their
mentors. This, in turn, have sometimes led to professionals being put on the same
type of projects over again. In extreme cases, if the professionals are in possession
of ‘unique competences’ (Nordhaug, 1993), they are put on the same types of
projects over and over again, since s/he cannot easily be substituted. Many
realized that this was a natural consequence of the, among other issues,
hierarchical structure of the companies; nonetheless they were frustrated about
this issue. As a Norwegian partner stated: We mustn’t forget that we are running a
business here. Furthermore, a newly employed in Norway stated that junior co-
workers are given too little responsibility in projects. Also, most of therespondents in our study points to exhaustion to be a problem if they are pushed
too far. A Norwegian senior said that: If you are not able to develop and ensure a
continuously updated personal knowledge- and skills base, you will not be
delegated to the most prestigious projects. Staying updated is required, and there
is no time during work hours to ensure this. Our findings imply that a few of the
newly employed are not exposed to the professional challenges they need to
steadily develop. This is problematic as lack of diversity in projects cause the professionals to not get sufficient practice in crucial methodologies and skills. A
French partner illustrated this by stating that it is a potential problem if new
knowledge cannot be practiced in relevant projects afterwards. The acquired
knowledge will be forgotten more easily. As stated above however, the natural
consequence of the hierarchical organizational form of consulting firms is that the
majority of the “doing” will be conducted at the lower levels. A Norwegian
partner commented on this, stating that: A general remark would be that the lower
in the hierarchy, the less exciting tasks. However, mastering these tasks is
fundamental and necessary in order to fulfill the requirements for enhanced
positions later on.
Team Composition and Underdelegation Problems
Most respondents mentioned team composition as a crucial determinant for their
CD. Especially the newly employed, in both countries, viewed their project teams
as a highly determining CD factor. Among these respondents, most of them
characterized their company as somewhat impersonal and many of them indicated
Page 90
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 96/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
that they felt-, or previously had felt, a sense of alienation within the large
corporate system. Conversely, when working in teams they indicated that they
developed close and personal relationships with co-workers, and these social
relations were identified as central CD contributors. Naturally, a consultant would
wish for getting to be a part of the “best” team, however due to logistical issues,
composing the optimal teams at all times is not possible. As stated by a French
senior: The team members will not always consist of the “best” or most optimal
players, but in general the sufficient set of competence across the team is often
obtained . Even though we only gained a limited insight into the procedures for
resource utilization and team staffing, due to this not being a primary goal with
our study, the impression we got indicated that some professionals might suffer from learning arbitrary due to unfortunate team allocation. A senior consultant in
France suggested that the team allocation and resource utilization is basically
based on economic concerns on behalf of the company, overruling issues of
staffing in relation to individuals CD. This is business. Within every firm in this
study, the project manager was responsible for selecting team members, and most
newly employed identified this as a potential area of conflict. This was due to the
project leaders picking teams based on subjective preferences rather thanobjective qualifications. A Norwegian partner commented on the importance of
being submitted to the so-called “A-teams”: …a colleague’s lack of-, or slow-,
progression can relate to bad luck as the team he or she is a part of might cause
him or her to get stuck on a stereotype project portfolio. As suggested by Kaiser
& Ringlstetter (2011), professionals experiencing certain gaps between
requirements for a specific task and his or her available skills will strive to
improve and compensate. Still, this might prove difficult, as the professionals
might perceive themselves “stuck” in a situation with less fortunate clients and/or
teams. A newly employed in Norway commented on her perception of fairness
regarding staffing of projects, and said the following: It provokes me that some
colleagues are doing better than me due to luck rather than hard work. In the
beginning there is nothing you can do about changing the team and/or clients you
are given, and if you are unfortunate to end up with less attractive clients, your
CD will be relatively lower compared to your more fortunate colleagues. This is
where the competence gaps emerge. Here we would like to add that our findings
suggest the tendency of so-called ‘in-groups’ and ‘out-groups’, as earlier
Page 91
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 97/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
discussed under national culture. Several respondents acknowledged that every
team has their own identity, functioning as independent units and where it is hard
for outsiders to enter and being “granted access”. Our reflection on this issue is
that teams naturally seem to focus inward, turning isolated due to their focus on
team goals and bonding with team members. We believe that even if team
members intend to share knowledge with “outsiders”, they are already suffering
from team goals pulling them into the team again. Hence, we are here touching
upon one of the main CD constraints addressed in our study: high workload and
pressure. As we see it, a possible side affect of isolated teams is that it hinders
generation of new ideas to develop, hence perhaps also CD, as they lose contact
with the outside world.
As a general remark to our findings we see that the major CD contributor is found
in the doing. With regards to the knowledge accumulation at organizational level,
exemplified by the organizational databases in the previous chapter, we would
like to make reference to Cook and Yanow (1996) suggesting that knowledge
accumulation involves continual development and shared understandings among
groups. This implies that tacit knowledge arises through social interactions amongthe professionals in their daily operations. Further, as argues by Lave and Wenger
(1991), the inclusion of newly employed in the continuous work and problem-
solving actions is crucial. ‘In many firms, teams are the building block of the
organization’, as indicated by McDermott (1999:1), and to us, it seems purely
beneficial to compose teams consisting of people with different backgrounds as to
enable a full range of services to a client. We also believe that as a member of a
team, the social glue within the team can promote a sense of safety for the
professionals – enabling them to more easily share their thinking, ask questions,
and learn from others. Thus, we suppose that this will support a more open and
collectivistic attitude within the team-, and potentially also within companies, as a
whole.
4.3.2 Learning from Others
Learning from others was found to be the second largest contributor of CD among
most professionals on all levels, in both countries. All the companies in our study
Page 92
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 98/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
have a set of tools implemented to manage and articulate knowledge, namely
technical tools, which we have already discussed. But in spite of these efforts,
they cannot substitute personalization strategies in terms of transferring tacit
knowledge (Hansen, Nohria & Tierney, 1999). When dealing with more
standardized and repetitive work, articulated and stored knowledge is in some
cases more convenient and appropriate. However, in situations where creative
problem solving is required, interaction between competent and knowledgeable
individuals is needed, as indicated in the previous section. The companies need an
underlying philosophy that guides them in their daily interaction and aid them in
turning knowledge into action. Creating competence on both an individual and
collective level is in this sense a social act, placing the responsibility onindividuals to trigger the development of competence, firstly on an individual
level – consequently enabling development on an organizational level. For less
experienced consultants, meeting client’s face-to-face with- or without colleagues,
was an important component in their development. For the more experienced
consultants, collaboration with competent clients and colleagues was mentioned
as key contributors to their performance, development and project output.
Respondents at senior level have emphasized competence diversity within teamsin general as crucial for dynamics and their own learning. Among the partners, it
was frequently stated that they learned from knowledgeable buyers and other
partners.
Company Mentality and Culture
We have chosen to categorize the companies’ need for an underlying philosophy,
as mentioned on the previous page, to be a part of the company mentality and
culture. As the more general aspects on national- and corporate culture have
already been addressed, we will here focus on issues of trust and loyalty. We
would like to remind the reader that these elements were not within our primary
focus during interviews, nor did we pose explicit questions addressing trust and
loyalty. Nevertheless, as several of our respondents naturally focused on these
subjects when describing the main issues under investigation, we find them
relevant to include as they possibly can contribute to giving the reader a broader
insight. Also, at later stages of the interview process we realized that these issues
Page 93
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 99/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
directly seemed to affect interaction within the companies, which in turn
influenced knowledge sharing, hence CD.
In addressing these issues we turned to Maister (1985), who proposed a model of
professional firm success. He identified so-called ‘one-firm firms’, remarkable at
establishing institutional loyalty and group effort. By favoring group identity and
teamwork, the one-firm firms were successful in creating institutional
commitment, hence also employee satisfaction and attachment. After viewing our
findings we certainly find signs of willingness among the firms, to be recognized
as one-firm firms, however our findings indicate discrepancies. This is mainly on
the area of loyalty, and especially in France. If we turn to other research, it has been demonstrated that increased identification with an organization more
generally promotes a number of beneficial consequences generally for the firm:
enhanced support and commitment; intergroup cohesion; cooperation and
altruism; loyalty and adherence to group values; and norms and homogeneity
(Turner, 1982, 1984; Ashforth & Mael, 1989 in Alvesson, Robertson & Swan,
2001:6). As some of our respondents indicated lack of loyalty, trust, and therefore
lower willingness to share knowledge, the firms may question what they aremissing out on.
The lack of trust was by a few respondents mentioned to have a constraining
effect on CD. When comparing levels, it was mainly the professionals on the
senior and partner level in France, who mostly identified this as a constraint. The
companies included in this study can be identified as, what we label, elitist
companies (Greenwood & Suddaby, 2006), claiming to recruit the “best people”
and openly promoting an “up-or-out” system. ‘Obviously, such orientation hardly
fosters a communal spirit and loyalty’ (Alvesson, 2002:9), and the company-
employee relationship can, as we see it, be characterized as fairly calculated and
instrumental. Alvesson (2002:9) illustrated the hierarchy of loyalty within the two
IT/management consulting firms he studied, with the following quote: ‘First, you
are loyal to yourself. Second, you are loyal to the project. Third, you are loyal to
the company.’ We are not in a position to fully determine whether this hierarchy
is present among our respondents and firms, however we chose to include it as we
certainly found Alvesson’s (2002) findings interesting. As an overall remark, we
Page 94
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 100/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
think that if such a hierarchy actually exists; this would be a noteworthy issue for
firms. Might the professionals’ predominant loyalty to themselves nurture
opportunistic mindset, where the professionals focus on individual benefits rather
than collective benefit?
