Description
Over the past three decades the Professional Service Firm (PSF) sector has emerged as one of the most rapidly growing, profitable, and significant in the global economy. In 2013 the accountancy, management consulting, legal, and architectural sectors alone generated revenues of US$ 1.6 trillion and employed 14 million people. PSFs play an important role in developing human capital, creating innovative business services, reshaping government institutions, establishing and interpreting the rules of financial markets, and setting legal, accounting and other professional standards. The study of PSFs can offer insights into the contemporary challenges facing organizations within the knowledge economy, and deepen understanding of more conventional organizations. Despite their significance, however, PSFs have until recently remained very much in the shadows of organizational and management research. The Oxford Handbook of Professional Service Firms marks the coming of age of PSF scholarship with a comprehensive and integrative exploration of current research and thinking on PSFs, featuring contributions from internationally renowned scholars in the fields of organizational and management studies. It is divided into three distinct sections - the professions, the firms, and the professionals that work within them - and covers subjects from governance and leadership to regulation, entrepreneurship, and diversity. Bringing together a broad range of empirical and theoretical perspectives, the Handbook offers many potentially important insights into the contemporary challenges of organizations in the knowledge economy and suggests new lines of inquiry that may shed further light on the activities and performance of PSFs and the professionals who work within them.
About the Author
Laura Empson is Professor in the Management of Professional Service Firms at Cass Business School, London, and Director of the Cass Centre for Professional Service Firms. Her current research focuses on leadership dynamics in PSFs and is funded by a major grant from the ESRC. Her previous ESRC-funded study was of changing forms of governance in PSFs. Her research into PSFs has also covered themes such as: mergers and acquisitions, professionalisation of management, organizational and individual identity, knowledge and diversity management. She is also an Independent Non-Executive of KPMG LLP. In 2013 she was selected to be the Financial Times Professor of the Week. Joe Broschak is an Associate Professor in the Department of Management and Organizations and the Interim Executive Director of the McGuire Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Arizona, Eller College of Management. He also holds a courtesy appointment in the School of Sociology. He has a Ph.D. in Management from the University of Texas at Austin. Joe's research revolves around two topics in organization theory. One is the structure of organizations and the other is the dynamics of markets. Joe's research has been published in a variety of management and sociology journals and he currently serves on the editorial boards of Administrative Science Quarterly and the Academy of Management Journal. Bob Hinings has carried out research on professional organizations, health care organizations and the wine industry. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, a Fellow of the U.S. Academy of Management and an Honorary Member of the European Group for Organizational Studies. He has received the Distinguished Scholar Award from the Organization and Management Theory Division of the U.S. Academy of Management and an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Montreal. He is a Research Fellow at the Judge School of Business, University of Cambridge. Daniel Muzio is Professor of Professions and Organization at Newcastle University. Before joining Newcastle University in 2013, Daniel held a Chair in Leadership and Organization in Manchester Business School. Previously he held academic positions at the Univeristy of Leeds and Lancaster University where he completed his ESRC funded PhD (and Post Doc) in Management in 2004. Daniel holds a law degree and an MA in Organizational Analysis and Behaviour, both from Lancaster University. Daniel holds visiting positions at Manchester Business School and Cass Business School, City Univeristy in London. He has also been a visiting professor at Luiss Guido Carli in Rome and the International Institute for the Sociology of Law in Onati, Spain.His research focuses on professions and knowledge workers, their work, management and organization. This is informed by a number of theoretical perspectives including: institutional theory, labour process theory, and neo-weberian perspectives.
