Affiliation:
1. Stockholm School of Economics, Sweden,
Abstract
As experts and fashion setters of the business community, management consultants have a strong position in modern society. We argue that the basis of this position is the size of the rhetorical space of legitimate arguments open to consultants. In legitimating their activities, consultants produce a great array of arguments based on two contradictory myths or master-ideas recurrent in the business discourse—the normative/pragmatic myth and the rationalistic myth. These two myths are in turn viewed as a variation of the deeply institutionalized western dichotomy of nature vs. culture. Although these myths officially are incommensurable, management consultants freely mix arguments based on both myths when translating organizational change. Herein lies the potential invincibility of the consultants' rhetoric—the possibility of transforming that which earlier was treated as `objective' and given into something negotiable and changeable, and vice versa, thereby increasing the possibility of satisfying ever-changing and contradicting needs.
Subject
Management of Technology and Innovation,Strategy and Management,General Business, Management and Accounting
Cited by
107 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献