We have chosen to illustrate our impression of the French culture for trust by
referring to a French partner’s experience regarding lack of trust: When I arrived
in this company, I was quickly made aware that there was no such thing as trust. I
was exposed to an unusual high pressure that I have never experienced before. He
had not been able to meet target on a project, due to what he called an inhumanly
heavy workload and time pressure, however when approaching his superior withthe problem he had been verbally insulted: If you don’t meet target you are worth
nothing . After this incident he learned that the non-negotiable attitude amongst
managers was a culturally established behavior. When becoming a manager
himself, he learned that the team he was responsible for neither was trust-oriented
and that they seemed “programmed” to not deliver results until they were pushed
or triggered to do so. The problems this would introduce were that in situations
where team members were not able to successfully fulfill project requirements,they would naturally try to cover this up by dishonesty towards him as a
subordinate. When he realized this, he reorganized his team by recruiting new
team members stressed on the importance of trust: Today, in my team, we have
established a trust relationship. They tell me when something goes wrong. The
simple explanation is that with terror bosses you impose the wrong control
behavior. People will start hiding the truth. In my team today, in cases where they
are not able to fulfill target, they will let me know and I will involve in the aim of
finding a solution. If you force terror management style, people will try to cover
up the truth. However, within the organization in general the terror management
is still highly present and when my team is not able to deliver decent results I will
try to put makeup on my figures to make them look more decent. He further
expressed frustration and concerns on the consequences that this management
style would create in the long run, if the inhuman pressure put on the consultants
not would be outbalanced. We turn to literature in order to address the issue of
trust found in this particular example as well as throughout statements made by
French respondents. We find that France is characterized as a low trust society,
Page 95
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 101/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
and with high power distance (Samovar & Porter, 2004; Hofstede, 2009), in
general and compared to Norway. This further indicates that the strong
relationships are reserved for the family and close friends, and that people need to
know each other well in order to trust each other (Fukuyama, 1995). Additionally,
the country acknowledges power and hierarchy as a part of their society, and
superiors are recognized as seldom informally mixing with lower ranks (Mole,
2001; Scholliers, 2001). Nevertheless, Mole (2001) also indicated that
communication in French companies have two dimensions; one for professional
settings, where the external impression appear orderly professional, and one for
personal relationships, applied in informal settings. As we see it, this may serve as
mitigating “evidence” in relation to the rather discouraging findings concerningthe effects of the French hierarchy. This is because we think that biases may arise
due to the culturally established expectations of French managers. Culture may
have established certain expectancies on how managers are supposed to behave,
and these expectations in themselves may enforce the maintenance of the
hierarchical structure, both on national- and organizational level. Either way, we
believe that managers are likely to feel forced to behave in accordance to
expectations when “performing” their role at work. However beneath the orderly professional surface, our impression is, from interviewing the French managers
ourselves, that in more informal settings we are not able to identify behavioral
differences beyond natural variations personality-wise, based on our interaction.
As we perceived our interactions with the French partners as informal, open, and
trusting, we hereby question if this was due to us not being recognized as within
their formal category.
Several types of competences can be developed through learning by doing and
learning from others. For all three levels, learning by doing through working
together with colleagues in teams through daily work, enhances their
competences. For newly employed especially meta-competences are developed
whereof analytical skills, communication skills and collaboration skills are of
importance. Also intra-organizational competence can be developed in the way
that they e.g. learn about their colleagues. We view this as especially important
for partners as we saw in the previous discussion on CD through investments, that
CV databases were not updated, and rarely used. Having an overview of the
Page 96
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 102/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
competence the firm is all together in possession of, is important for optimal
utilization (Nordhaug, 1993). Furthermore, technical trade competence and
industry competence can be developed through daily work and experience. We
find this to be of especial importance on the lower levels of the firms, as
professionals at this stage mainly have no familiarity with the industry, neither has
the competence needed to perform certain tasks within the consulting industry.
For learning from others, more or less the same type of competences are
developed, however, technical trade competence is not necessarily developed as
this is gained through practice, and not necessarily the socialization processes.
This might be because much of the technical trade competences contain tacit
knowledge. To view it from a different angle, due to high pressure identified,these are the types of competences that the professionals may miss the opportunity
to develop. These are the three competence types that we here view of importance
and that needs experience in daily work to be developed.
Linking our findings to literature, there are several factors affecting the
knowledge sharing activity, and as suggested by Chowdhury (2005, cited in
Akgün et al., 2007), the main question is what makes individuals share knowledgeefficiently with others in the organization. Trust is identified as an important
element behind individuals’ decision to share knowledge. As stated by Lucas
(2005), trust improves the quality of dialogue and discussions that further
facilitates the sharing of knowledge; hence, trust is key to effective
communication.
The model below serves as a summary of the main contributors and constraints to
CD through investments. The figure is structured in accordance to our two main
headings under ‘Daily Operations’: ‘Learning by Doing’ and ‘Learning from
Others’. Further we have chosen to indicate the sub headings within these two
categories, in bold.
CD through Daily Operations Contributors ConstraintsLearning by Doing - Challenging projects (All)
- Repetitively similar
projects (Few NE + S, N):
Professionals become
- High pressure (All):
time pressure, heavy
workloads, negative effect
on interaction, limited
Page 97
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 103/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
subject matter
experts/SMEs.
- Team composition (All):
facilitates trust,
commitment and
attachment, building block
in organizations, social
glue.
- Under delegation
problems: no clear findings
indicated that this is a
contributor to CD.
availability of superiors,
“bosses” not teachers,
clients first.
- Repetitively similar
projects (Most NE + S):
do not meet CD goals
since they cannot
participate on new and
challenging projects,
decreased motivation.
- Team composition
(Most NE + S, especially
in F): isolated teams and
“in”- and “out” groups,
luck, differences in
competence levels.
- Under delegation
problems (Most NE): get
too little responsibility in
projects, not assigned to
new and challenging
tasks, utilization of
knowledge, reinforcing
hierarchyLearning from Others - Competent clients and
colleagues (Most S + P)
- Competence diversity
(All)
- Meeting the client face-to-
face (All)
- Meeting the client together
with colleagues (Most NE)
- Company mentality and
culture (Most P):
perceived willingness to be
one-firm firms.
- Availability of
partners/superiors (Most
NE, especially in F)
- High time- and
workload pressure (All)
- Willingness to share
knowledge (Most S,
especially F)
- Company mentality
and culture: hierarchy
negatively affecting trust
and loyalty (All, F),
dishonesty (All, F).
Figure 10: Summary of CD through daily operations.
4.4 Summary
In this chapter we have presented our findings together with a cross-case analysis
and discussion. We have addressed three main issues directly linked to our sub
Page 98
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 104/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
research questions; namely that of culture, CD through investments, and CD
through daily operations. Throughout this chapter we have sought to incorporate
our opinions and perceptions, however these must not be confused with the
statements from the respondents. At the end of each section within this chapter,
we have added general remarks, and responded to the three sub research questions
set forth in chapter 1. We will however not further elaborate on this as the first
section in the next chapter contains concluding remarks.
Page 99
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 105/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
Page 100
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 106/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
5.0 Concluding Remarks and Managerial Implications
In this chapter we will firstly present concluding remarks on our main findings.
Secondly we will move to managerial implications. Thirdly, the limitations of this
study are reflected upon, and lastly, we finalize this thesis by turning to
suggestions for further research.
5.1 Concluding Remarks
The purpose of this study was to view how CD takes place in PSFs in France and
Norway, emphasizing on identifying the main contributors and constraints to CD.
In line with previous literature (e.g. Itami, 1987; Fosstenløkken, 2007), our
findings and analysis highlighted that, across cases, CD takes place through two
main routes; (i) investments made by the firm, and (ii) daily operations.
A surprising finding was that national culture seemed not to influence how
professionals develop competence as heavily as we initially expected. However
the differences found across borders may have important implications and effectson CD. Primarily the cultural differences effected the interaction among
professionals. In France, we found indications suggesting a lower degree of
knowledge sharing and culture for asking questions. This may further negatively
reflect upon CD. In Norway, the attitudes towards sharing knowledge were
perceived as more positive and attentive.
We further found that what professionals perceived as contributors and constraints
were more similar than different across cases. From the comparative analysis we
found that the main contributors of CD primarily were found within daily
operations, whereas the main constraints can be related to the investments made
by the firms. Overall, the main contributors to CD from our findings were
learning by doing, learning from others, and mentoring systems. Learning by
doing and learning from others were identified as contributors by all three levels
in both countries, whereas Norwegian professionals mostly identified mentoring
systems as a contributor. The main constraints were identified as general high
pressure, willingness to share information, lack of relevant practice opportunities,
Page 101
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 107/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
and repetitively similar projects. Down-prioritization of CD was found to be an
overall constraint. The main constraints identified have been more evident on the
newly employed- and senior level. We question if this may be because the
partners are the ones with an inherent responsibility for initiating, enabling-, and
investing in several of the CD processes within the firm. Hence, we may thereby
further question if their responses suffers from “glorified biases”.
