The construction of global management consulting - a study of consultancies’ web presentations

Management consulting increasingly appears as a global endeavour as reflected in the increasing dominance of a few large, global management-consulting firms. However, features of the consulting service (e.g. its immaterial and interactional character) as well as aspects of management (e.g. its cultural anchoredness) highlight the locality of management consulting. In this paper we approach this tension between the global and the local by seeing consulting as involving the creation of generalised myths. More specifically, we ask the question: How do global consulting companies construct the viability and desirability of their services? Based on a view of management consultants as mythmakers, we study the argumentation on corporate web sites of four leading global consultancies in five different countries. Applying a framework based on the sociology of translation, we analyze the translation strategies used in making the service of global consultancies both viable and indispensable. We find that the need for consultants is to a large extent constructed through defining management as an expert activity, thus creating a need for external advisors possessing globally applicable expert knowledge. In this effort, the consultants ally with three widely spread rationalized managerial myths – the rationality myth, the globalization myth and the universality myth. We conclude, that global consulting firms are actively involved in creating and reinforcing the very same institutions, which are the prerequisites for their future success.management consulting; globalization; myth making

The construction of global management consulting - a study of consultancies’ web presentations

Management consulting increasingly appears as a global endeavour as reflected in the increasing dominance of a few large, global management-consulting firms. However, features of the consulting service (e.g. its immaterial and interactional character) as well as aspects of management (e.g. its cultural anchoredness) highlight the locality of management consulting. In this paper we approach this tension between the global and the local by seeing consulting as involving the creation of generalised myths. More specifically, we ask the question: How do global consulting companies construct the viability and desirability of their services? Based on a view of management consultants as mythmakers, we study the argumentation on corporate web sites of four leading global consultancies in five different countries. Applying a framework based on the sociology of translation, we analyze the translation strategies used in making the service of global consultancies both viable and indispensable. We find that the need for consultants is to a large extent constructed through defining management as an expert activity, thus creating a need for external advisors possessing globally applicable expert knowledge. In this effort, the consultants ally with three widely spread rationalized managerial myths – the rationality myth, the globalization myth and the universality myth. We conclude, that global consulting firms are actively involved in creating and reinforcing the very same institutions, which are the prerequisites for their future success.management consulting; globalization; myth making

Upplevelsen av arbetslöshet bland ungdomar : -En kvalitativ studie om arbetslöshet, stigmatisering och diskriminering

Denna sociologiska uppsats behandlar den subjektiva upplevelsen av arbetslöshet bland ungdomar. Arbetslösheten i denna grupp är hög och syftet är att visa på vilken ställning ungdomarna har gentemot sin situation, samt hur denna upplevs. En extra tyngd har lagts på etnisk diskriminering för att belysa om detta upplevs förekomma bland ungdomar med ett utländskt efternamn. Det är en kvalitativ studie som bygger på semistrukturerade intervjuer med nio arbetslösa ungdomar under 25 år, samt två intervjuer med tjänstemän som representerade arbetsförmedlingen. Ungdomarna beskriver återkommande sin situation med frustration och utsatthet, samt att viss diskriminering kan tänkas förekomma. Studien har utgått från en hermeneutisk ansats och bygger mycket på tidigare forskning, samt på sociologiska teorier. Uppsatsen vill besvara följande frågor:   Hur upplever ungdomarna arbetslösheten? -Hur upplever ungdomarna att de blir bemötta av olika samhällsinsatser och arbetsgivare? -Hur upplever ungdomarna sin vardag? Är upplevelsen av arbetslöshet förenad med diskriminering och stigmatisering? -Hur upplever ungdomarna att omgivningen reagerar på arbetslösheten? -Upplever ungdomarna med utländskt efternamn att de blir stigmatiserade eller diskriminerade på grund av sitt efternamn