Reviews
Professionals play a critical role in modern society. They constitute an increasing proportion of the workforce, and increasingly work in sizeablesometimes giganticprofessional firms rather than as solo practitioners. So it is urgent that we understand better how professional firms work. This Handbook is vital for anyone interested in this field of research, with first-rate scholars offering authoritative surveys of the entire range of issues. An essential resource. * Professor Paul S. Adler, Harold Quinton Chair of Business Policy and Professor of Management and Organization; Marshall School Business, University of Southern California *
The Oxford Handbook of Professional Service Firms is without question the leading compilation of academic work on this critical segment of the economy. Edited by some of the most distinguished scholars in the field, the book should be considered required reading for any practitioner who seeks to steer his or her firm through the turbulent waters of the contemporary marketplace, and every academic who seeks to understand the implications of the decisions firm leaders make for the professions, professional firms, and the professionals who make their living in these environments. * Professor David B. Wilkins, Vice Dean, Global Initiatives on the Legal Profession; Lester Kissel Professor of Law; Center on the Legal Profession; Harvard Law School. *
This excellent Handbook brings together an outstanding cast of scholars to address the range, nature and behaviours of these firms. The Handbook will surely be inspirational not only to those already captivated by this class of organizations, but to scholars coming to them for the first time. * Professor Royston Greenwood, Telus Professor of Strategic Management; Alberta School of Business, University of Alberta *
The Oxford Handbook of Professional Service Firms is my single most valuable book. I refer to it constantly when writing, reviewing, and thinking about professional service firms. I applaud the editors and authors for their scholarship and care in producing such a comprehensive and user-friendly resource. * Professor David M. Brock, Editor-in-chief, Journal of Professions and Organization *
This Handbook really helps you get under the skin of professional service firms. They are organisations like no other, worthy of serious study, but with lessons to teach us all. * Stefan Stern Former Management Columnist, Financial Times *
Book Information
ISBN 9780198799566
Author Laura Empson
Format Paperback
Page Count 560
Imprint Oxford University Press
Publisher Oxford University Press
Weight(grams) 940g
About the Author
Laura Empson is Professor in the Management of Professional Service Firms at Cass Business School, London, and Director of the Cass Centre for Professional Service Firms. Her current research focuses on leadership dynamics in PSFs and is funded by a major grant from the ESRC. Her previous ESRC-funded study was of changing forms of governance in PSFs. Her research into PSFs has also covered themes such as: mergers and acquisitions, professionalisation of management, organizational and individual identity, knowledge and diversity management. She is also an Independent Non-Executive of KPMG LLP. In 2013 she was selected to be the Financial Times Professor of the Week. Joe Broschak is an Associate Professor in the Department of Management and Organizations and the Interim Executive Director of the McGuire Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Arizona, Eller College of Management. He also holds a courtesy appointment in the School of Sociology. He has a Ph.D. in Management from the University of Texas at Austin. Joe's research revolves around two topics in organization theory. One is the structure of organizations and the other is the dynamics of markets. Joe's research has been published in a variety of management and sociology journals and he currently serves on the editorial boards of Administrative Science Quarterly and the Academy of Management Journal. Bob Hinings has carried out research on professional organizations, health care organizations and the wine industry. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, a Fellow of the U.S. Academy of Management and an Honorary Member of the European Group for Organizational Studies. He has received the Distinguished Scholar Award from the Organization and Management Theory Division of the U.S. Academy of Management and an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Montreal. He is a Research Fellow at the Judge School of Business, University of Cambridge. Daniel Muzio is Professor of Professions and Organization at Newcastle University. Before joining Newcastle University in 2013, Daniel held a Chair in Leadership and Organization in Manchester Business School. Previously he held academic positions at the Univeristy of Leeds and Lancaster University where he completed his ESRC funded PhD (and Post Doc) in Management in 2004. Daniel holds a law degree and an MA in Organizational Analysis and Behaviour, both from Lancaster University. Daniel holds visiting positions at Manchester Business School and Cass Business School, City Univeristy in London. He has also been a visiting professor at Luiss Guido Carli in Rome and the International Institute for the Sociology of Law in Onati, Spain.His research focuses on professions and knowledge workers, their work, management and organization. This is informed by a number of theoretical perspectives including: institutional theory, labour process theory, and neo-weberian perspectives.
Reviews
Professionals play a critical role in modern society. They constitute an increasing proportion of the workforce, and increasingly work in sizeablesometimes giganticprofessional firms rather than as solo practitioners. So it is urgent that we understand better how professional firms work. This Handbook is vital for anyone interested in this field of research, with first-rate scholars offering authoritative surveys of the entire range of issues. An essential resource. * Professor Paul S. Adler, Harold Quinton Chair of Business Policy and Professor of Management and Organization; Marshall School Business, University of Southern California *
The Oxford Handbook of Professional Service Firms is without question the leading compilation of academic work on this critical segment of the economy. Edited by some of the most distinguished scholars in the field, the book should be considered required reading for any practitioner who seeks to steer his or her firm through the turbulent waters of the contemporary marketplace, and every academic who seeks to understand the implications of the decisions firm leaders make for the professions, professional firms, and the professionals who make their living in these environments. * Professor David B. Wilkins, Vice Dean, Global Initiatives on the Legal Profession; Lester Kissel Professor of Law; Center on the Legal Profession; Harvard Law School. *
This excellent Handbook brings together an outstanding cast of scholars to address the range, nature and behaviours of these firms. The Handbook will surely be inspirational not only to those already captivated by this class of organizations, but to scholars coming to them for the first time. * Professor Royston Greenwood, Telus Professor of Strategic Management; Alberta School of Business, University of Alberta *
The Oxford Handbook of Professional Service Firms is my single most valuable book. I refer to it constantly when writing, reviewing, and thinking about professional service firms. I applaud the editors and authors for their scholarship and care in producing such a comprehensive and user-friendly resource. * Professor David M. Brock, Editor-in-chief, Journal of Professions and Organization *
This Handbook really helps you get under the skin of professional service firms. They are organisations like no other, worthy of serious study, but with lessons to teach us all. * Stefan Stern Former Management Columnist, Financial Times *
Book Information
ISBN 9780198799566
Author Laura Empson
Format Paperback
Page Count 560
Imprint Oxford University Press
Publisher Oxford University Press
Weight(grams) 940g