The focus on CD is present in all of the companies, however the prioritization
seems to be lacking. In other words, it seems as though long-term CD efforts are
found to be far down on the priority list. Thereby, one may question if CD is to be
left to the professionals and their own initiatives.
The fact that clients are becoming more demanding and the fact that companies
are down-prioritizing CD, we believe is quite contradictory, in terms of long-term
firm sustainability. All in all, we can conclude that to be able to draw conclusions
on a general matter, future research is needed.
5.2 Managerial Implications
Managers of PSFs have an important task in laying the foundation for
advantageous CD processes that can generate an improved resource base for the
firm, to enable attracting the right professionals and clients. Balancing this act is,
as we view it, far from simple. There are several challenges managers are facing
that need to be considered in order to orchestrate CD in PSFs. We are here going
to suggest several implications for managers, that we have identified based on our
main findings related to our sub research questions. Due to our findings being
quite similar to those of Fosstenløkken’s (2007), certain of our implications are
along the same lines.
5.2.1 Communication – the Crucial Glue
Our findings indicate that culture influences how professionals developcompetence. Therefore managers should assess their resources in terms of its
effective and/or ineffective utilization. It might be that allocating resources
Page 102
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 108/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
differently could improve the flow of communication, and thereby knowledge
sharing, both within- and across firms and countries. We identified that the area
mostly affected by cultural differences, seemed to be communication – which we
identify as a crucial glue in firms generation of knowledge, hence also CD.
Regarding the somewhat strained culture for asking questions across layers in
France, investments made by firms could be allocated to mentoring systems as we
found that in several of the firms, mentoring systems had been discontinued. Most
respondents in both countries viewed mentoring systems as an important
contributor to CD. Our findings suggested that in the firms without these
facilitations, the lack of culture for asking questions seemed to be more of anemphasized problem, as newly employed and seniors had fewer to turn to. In
terms of the lower degree of culture for sharing knowledge in France, trust and
openness were identified as crucial matters that should be of focus to generate a
sharing culture. Also, firms should increase awareness of the value of
communication and knowledge sharing among professionals within the firm and
across firm divisions, in order for the professionals to fully grasp its importance.
In turn, this suggestion, together with creating trust and increased openness, could potentially make professionals prioritizing-, and maybe becoming more willing to,
share information.
Also, lower willingness to share knowledge influences the use of technical tools
in which the firms have heavily invested. Our findings related to this indicated
that France experienced more challenges as professionals did not seem to
contribute to the collective competence of the firm by sharing experience in
databases. As a French senior consultant said: I don’t think you’ll find even one
French project . Moreover, the French professionals neither seemed to take
advantage of other countries’ project reports, due to unfamiliarity with the sender.
Increased awareness among professionals regarding benefits of using technical
tools seems to be appropriate. Despite the fact that even explicit knowledge is
time consuming to store, it can potentially save the professionals’ time in the long
run as it facilitates quick access to information. This should be important due to
time being identified as a scarce resource. More specifically, they can save time in
terms of e.g. to some extent reuse previous reports containing methodologies and
Page 103
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 109/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
templates to solve complex client problems. Additionally, the firm needs to stress
the importance of the potential affects the professionals low usage rate can have
on firm level. Examples of these important potential effects can be waste of
resources spent on creating systems not being used, the benefit or reusing certain
components from previous projects in terms of saving time, hence costs, and the
fact that it can generate increased quality deliverance to clients as a consequence
of an overall increased competence base at firm level. As our findings indicated
that firms are not measuring degree of usage of the technical tools, we suggest
that this should be addressed in terms of assessing the value of their investments
made, in these supporting activities to CD.
5.2.2 Aligning Firm Goals with CD of Professionals
One of the major issues identified through our findings was the surprisingly low
priority CD seemed to have in the respective firms. This served as a major
constraint according to the professionals in general. Despite the fact that clients
come first, the quality of the deliverance of the professionals to the client largely
depend on their competence level and ability to deliver what has been promised
(Løwendahl, 2009). Managers should here see if priorities could be set to ensure
alignment between the strategic goals of the firm, and CD of their professionals.
This balance is complicated to achieve, especially because the firms in real life are
largely complex. One explanatory factor of this might be that most firms are
experiencing difficulties in the positioning of the firm (Fosstenløkken, 2007). For
managers, our suggestion then is to reflect upon their choice of strategy, in terms
of what kind of strategy they are utilizing for creating value. The reasoning behind
this could be linked to the companies included in this study having applied
different strategies whereof it is suggested that the firms should develop different
competences. If the firm’s focus is solely on billable hours, and if client projects
are allowed to dictate a large degree of what the professionals are learning, firms
may risk that CD and value creation gets “jammed” on a short-term level. For
example, if firms are client-relation based, the focus should be on developing CD
that can enhance the positive and strong relationship with clients. Another
suggestion is that if the firm has an output-based strategy, the focus might be
appropriate to put on CD processes that enable reuse of solutions, hence efficient
Page 104
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 110/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
service delivery. By identifying the firms’ overall strategy, it might enable a better
facilitation of appropriate CD processes that are aligned with the firm’s overall
goals.
5.2.3 Supporting the Contributors and Reducing the Constraints of CD
Another challenge for managers is to support professionals in circumstances that
contribute to CD, parallel with diminishing the constraints. Our findings suggest
that the main arena for CD contributors is through daily operations, more
specifically through the professionals project work. The main constraints are
identified as being high pressure, low willingness to share knowledge, firms
down-prioritizing CD, and lack of relevant practice opportunities. As our findings
indicate that learning through daily operations, and especially learning by doing,
are major contributors, firms could emphasize and nurture these informal learning
processes. The issue, according to both our and Fosstenløkken’s (2007) findings,
is that learning by doing can more easily be neglected in daily operations due to
high pressure and client expectations. Generally speaking, it might be important to
enhance explicitness, awareness, and reflection on the identified informal CD
processes, among all of the professionals. Similarly as previously mentioned, we
stress the importance of not only focusing on billable hours, as this in general
supports short-term outcomes, but maybe rather enhancing focus on getting
projects where there exist opportunities for CD. Focusing on billable hours, and
comparing with competitors on this basis, may not necessarily contribute to long-
term growth, and may neither reflect companies’ quality and/or level of
competence. It might be that competitors with a seemingly lower productivity, in
fact are investing and focusing in CD processes, identified as crucial for the
future. Since the constraints and contributors are within different areas, this
implies and requires different approaches and actions taken. Could it be that to
support the learning by doing in daily operations, managers can direct individuals
to the projects that are relevant for the competence they either possess, or needs to
develop? If so, systematized team staffing to lead professionals on different
levels to the different projects, becomes even more important. The focus must not
only be on what is appropriate team staffing for one certain project, but also in
terms of what competences individuals can develop to enable allocation to a wider
Page 105
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 111/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
project range in the future. Matching and mixing individuals, teams and projects
seem to be important to increase CD both on an individual- and company level, as
it is identified as an essential part for value creation. Another important finding
was that new and challenging projects is a major contributor to CD. In relation to
this, delegating professionals to projects that can enhance their CD is not only
positive for the firm in terms of long-term value creation, but also for retention. It
might contribute to reducing the potential of the firm “loosing” competence in
terms of loosing important professionals, hence often also clients. Overall,
enhancing professionals CD through new and challenging projects may in turn
potentially reduce the firms’ costs related to training new professionals, due to the potential higher retention rate. Constraints due to high time pressure will in the
short-term not necessarily be reduced, however by doing this, it enables
individuals to develop needed competences, and maybe even a wider range of
competences, which in the longer run could lead to a higher number of
professionals matching different projects. This in turn could potentially reduce the
constraint of high time pressure to a certain extent, in the way that they have more
professionals with competence needed in the different projects; hence the issue of finding the available people might not be so prominent.
Through creating consciousness in relations to these managerial challenges, it is
suggested that managers might be in a better position to assess their investments
and allocation of resources, to be able to improve the foundation on which
decisions regarding CD in management consulting firms, are taken.
5.3 Limitations
As with all research, our study has its shortcomings and limitations. We will
introduce and reflect on the research conducted in this study and the potential
shortcomings. The limitation will here be particularly related to (i) choice of
literature and the issue under investigation, and (ii) methodology.
Page 106
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 112/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
5.3.1 Choice of Literature and the Issue under Investigation
Choice of Literature
Our choice of literature included forms our analysis and the interpretations made
in the discussion. If other literature was selected, results and interpretations may
have been different. By making a choice of relevant literature, in terms of
answering our sub questions, other important and potentially influential literature
might also have been overlooked. Our theoretical lens is to our best ability applied
in the aim of addressing applicable issues.
The Issue under Investigation
We have found studying the concepts of competence, to be challenging. We have
chosen to apply a rather broad definition and have relied on in-depth interviews in
order to be able to capture some of the richness and complexity that may be
fundamental to the concepts within the firms (Henderson & Cockburn, 1994).
