Constituting best practice in management consulting

Collins, David

Abstract

This paper offers critical reflections on the construction and propagation of ‘best practice’: a concept which has become increasingly important in the business world and in civic life more generally. Focusing upon the activities of the Management Consultancies Association (MCA) we offer an analysis of the awards process instituted to applaud ‘best practice’ in the arena of consulting. Departing from existing academic representations of the advice industry which generally exclude this trade body from the analytical frame we consider the role which the MCA performs in the field of consulting. Situating the MCA’s attempt to constitute best practice within the work of Bruno Latour we argue that this construct depends upon the mobilization of an extended network of allies, advocates and spectators whose interactions have been written-out of academic analysis. The paper concludes by proposing the need for further research designed to explore, both, the heterogeneity and the porosity of the networks that construct, convey and applaud key knowledge products such as ‘best practice’.

Citation

Collins, D. (2016). Constituting best practice in management consulting. Culture and organization, 22(5), 409-429. https://doi.org/10.1080/14759551.2014.983109

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Oct 24, 2014
• Online Publication Date: Dec 13, 2014
• Publication Date: 2016-10
• Deposit Date: May 26, 2015
• Publicly Available Date: May 26, 2015
• Journal: Culture and organization
• Print ISSN: 1475-9551
• Publisher: Routledge
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 22
• Issue: 5
• Pages: 409-429
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14759551.2014.983109
• Keywords: Best practice; Management consultants; Networks; Collectives; Latour
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/374186
• Publisher URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14759551.2014.983109#.VWRpFNJVhBc
• Additional Information: This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Culture and organization on 13 Dec 2014, available online: http://wwww.tandfonline.com/10.1080/14759551.2014.983109
• Contract Date: May 26, 2015