However we realize that our preconceptions and beliefs may have been influenced
by the way we conducted the study, and that our approach is only one way of
going about investigation of the issues. On the contrary, due to our initialunfamiliarity with the subject under investigation, the time we spent on learning
about the industry allowed us to develop our own perceptions, viewing the
industry from a fresh perspective. In this process we matured, and we truly
believe that this has benefited us in our process. On a more general note, we have
sought to identify patterns of how CD of professionals takes place within the PSFs
of this study. On the question on whether firms will be able to perform better due
to the CD of professionals, we are not in a position to answer.
5.3.2 Methodology
Research Design and Process
It is not possible to make causal conclusions from exploratory case studies. This is
due to that these case studies are concerned with assessing phenomena, and that
alternative explanations cannot be ruled out (Yin, 2009). Concerning
Page 107
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 113/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
generalizability, the case study refers to individuals, and the behavior and/or
statements from one individual may not reflect the behavior and/or statements of
the general group or population (Eisenhardt, 1989; Andersen, 1997), in our case
PSFs and/or management consulting firms. To what degree our research can be
used as a base to draw comparisons with other settings, is left to the reader to
decide. The readers will have to judge the usefulness of our research, however we
have only sought to identify patterns of how CD takes place within the PSFs in
this study. To our best ability, we have tried to minimize limitations by gathering,
analyzing, and reporting data as systematically as possible, with care and
discipline. However we acknowledge that possible shortcomings and/or errors
related to the interview questions could have been reduced by conducting a pilotstudy.
Patton (2002) states that validity and reliability are two factors that qualitative
research should be concerned with, just as much as in quantitative research. On
the other hand, Golafshani (2003) suggest that there is a need for redefining the
terms reliability and validity in the naturalistic, and thereby qualitative approach.
This is because the two terms originally are rooted in the positivist perspective. To be more specific with the term of reliability in qualitative research, Lincoln and
Guba (1985) suggest that one should rather use the term ‘dependability’,
corresponding to the notion of reliability in quantitative research. Furthermore,
Creswell and Miller (2000) suggest that the researchers and their perception of
validity influence the validity of studies. Consequently, several researchers have
created their own concepts of validity and thereby terms viewed appropriate such
as, quality, rigor and trustworthiness (Davies & Dodd, 2002; Lincoln & Guba,
1985; Seale, 1999; Stenbacka, 2001). Since the terms reliability and validity are
commonly used terms in describing the quality of methodology, we have for
practical reasons chosen to apply these terms in our study.
Sample Size and Respondents
We have achieved a response rate of 82,22% by conducting 37 interviews out of
the 45 professionals contacted in total. Out of these 45, five respondents did not
respond to our request, and the remaining three did not manage to find a suitable
time for the interview. Nevertheless, this sample size, in addition to being case
Page 108
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 114/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
studies, naturally makes broad generalizations impossible. As this project is set
out to be a case study, our aim was not to generalize to a population. However, we
still believe that the results may be applied in other contexts, as a practical
introduction. This is, however left for readers and future researchers to determine.
Another aspect of the sampling is that fewer cases would have enabled more time
with each informant. That being said, we found it valuable to achieve 37
interviews as each and one of them contributed to a broader understanding of the
issues under investigation.
By conducting case studies within the same industry (management consulting) we
excluded the possibility of depicting between-industry comparisons. On the other hand, our approach will, in our view, facilitate a more thorough insight of CD
among the professionals and within the firms selected. By limiting the research to
one specific sector we have gained more in-depth knowledge about this specific
industry, and we felt that this provided us with a more solid ground for asking
relevant questions when conducting the interviews.
Despite the high response rate, more time would possibly have facilitated a larger sample and possibly an even higher response rate. Nevertheless, gaining a large
enough sample to draw representative conclusions about a population would not
have been in reach within the limits of our design and this thesis. This was neither
our goal.
Representative sampling cannot always be achieved in qualitative research. We
started our process by approaching several management consulting firms.
Participants were initially approached via contact persons, such as HR
responsibles or CEOs. In the process of getting acceptance, we followed up the
subjects via phone, email and/or by meeting with them directly. Due to a
presumption that the most efficient way for us to get contacts within the French
companies would be through contacts within the Norwegian sister company, we
initially approached the Norwegian companies. In this process we got a total of
three rejections among the firms we contacted in Norway, leaving us with seven
out of ten possible firms participating. We then preceded targeting the sister
companies of these firms in France. Some were approached directly based on
Page 109
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 115/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
contact information given by the Norwegian colleagues, others through being
introduced by Norwegian partners. In France six out of the seven wanted to
participate. With the process described above one can hardly identify this as
random sampling. Random sampling however is identified as more important
when generalizations are to be made, which is not our point (Yin, 2009). Also it
was important for the purpose of our study to receive participators on the three
different levels of seniority.
Response Bias
Self-reported data contain several potential sources of bias. On one side, it allows
us to investigate CD from the view of the respondent. Yet, the subjects mayconsciously or subconsciously have given answers that project their ideal self, or
answers that are politically correct and in accordance with the image of the
company.
Biases Linked to the Researchers
Our data has been gathered through interviews where we have been aiming to tap
into the depths of reality of the situation and experience of the respondents. It has been essential for us to develop empathy with the interviewees and to win their
confidence in order for them to open up. None of us have experience in
conducting interviews and both of us are students. This may have implications for
the conduction of the interviews as well as quality of the outcomes. Potential bias
may be found in subconscious clues given when interviewing. Body language,
tone of voice and phrasing of questions may influence the subject into giving
answers skewed towards our own opinions and prejudices. Also, with our status as
students, the respondents may consciously or subconsciously be reluctant to
opening up, interpreting us as less influential and/or serious than e.g. a more
experienced researcher such as a professor. Our experience, however, is that the
possible weaknesses linked to our status not has been a noteworthy limitation.
Since we have conducted interviews based on the general interview guide
approach, this leaves the majority of the talk to the respondents. We have paid
careful attention to our manner of approach, acting professional, and trustworthy.
Close to all interviews have been conducted with both of us present, allowing us
to ensure that all questions are asked properly, that interview transcripts are
Page 110
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 116/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
compared and summarized in collaboration, and that data and interpretations
afterwards have been handled thoroughly. Also, in order to allow the readers to
draw their own conclusions about whether the findings are plausible, we have
chosen to include quotes from interviews.
Both researchers are of the same sex and have the same educational background
and the results might have been different if we were of the opposite gender and/or
had differing educational orientations. None of us had previous work experience
with- and/or hands-on experience and insight into, the PSF industry itself before
starting this project. We picked our thesis subject due to pure fascination and
interest, and we have spent extensive time on learning about the industry byreading and interviewing respondents. Other sources of bias could potentially also
be found in our treatment of data, concerning issues of selective memory,
telescoping, attribution and exaggeration.
Access
Our study has been dependent on getting access to firms and respondents within
the industry of interest. We have gone through a time- and somewhat costconsuming process in the aim of gathering data and interpreting results. To a
certain degree this of course limited our time to analyze our findings. On the
contrary, the fairly thorough data gathering extended our understanding and
insight into the issue under investigation. For us, this part of the process was
extremely valuable in terms of personal development. We also recognized that our
interview style improved in terms of efficiency, and that it with time enabled us to
see an even broader picture.
Interpretation
Since we have conducted a foreign language research, this has had implications
for the research- and writing process. Possible biases can be linked to cultural
differences with regards to word connotations, interpretation and presentation of
findings. Interviews conducted in France were conducted in our second language,
English, hence potential bias related to interpretations and translation may have
occurred. Also, potential bias could occur when translating the Norwegian
interviews into English. The same biases are also present for the French
Page 111
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 117/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
respondents, communicating in a foreign language. Examples of issues that may
occur in relation to translation, and the fact that interviews were conducted in
foreign languages, are e.g. comprehension and connotations, conveying nuances
in responses about especially feelings and perceptions, responses “loosing” its
original meaning during translation.
After viewing the limitations of this study we will now turn to suggestions for
further research avenues.
5.4 Suggestions for Further Research
First and foremost we would find it personally interesting to further investigate
the meaning and effects CD may have with regards to firm performance. We feel
this would be a natural next step to more thoroughly investigate this since PSFs
are highly dependent of competence, yet they down prioritize CD. How are these
two rather contradictory aspects going to add up in the long run? Furthermore,
based on Maister (1993), stating that firms that fail to generate new knowledge
will sooner or later face problems. One example is that our findings indicate that
both time and cost pressure limit the professionals’ ability to develop customized
problem solving solutions. By not being able to develop these creative problem
solutions, the professionals, hence firm, might “loose out” acquiring new
knowledge in the long run.
Our findings suggest that the degree of knowledge sharing across borders is lower
in France compared to Norway. We found that Hall’s explanations of high- and
low context cultures could be a possible explanation to some extent. Personally,
we would find it interesting to look deeper into the other plausible explanations
for this as this might contribute to a deeper understanding for both managers and
professionals to enable finding alternative ways to approach this problem. Our
respondents also identified that it might be an issue of trust. Future research
should examine the roles that trust play both internally amongst professionals and
externally with stakeholders.
Page 112
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 118/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
Another thinkable extension element would be to include an analysis of the
respondents’ background more systematically as to identify possible explanations
to their CD stemming from education, previous work experience etc. Also, this
could be done at firm level. In a non-anonymous study, a broader data collection,
including secondary data such as firms’ websites, annual reports, databases,
training material and other internal documents could be used, and would allow a
more thorough impression of each firm. Further research on this could examine
how this background information could influence how CD is developed.
Additionally, an extension of this research could be to include more or differentfirms, -industries, and –nationalities, as this could generate different findings.
Extending the study to other organizations under the broader umbrella PSFs
would facilitate an interesting foundation for comparison across firms, and we
believe this would be of great interest as well. Also, a study comparing the
findings found within our study with non-PSFs could give exciting insight.
Another interesting path would be to compare small firms with larger ones, both
domestically and globally.
Further research could also investigate the relationship between professionals and
clients. Investigating the consequences of increasingly more sophisticated clients
and the effect on e.g. relationships, quality, loyalty, demand could be an
interesting path. Here, also investigating the effect on CD could be looked into.
Another area for further research could be to dig deeper into the development and
maintenance of firm reputation; e.g. to what degree individuals within the firms
contributed to firm reputation, how the competitors impact on the reputation of
firms within industries and to which extent media and specific projects
contributes. Additionally, a thinkable extension in general could also be to
conduct a longitudinal study, gaining insight into the development and
evolvement of CD over time.
Page 113
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 119/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
References
Written Sources:
Adler, N. J., J. Campbell, & A. Laurent. 1989. In Search of Appropriate
Methodology: From Outside the People's Republic of China Looking in. Journal
of International Business Studies, 20 (1): 61-74.
Aharoni, Y. 1993. Ownership, Networks and Coalitions. Cited in B. Løwendahl.
2001. Knowledge and Value Creation in Professional Service Firms: A
Framework for Analysis. Human Relations, 54 (7): 911-931.
Akgun, A.E., J. C. Byrne, G. S. Lynn, & H. Keskin. 2007. Organizational ̈
Unlearning as Changes in Beliefs and Routines in Organizations. Journal of
Organizational Change Management . 20 (6): 794-812.
Alvesson, M. 2001. Knowledge Work: Ambiguity, Image and Identity. Human
Relations, 54 (7): 863-886.
Alvesson, M. 2002. Up-or-out Versus Fun-and-profit: a Study of Personnel
Concepts and HR Themes in two IT/management Consulting Firms. Institute of
Economic Research. Department of Business Administration. Lund University
School of Economics. Working Paper Series.
Alvesson, M. 1993. Cultural-ideological Modes of Management Control . Cited in
Deetz, S. (Ed.), Communication Yearbook 16. Newbury Park, Ca: Sage.
Alvesson, M., M. Robertson, & M. Swan. 2001. The Best and the Brightest. The
Role of Elite Identity in Knowledge Intensive Companies. Paper presented at the
Critical Management Studies Conference. July 11-12.
Andersen, S.S. 1997. Case-studier og Generalisering – Forskningsstrategi
og Design. Bergen: Fagbokforlaget.
Armbruster, T. 2006. ̈ The Economics and Sociology of Management Consulting .
Page 114
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 120/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Ashforth, B., F. & Mael. 1989. Social Identity Theory and the Organization. Cited
in Alvesson, M., M. Robertson, & M. Swan. 2001. The Best and the Brightest.
The Role of Elite Identity in Knowledge Intensive Companies. Paper presented at
the Critical Management Studies Conference. July 11-12.
Barney, J. B. 1991. Firm Resources and Sustained Competitive Advantage. Cited
in Hitt, M. A., Bierman, L., Shimizu, K., & Kochhar, R. 2001. Direct and
Moderating Effects of Human Capital on Strategy and Performance in
Professional Service Firms: A Resource-based Perspective. Academy of Management Journal , 44 (1), 13-28.
Barney, J.B & D.N. Clark. 2007. Resource-Based Theory. New York: Oxford
University Press Inc.
Bhatt, G. D. 2001. Knowledge Management in Organizations: Examining the
Interaction Between Technologies, Techniques, and People. Journal of Knowledge Management, 5 (1): 68-75.
Boh, W. F. 2007. Mechanisms for Sharing Knowledge in Project-based
Organizations. Information and Organization. 17 (1): 27-58.
Boutaiba, S. & P. Bramming. 2004. The Art of Making Do. Institute for
Organisation og Arbejdssociologi. Handelshøjskolen i København. Working
Paper.
Broschak, J.P. 2001. Do the Actors Make the Play? Individual Mobility and the
Dissolution of Interorganizational Relationships. Presented at OMT Division,
Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Washington DC.
Cabrera, A. & E.F. Cabrera. 2002. Knowledge-sharing Dilemmas. Organization
Studies, 23 (5): 687–710.
Page 115
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 121/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
Choi, Y. S. 2000. An Empirical Study of Factors Affecting Successful
Implementation of Knowledge Management. Cited in Rasli A., M. Z. Madjid, &
A. Asmi. 2004. Factors that Influence Implementation of Knowledge
Management and Information Technology Infrastructure to Support Project
Performance in the Construction Industry. International Business Management
Conference.
Chowdhury, S., 2005. The Role of Affect- and Cognition-based Trust in Complex
Knowledge Sharing. Journal of Management Issues. 17 (3): 310-326.
Cohen, M. D., & L.S. Sproull (Eds.) Organizational Learning. 430-459.Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Cook, S. D., & D. Yanow. 1996. Culture and Organizational Learning. Cited in In
M. D. Cohen & L. S. Sproull (Eds.), Organizational Learning : 430-459.
Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Creswell, J. W. & D. L. Miller. 2000. Determining Validity in Qualitative Inquiry.Theory into Practice, 39 (3): 124-131.
Czarniawska, B., & B. Joerges. 1996. Travels of Ideas. Translating
Organizational Change. 13-49. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.
Czerniawska, F. 2007. The Trusted Firm: how Consulting Firms Build Successful
Client Relationships. West Sussex, England: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Davenport, T. & G. Probst. 2001. Knowledge Management Case Book . MCD
Verlag and Wiley and Sons, Berlin.
Davenport, T. & L. Prusak. 1998. Working Knowledge: How Organizations
Manage what They Know. Cited in Empson, L. 2001. Transfer in Mergers
between Professional Service Firms. Human Relations, 54 (7): 839-862.
Page 116
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 122/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
Davies, D., & J. Dodd. 2002. Qualitative Research and the Question of Rigor.
Qualitative Health Research, 12 (2): 279-289.
DeLong, T. J., & A. Nanda. 2003. Professional Services: Text and Cases. Cited in
Greenwood, R., S. X. Li, R. Prakash & D. L. Deephouse. 2005. Reputation,
Diversification, and Organzational Explanations of Performance in Professional
Service Firms. Organization Science, 16 (6): 661-673.
Dewey, J. 1916 (1966). Democracy and Education: An Introduction to the
Philosophy of Education. New York: Macmillan.
DiMaggio, P. J. & W. W. Powell. 1983. The Iron Cage Revisited: Institutional
Isomorphism and Collective Rationality in Organizational Fields. American
Sociological Review. 48 (2): 147-160.
Drucker, P. 1993. Post-capitalist Society. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann.
Dutton, J. & J. Dukerich. 1991. Keeping an Eye on the Mirror: Image and Identityin Organizational Adaptation. Academy of Management Journal , 34 (3): 517-554.
Dutton, J., J. Dukerich, & C. Harquail. 1994. Organizational Images and Member
Identification, Administrative Science Quarterly, 39: 239-263.
Eisenhardt, K. M. 1989. Building Theories from Case Study Research. Academy
of Management Review, 14 (4): 532-550.
Eisner, E. W. 1991. The Enlightened Eye: Qualitative Inquiry and the
Enhancement of Educational Practice. New York, NY: Macmillan Publishing
Company.
Empson, L. 2001. Fear of Exploitation and Fear of Contamination: Impediments
to Knowledge Transfer in Mergers between Professional Service Firms. Human
Relations, 54 (7): 839-862.
Page 117
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 123/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
Empson, L. 2000. Mergers Between Professional Service Firms: Exploring an
Undirected Process of Integration. Advances in Mergers and Acquisitions, 1: 205-
237.
Empson, L. 2000. Merging Professional Service Firms. Business Strategy Review,
11 (2): 39-46.
Forstenlechner, I., Lettice, F., Bourne, M., & Webb, C. 2007. Turning knowledge
into Value in Professional Service Firms. Performance Measurement & Metrics.
(8) 3: 146-56.
Fukuyama, F. 1995. Social Capital and the Global Economy: A Redrawn Map of
the World. Foreign Affairs. 74 (5): 89-103.
Golafshani, N. 2003. Understanding Reliability and Validity in Qualitative
Research. The Qualitative Report. 8 (4): 597- 606.
Granovetter, M. 1985. Economic action and social structure: the problem of
embeddedness. Cited in Løwendahl, B. R., Ø. D. Revang, & S. M. Fosstenløkken.
2001. Knowledge and Value Creation in Professional Service Firms - A
Framework For Analysis. Human Relations, 54 (7): 911-931.
Grant, R.M. 1996. Toward a Knowledge-based Theory of the Firm. Cited in Hitt,
M. A., L. Bierman, K. Shimizu, & R. Kochhar. 2001. Direct and Moderating
Effects of Human Capital on Strategy and Performance in Professional Service
Firms: A Resource-based Perspective. Academy of Management Journal, 44 (1),
13–28.
Greenwood, R. & R. Suddaby. 2006. Institutional entrepreneurship in mature
fields: The big five accounting firms. Academy of Management Journal . 49 (1):
27-48.
Greenwood, R., S. Li & D.L Deephouse. 2002. Leveraging Intangible Assets:
Page 118
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 124/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
Determinants of Performance in US Accounting Firms. For the Workshop in
Professional Service Firms, University of Alberta.
Greenwood, R., S. X. Li, R. Prakash & D. L. Deephouse. 2005. Reputation,
Diversification, and Organzational Explanations of Performance in Professional
Service Firms. Organization Science, 16 (6): 661-673.
Gripsrud, G., U. H. Olsson & R. Silkoset. 2004. Metode og Dataanalyse med
Fokus på Beslutninger i Bedrifter . Norway: Høyskoleforlaget AS-Norwegian
Academic Press.
Haas, M. R., & M. T. Hansen. 2007. Different knowledge, different benefits:
toward a productivity perspective on knowledge sharing in organizations.
Strategic Management Journal . 28 (11): 1133-1153.
Hall, E.T. 1990. Understanding Cultural Differences. Yarmouth, Me: Intercultural
Press Inc.
Hansen, M. T., N. Nohria, & T. Tierney. 1999. What’s Your Strategy for
Managing Knowledge. Harvard Business Review, 77 (2): 106-116.
Henderson, R., & I. Cockburn. 1994. Measuring Competence? Exploring Firm
Effects in Pharmaceutical Research. Strategic Management Journal , 15 (8): 63-
84.
Hitt, M. A., L. Bierman, K. Shimizu, & R. Kochhar. 2001. Direct and Moderating
Effects of Human Capital on Strategy and Performance in Professional Service
Firms: A Resource-based Perspective. Academy of Management Journal, 44 (1):
13–28.
Hodkinson, P. & H. Hodkinson. 2001. The Strengths and Limitations of Case
Study Research. Leeds: University of Leeds.
Page 119
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 125/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
Hofstede, G. 2001. Culture’s Consequences; Comparing Values, Behaviors,
Institutions, and Organizations Across Nations. Thousand Oaks California: Sage
Publications, Inc.
Hunter, L., P. Beaumont, & M. Lee. 2002. Knowledge Management Practice in
Scottish Law Firms. Human Resource Management Journal , 12 (2): 4-21.
Ibarra, H. 2000. Making Partner: A Mentor's Guide to the Psychological Journey.
Harvard Business Review. 78 (2): 146-155.
Itami, H. (with Roehl, T.) 1987. Mobilizing Invisible Assets. Boston: HarvardUniversity Press.
Jones, M. 2007. Hofstede - Culturally Questionable? Oxford Business &
Economics Conference, June 24-26, UK: Oxford University.
Joppe, M. 2000. The Research Process. In Golafshani, N. 2003. Understanding
Reliability and Validity in Qualitative Research. The Qualitative Report . 8(4):597- 606.
Kaiser, S.. & M. Ringlstetter. 2011. Strategic Management of Professional
Service Firms. Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.
Kogut, B. & U. Zander. 1992. Knowledge of the Firm, Combinative Capabilities,
and the Replication of Technology. Organization Science, 3 (3): 383-397.
Kolb, D.A. 1984. Experiential Learning–Experience as the Source of Learning
and Development . New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
Krogh, V. G., Roos, J. & L. Slocum. 1994. An Essay on Corporate Epistemology.
Strategic Management Journal , 15 (5): 53-71.
Kubr, M. 1996. Management Consulting: a Guide to the Profession. Geneva:
International Labour Organisation.
Page 120
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 126/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
Kubr, M. 2002. Management Consulting: a Guide to the Profession. 4th ed.
Geneva: International Labour Organisation.
Kvålshaugen, R., B. R. Løwendahl, T. Skjølsvik, & S. M. Fosstenløkken. 2006.
Incremental Learning in Professional Service Firms: The Importance of Project
and Client Characteristics. Organizational Learning and Knowledge Conference
Warwick .
Kärreman, D., S. Sveningsson, & M. Alvesson. 2002. The Return of the Machine
Bureaucracy? Management Control in the Work settings of Professionals. International Studies of Management Organization. 32 (2): 70–92.
Lave, J., & E. Wenger. 1991. Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral
Participation. Cited in Løwendahl, B. R., Ø. D. Revang, & S. M. Fosstenløkken.
2001. Knowledge and Value Creation in Professional Service Firms - A
Framework For Analysis. Human Relations, 54 (7): 911-931.
Lepak, D., & S. Snell. 1999. The Strategic Management of Human Capital:
Determinants and Implications of Different Relationships. Academy of
Management Review. 24 (1): 1-18.
Levinthal, D. A., & M. Fichman. 1988. Dynamics of Interorganizational
Attachments: Auditor-Client Relationships. Administrative Science Quarterly, 33
(3): 345-369.
Liebeskind, J. P. 1996. Knowledge, Strategy, and the Theory of the Firm.
Strategic Management Journal , 17 (winter): 93-107.
Liedtka, J. M., M. E. Haskins, & J. W. Rosenblum. 1997. The Generative Cycle:
Linking Knowledge and Relationships. Sloan Management Review. 39 (1): 47-58.
Lincoln, Y. S., & E. G. Guba. 1985. Naturalistic inquiry. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
Page 121
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 127/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
Lofstedt, U. 2001. Competence Development and Learning Organisation: A
Critical Analysis of Practical Guidelines and Methods. Systems Research and
Behavioral Science. 18 (2): 115-125.
Lorsch, J. W., & T. J. Tierney. 2002. Aligning the Stars: How to Succeed When
Professionals Drive Results. Harvard Business School Press.
Lowe, S. C. 2004. Marketplace Master’s: How Professional Service Firms
Compete to Win. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group.
Lucia, A., & R. Lepsinger. 1999. The Art and Science of Competency Models: Pinpointing Critical Success Factors in Organizations. San Francisco: Jossey-
Bass/Pfeiffer.
Lukas, L. M. 2005. The Impact of Trust and Reputation on the Transfer of Best
Practices. Journal of Knowledge Management . 9 (4): 87-101.
Løwendahl, B. R. 1992. Global strategies for professional business service firms.Unpublished PhD dissertation. Philadelphia, PA: The Wharton School, University
of Pennsylvania.
Løwendahl, B. R. 2009. Strategic Management of Professional Service Firms. 3rd
ed. Copenhagen: Copenhagen Business School Press.
Løwendahl, B.R., & O. Nordhaug. 1994. Kompetanse i LOOC . Cited in
Løwendahl, B. R & O. Nordhaug et al. OL94 - Inspirasjonskilde for Framtidens
Næringsliv? Erfaringer fra et Megaprosjekt . Oslo: TANO.
Løwendahl B. R., & Ø. D. Revang. 1998. Challenges to Existing Strategy Theory
in a Post-industrial Society. Strategic Management Journal , 19 (8): 755–774.
Løwendahl, B. R., Ø. D. Revang, & S. M. Fosstenløkken. 2001. Knowledge and
Value Creation in Professional Service Firms - A Framework For Analysis.
Human Relations, 54 (7): 911-931.
Page 122
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 128/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
Maister, D.H, 1985. The One-Firm Firm: What Makes It Successful. Sloan
Management Review, 27 (1): 3-14.
Maister, D.H. 1993. Managing the Professional Service Firm. New York: Free
Press.
McCrank, L.J. 2002. Historical Information Science: an Emerging Unidiscipline.
Medford, NJ: Information Today.
McDermott, R. 1999. Learning Across Teams: The Role of Communities of Practice in Team Organizations. Knowledge Management Review, 8: 32-36.
McKenna, C. 2006. The World's Newest Profession: Management Consulting in
the Twentieth Century. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Mole, J. 2001. Mind your Manners – Managing Business Cultures in Europe.
London: Nicholas Brealey Publishing London.
Morris, T. 2001. Asserting Property Rights: Knowledge Codification in the
Professional Service Firm. Human Relations, 54 (7): 819-838.
Morris, T., & L. Empson. 1998. Organizations and Expertise: An Exploration of
Knowledge Bases and the Management of Accounting and Consulting Firms.
Accounting, Organizations and Society, 23 (5): 609–624.
Mowery, D. C., J.E. Oxley & B.S. Silverman. 1996. Strategic Alliances and
Interfirm Knowledge Transfer. Strategic Management Journal 17 (winter): 77-91.
Mäkelä, K., H. Kalla, & R. Piekkari. 2007. Interpersonal Similarity as a Driver of
Knowledge Sharing within Multinational Corporations. International Business
Review, 16 (1): 1–22.
Page 123
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 129/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
Nahapiet, J., & S. Ghoshal. 1998. Social Capital, Intellectual Capital, and the
Organizational Advantage. Cited in Empson, L. 2001. Transfer in Mergers
between Professional Service Firm s. Human Relations, 54 (7): 839-862.
Nonaka, I. 1994. A dynamic theory of organizational knowledge creation.
Organization Science 5 (1): 14–37.
Nonaka, I. 1991. The Knowledge-Creating Company. Harvard Business Review,
69 (6): 96-104.
Nordhaug, O. 1993. Human Capital in Organizations: Competence, Training and Learning . Oslo: Universitetsforlaget.
Nordhaug, O. & K. Grønhaug. 1994. Competence Resources in Firms.
International Journal of Human Resource Management , 5 (1): 89-106.
Orr, J. 1996. Talking about Machines: An Ethnography of a Modern Job.
Ithaca,New York: IRL Press.
Patton, M.Q. 2002. Qualitative Research and Evaluation Methods, 3rd ed. Beverly
Hills, CA: Sage Publications.
Pedhazur, E. J., & L. P. Schmelkin. 1991. Measurement, Design, and Analysis:
An Integrated Approach. Hillsdale, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Polanyi, M. 1958. Personal Knowledge. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
Prahalad, C. K., & G. Hamel. 1990. The Core Competence of the Corporation.
Harvard Business Review. 68 (3): 79-91.
Quinn, J., P. Anderson, & S. Finkelstein. 1996. Leveraging Intellect. Academy of
Management Executive.10 (3): 7-27.
Ragsdell, G. 2009. Inhibitors And Enhancers To Knowledge Sharing: Lessons
Page 124
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 130/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
From The Voluntary Sector. Journal of Knowledge Management Practice. 10 (1).
Rasli A., M. Z. Madjid, & A. Asmi. 2004. Factors that Influence Implementation
of Knowledge Management and Information Technology Infrastructure to Support
Project Performance in the Construction Industry. International Business
Management Conference.
Reihlen, M., M. Smets, & A. Veit. 2010. Management Consultancies as
Institutional Agents: Strategies for Creating and Sustaining Institutional Capital.
Schmalenback Business Review 62 (3): 317-339.
Samovar, L. A., Porter, R. E. 2004. Communication Between Cultures. Canada:
Wadsworth.
Sarvary, M. 1999. Knowledge Management and Competition in the Consulting
Industry. California Management Review. 41 (2): 99-107.
Schneider D. J. 2004. The psychology of stereotyping . New York: Guilford Press.
Scholliers, P. 2001. Food, Drink and Identity - Cooking, Eating and Drinking in
Europe since the Middle Ages. Oxford / New York: Berg.
Schön, D.A. 1983. The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in
Action. London: Temple Smith.
Seale, C. 1999. Quality in Qualitative Research. Qualitative Inquiry, 5 (4), 465-
478.
Senge, P. 1996. Leading Learning Organizations. Training & Development . 50
(12): 36-4.
Soley, M., & K. V. Pandya. 2003. Culture as an Issue in Knowledge Sharing: A
Means of Competitive Advantage. Electronic Journal on Knowledge
Page 125
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 131/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
Management . 1 (2): 205-212.
Spender, J.C. 1996. Making Knowledge the Basis of a Dynamic Theory of the
Firm. Strategic Management Journal , 17 (Winter Special Issue): 45-62.
Spencer, L. M., Jr. & S. Spencer. 1993. Competence at Work: Models for
Superior Performance. New York: John Wiley and Sons.
Stabell, C. B. & Ø. D. Fjeldstad. 1998. Configuring Value for Competitive
Advantage: On Chains, Shops and Networks. Strategic Management Journal . 19
(5): 413–437.
Starbuck, W. H. 1992. Learning by knowledge-intensive firms. Journal of
Management Studies, 29 (6): 713–40.
Steenkamp, J-B. E. M. 2001. The role of national culture in international
marketing research. International Marketing Review, 18 (1): 30-44.
Stenbacka, C. 2001. Qualitative Research Requires Quality Concepts of its Own.
Management Decision, 39 (7): 551-555.
Storey, J., D., Ulrich, & P. M. Wright. 2009. The Routledge Companion to
Strategic Human Resource Management . New York: Routledge.
Sveiby, K. E. 1997. The New Organizational Wealth Managing and Measuring
Knowledge Based Assets. San Francisco: Berret-Koehler Publisher Inc.
Teece, D., G., Pisano, & A. Shuen. 1997. Dynamic capabilities and strategic
management. Cited in Empson, L. 2001. Transfer in Mergers between
Professional Service Firms. Human Relations, 54 (7): 839-862.
Thomas, G. 2011. How to do Your Case Study – A Guide for Students &
Researchers. London: Sage Publications.
Page 126
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 132/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
Toegel, G., & J. A Conger. 2004. 360-Degree Assessment: Time for Reinvention.
Academy of Management Learning and Education, 2 (3): 297-311.
Tsoukas, H. 1996. The Firm as a Distributed Knowledge System: A
Constructionist Approach. Strategic Management Journal , 17 (Winter Special
Issue): 11-25.
Turner, J. 1982. Towards a Cognitive Redefinition of the Social Group. Cited in
Alvesson, M., M. Robertson, & M. Swan. 2001. The Best and the Brightest. The
Role of Elite Identity in Knowledge Intensive Companies. Paper presented at the
Critical Management Studies Conference. July 11-12.
Ulrich, D. 1997. Human Resource Champions – The Next Agenda for Adding
Value and Delivering Results. United Stated: Harvard Business School Press.
Van Maanen, J. 1983. Qualitative Methodology. Beverley Hills: Sage.
Winch, G., & E. Schneider. 1993. Managing The Knowledge-Based Organization:The Case of Architectural Practice. Journal of Management Studies, 30 (6): 923-
938.
Wright, L.W. 1995. Qualitative International Management Research. Cited in
Punnett, B.J. and Shenkar, O., (eds.) Handbook for International Management
Research. Blackwell: Oxford.
Yin, R. K. 2003. Case Study Research: Design and Methods. 3rd ed. CA: Sage
Publications.
Yin, R. K. 2009. Case Study Research: Design and Methods. 4th ed. CA: Sage
Publications.
Zanjani, M. S, S. Mehrasa, & M. Modiri. 2008. Organizational Dimensions as
Determinant Factors of KM Approaches in SMEs. World Academy of Science,
Engineering and Technology. 45: 389-394.
Page 127
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 133/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
Internet Sources:
Argyris, C. 1991. Teaching Smart People How to Learn. Available from URL:
pds8.egloos.com/pds/200805/20/87/chris_argyris_learning.pdf [Accessed
10.07.2010].
Bridgespan. 2003. Giving and Receiving Feedback . Available from URL:
http://webconceptsunlimited.com/Samples/GivingandReceivingFeedbackParticipa
ntGuide.pdf [Accessed: 20.08.2011].
Fosstenløkken, S. M. 2007. Enhancing intangible resources in professional
service firms: a comparative study of how competence development takes place in
four firms. Oslo: BI Norwegian School of Management. Available from URL:
http://web.bi.no/forskning/papers.nsf/wSeriesDissertation/6F66FC4D0EEF4D91C
1257341002EA456 [Accessed 08.06.2010].
Hall, E.T. 2011. Nonverbal communicationIntercultural relationsAnthropology.
Available from URL. http://www.edwardthall.com/ [Accessed. 22. 08.2011].
Harvard Business School. 1999. What’s Your Strategy for Managing Knowledge?
Available from URL: http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/0500.html [Accessed
22.08.2011].
Hofstede, G. 2009. Geert Hofstede Cultural Dimensions. Available from URL:
http://www.geert-hofstede.com/ [Accessed 01.05.10].
Innovations Report – Forum for Science, Industry and Business. 2007.
Consultancy firms more interested in billable hours than developing expertise.
Available from URL: http://www.innovations-
report.com/html/reports/economy_finances/report-91911.html [Accessed:
10.06.2011].
Page 128
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 134/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
International Data Corporation (IDC). 2010. The impact of SaaS on the
Professional Services Industry. Available from URL:
http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=PRF000009 .
[Accessed: 01.06.2011].
JB Intercultural Consulting. 2003. Communication across cultures-High and Low
Context . Available from URL:
http://www.culture-at-work.com/highlow.html [Accessed. 22.08. 2011].
Ladegaard, G. & C. Syvertsen. 2005. Value Creation in Knowledge Intensive
Firms. Available from URL: http://orgprints.org/6192/1/DP04-05.pdf [Accessed:09.06.2010].
Maister, D. 1985. The One-Firm Firm: What Makes It Successful. MIT Sloan
Management Review. Available from URL: http://sloanreview.mit.edu/the-
magazine/1985-fall/2711/the-onefirm-firm-what-makes-it-successful/ [Accessed
01.08.2010]
NationMaster.com. 2011. Economy Statistics. Available from URL:
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/eco_gdp_com_by_sec_ser-economy-gdp-
composition-sector-services [Accessed: 10.06.2011].
NESH (The National Committee for Research Ethics in the Social Sciences and
the Humanities). 2009. Guidelines for Research Ethics in the Social Sciences and
the Humanities. Available from URL:
http://www.etikkom.no/no/Forskningsetikk/Etiske-
retningslinjer/Samfunnsvitenskap-jus-og-humaniora/ [Accessed: 05.08.2011].
Nordenflycht, A.V. 2006. What is a Professional Service Firm…and why does it
matter? Available from URL: http://business.sfu.ca/files/PDF/research/working-
papers/policy/Andrew_vonNordenflycht_Abstract_2.pdf [Accessed 25.05.2010].
Reimers, T. 2011. Mentoring Best Practices – A Handbook . Available from URL:
http://www.albany.edu/academics/mentoring.best.practices.chapter4.shtml
Page 129
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 135/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
[Accessed: 20.03.2011].
Research Methods Knowledge Base. 2006. Qualitative Validity. Available from
URL: http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/qualval.php [Accessed:
22.07.2011].
Sveiby, K. E. 2001. Measuring Intangible Assets. Available from URL:
http://www.sveiby.com/articles/MeasureIntangibleAssets.html
[Accessed: 20.06.2011].
Western Libraries. 2011. Bibliography – Geert Hofstede. Available from URL:http://www.lib.uwo.ca/ [Accessed 19.07.2011].
Wiley Knowledge for Generations. 2010. Setting the scene – Profile of the
professional service industry. Available from URL:
media. wiley.com/product_data/excerpt/34/04700117/0470011734-1.pdf
[Accessed 14.03.2011].
Ylinenpää, H. & N. Nilsson. 2000. Knowledge Transfer and Organizational
Competence Building - A Case Study of Two Knowledge-Intensive Firms.
Available from URL:
http://www.ies.luth.se/org/Rapporter/AR2000_44.pdf [Accessed 08.06.2010].
Page 130
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 136/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
Appendices
Appendix 1: Information letter sent to companies in France
Hi
We are two graduating Master students (MSc in International Management) at BI Norwegian Business School, currently working on our master thesis. The purpose
of the paper is to analyze how professionals (employees) experience and perceive
competence development in professional service firms (PSFs). Mainly, the focuswill be on what contributes and constraints competence development on three
different levels of employees (newly employed, senior- and partner level).
The study is cross-cultural since we have the privilege of one of us studying in
Oslo (BI) and the other in Paris (ESCP Europe). We will explore the similaritiesand the diversity within the views of the professionals on competence in the two
countries.
We hope this could be of interest for you and we are aiming to interview three
employees ranging from newly employed, senior and partner level. The interviewswill have an approximate duration of 30 minutes. We are flexible concerning
where and when these interviews can be conducted. The information will betreated confidential and will not be able to be traced back to the individuals.
With our study we hope to contribute with insight of what your employees
perceive as contributors and/or constraints to competence development. Sincecompetence among employees is essential for high quality service delivery toclients, we view our choice of topic as important.
We would highly appreciate having you in our sample and hope that this would beof interest.
Have a nice day and we look forward to hearing from you.
Best regards,
Maja Øidne [email protected]
+47 959 17 948
Linn Langangen
+47 908 43 351
Page 131
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 137/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
Appendix 2: Information letter sent to companies in Norway
Hei
Vi er to masterstudenter ved Handelshøyskolen BI, Oslo, som i disse dager skriver vår avsluttende oppgave om kompetanseutvikling i kunnskapsintensive bedrifter.
Denne studien vil i all hovedsak kartlegge potensielle fremmere og hemmere av
kompetanseutvikling i slike firmaer. Studien er komparativ siden vi intervjuer ansatte både i Paris og Oslo. Vi vil undersøke forskjeller og likheter i henhold til
de ansattes syn på kompetanseutvikling, i begge land.
I den sammenheng ønsker vi å intervjue minimum tre ansatte i deres bedrift, helst
av begge kjønn og gjerne på tre forskjellige nivåer (nyansatt, senior, partner).Intervjuene vil ha en varighet på ca. 30 minutter og kan gjerne foregå på deres
arbeidsplass og premisser. Eventuelt ønske om konfidensialitet er respektert oginformasjonen fra disse intervjuene vil ikke kunne spores tilbake til
enkeltindivider.
Med forskningsprosjektet ønsker vi å bidra med innsikt i hva deres ansatte føler
kan medvirke til, eller hindre kompetanseutvikling og hva som vil være avviktighet for ledere. Videre, siden kompetansen til hver enkelt ansatt er essensielt
for å kunne levere gode resultater til klienter, vil vi kunne bidra til å gi dere
innsikt i tillegg til å kunne kartlegge hva som eventuelt kan være fallgruver eller bidragsytere til kompetanseutvikling.
Vi håper dette er interessant og vil også kunne tilby dere et ferdig eksemplar avden ferdige oppgaven. Vi ser frem til å høre fra dere.
Med vennlig hilsen,
Maja Øidne Korsen
+47 959 17 948
Linn [email protected]
+47 908 43 351
Page 132
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 138/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
Appendix 3: English General Interview Guide
This information is concerning both this appendix (4), and appendix (5), which
contains the Norwegian general interview guide. Below follows a description of the interview guides used when collecting data from respondents in the respective
firms. The two interview guides reflects approximate descriptions. Each
respondent and situation required adaptation as to how the interview developedand if themes of particular interest surfaced in each interview. The questions were
also adapted in terms of who was being asked – at what level he or she wasemployed. Therefore, the interview guides serves as illustrative examples of
topics and questions central to the interview process.
IntroductionIntroduction of ourselves.
About the study: the reasoning behind and purpose of our project, interviews being conducted on three levels in France and Norway.
About confidentiality and how we will use the information received in interviews.Ask for acceptance of using tape recorder, if used.
Personal Background and work related tasks
Could you please introduce yourself and tell us briefly about your background?(E.g. education, previous work experience, why did you choose to work for this
firm, tenure, development path of career and work related tasks andresponsibilities).
Competence development
Could you please describe your work?
What is your perception of competence development and learning?
How has competence developed been organized to support your career in this
firm?
Are there any particular factors that you consider particularly helpful in your
competence development?(E.g.: IT systems, mentor systems, training, collaboration, daily operations etc.).
Are there any factors that inhibit your personal development in this firm?(E.g.: IT systems, mentor systems, training, collaboration, daily operations, stress,
high pressure etc.).
Does your expectation regarding competence development match your experience
within the firm?
International matters:
Page 133
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 139/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
Could you please tell us about how you view the culture for sharing information
and knowledge in this firm?
Could you please tell us about how the hierarchical structure within the firm, andto what extent you feel it is predominant?
Could you please tell us how you experience differences between layers/levels of professionals in this firm, and how this influences your every day work and
competence development?
At work, how does collaboration with others take place? Do you collaborate with
people outside the firm?
Additional comments:
Is there anything you would like to add to your previous comments?
What did we forget to ask you about?
Is there a possibility that we can contact you at a later stage in case we need to ask
you any further or clarifying questions?
If so, how would you prefer to be contacted? (Via phone/e-mail?).
Thank you for your time!
If you have any questions at a later point in time, please do not hesitate to contact
us.
Page 134
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 140/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
Appendix 4: Norwegian General Interview Guide
Introduksjon:
Introdusere oss selv.Om studien: Begrunnelsen og intensjonen med prosjektet vårt, intervjuer foretatt
på tre nivåer i Frankrike og Norge.
Om konfidensialitet og hvordan informasjonen fra intervjuene vil bli brukt istudien.
Ta opp spørsmålet med båndopptaker hvis dette tas i bruk.
Personlig bakgrunn or arbeidsrelaterte oppgaver og ansvarsområder:
Kan du vennligst fortelle litt om deg selv og din bakgrunn?
(Eksempelvis om utdannelse, tidligere jobberfaring, bakgrunnen for valg av
arbeidsgiver, fartstid, karriereutvikling innenfor selskapet, arbeidsrelatertearbeidsoppgaver og ansvarsområder).
Kompetanseutvikling:Hva legger du i begrepet kompetanseutvikling og læring?
Hvordan har din kompetanseutvikling blitt tilrettelagt i dette selskapet for å støttedin karriere?
Er det noen faktorer/aspekter ved ditt arbeid som du ser på som spesielt viktige for
din kompetanseutvikling? (Eksempelvis: IT, mentor systemer, opplæring/kursing,samarbeid, daglig prosjektarbeid etc.).
Er det noen faktorer/aspekter ved ditt arbeid som du føler har hindret dinkompetanseutvikling? (Eksempelvis: IT, mentor systemer, opplæring/kursing,
samarbeid, daglig prosjektarbeid, press etc.)
Samsvarer dine forventninger til kompetanseutvikling med hva du har opplevd i
dette selskapet?
Internasjonale forhold/Kulturrelaterte arbeidsforhold:
Kan du fortelle litt om hvordan du ser på kulturen for informasjon- ogkunnskapsdeling her?
Kan du fortelle litt om hierarkiet i dette selskapet og om hvor mye eller litefremtredende det er?
Kan du fortelle litt om hvor ”store” forskjellene mellom nivåer (nyansatt, senior
og partner) er, og eventuelt hvordan dette påvirker din hverdag og
kompetanseutvikling?
Hvordan foregår samarbeid med andre på jobb? Samarbeider du med personer utenfor bedriften?
Page 135
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 141/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
Tilleggskommentarer:Er du noe du avslutningsvis har et ønske om å legge til?
Hva føler du vi har glemt å spørre deg om?
Er det i orden om vi kontakter deg på et senere tidspunkt dersom det skulleforekomme tilleggsspørsmål, eller det skulle oppstå et behov for oppklarende
spørsmål?
I så fall, hvordan foretrekker du å bli kontaktet? (Via telefon/e-mail?)
Tusen takk for din deltakelse!
Kontakt oss gjerne hvis du har noen spørsmål på et senere tidspunkt.
Page 136
5/10/2018 Master Thesis Langangen Korsen 2011 - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/master-thesis-langangen-korsen-2011 142/142
GRA 19402 – Master Thesis
Competence Development in Professional Service Firms
Appendix 5: Preliminary Thesis Report