WOM vs eWOM : En komparativ studie av WOM vs EWOM

In this paper the perceived credibility of word of mouth (WOM) is compared with the perceived credibility of electronic word of mouth (eWOM) from a receiver's perspective. WOM can be described as verbal communication in trademarks, products and services where the transmitter does not have a profit motive. EWOM is all communications regarding brands, products and services that take place electronically over the Internet. The results of this qualitative study indicate that credibility is linked to the transmitter as a person rather than the message itself. Within WOM, the receiver usually has a relationship to the transmitter and therefore the credibility is to a large extent already given the recipient before the message is delivered based on past experience. Within eWOM the transmitter is often unknown or anonymous, which means that the receiver does not have a picture of the sender's credibility before the message is received. The receiver then creates a perception of the message and its sender based on language design. A language with certain qualitative characteristics tend to create greater credibility within eWOM. Another observation made in this study is that the quantity of messages affect the overall credibility of eWOM even when the messages alone are not considered to have high credibility from the recipient's perspective. The time aspect also proved to be of some importance for the credibility of the message in eWOM as older reviews were not as trustworthy as newer ones

Flyget och miljön : En studie om klimatkompensation av flygresor

I denna uppsats har klimatkompensationer inom flygindustrin studerats ur ett kundperspektiv samt ett företags perspektiv. Genom en enkätundersökning med flygresenärer samt kvalitativa intervjuer med aktörer från branschen har klimatkompensationer och problematiken kring dessa studerats. Klimatkompensera är något en person eller företag kan göra för att kompensera för de miljöutsläpp orsakade av en flygresa. Resultatet av studien visar att ett stort antal resenärer anser sig ha god kunskap om flygets påverkan på miljön men majoriteten väljer ändå att inte klimatkompensera. Attityderna kring flygets påverkan på miljön och handlingarna kopplade till dem skapar en dissonans. Denna dissonans skapar obehag och skuldkänslor som resenärerna försöker minska genom att motivera sitt handlande på den bristande informationen kring hur man klimatkompenserar samt att de inte litar på företagen som erbjuder klimatkompensationer. Den bristande information som privata resenärer upplever beror på att företag väljer att fokusera sina ansträngningar mot business to business. De ser en högre lönsamhet i att fokusera på företag och koncentrerar sig då inte på att underlätta för privata resenärer att kompensera för deras enskilda resor. Detta skapar ett behov hos privata resenärerIn this paper, carbon offset in the aviation industry has been studied from a customer perspective and a corporate perspective. Through a survey of air passengers as well as qualitative interviews with industry actors, climate compensation and the surrounding problems have been studied. Climate compensation is something a person or company can do to compensate for the environmental emissions caused by a flight. The result of the study shows that a large number of travelers consider themselves well aware of the environmental impact of the aviation industry but the majority still choose not to compensate for the emissions caused. Attitudes towards the emissions caused by flying and its impact on the environment and the associated actions create a dissonance. This dissonance creates discomfort and guilt, that travelers try to reduce by motivate their action through the lack of information on how to compensate their emissions and that they do not trust the companies that offer climate compensation. The lack of information that the private travelers experience is due to the company's focus towards business to business operations. They see a higher profitability by concentrating their efforts towards other companies and this creates a lack in suitable tools for private customers to use while booking, and wanting to compensate for their plane ticket

Pantoprazole in patients at risk for gastrointestinal bleeding in the ICU

BACKGROUND Prophylaxis for gastrointestinal stress ulceration is frequently given to patients in the intensive care unit (ICU), but its risks and benefits are unclear. METHODS In this European, multicenter, parallel-group, blinded trial, we randomly assigned adults who had been admitted to the ICU for an acute condition (i.e., an unplanned admission) and who were at risk for gastrointestinal bleeding to receive 40 mg of intravenous pantoprazole (a proton-pump inhibitor) or placebo daily during the ICU stay. The primary outcome was death by 90 days after randomization. RESULTS A total of 3298 patients were enrolled; 1645 were randomly assigned to the pantoprazole group and 1653 to the placebo group. Data on the primary outcome were available for 3282 patients (99.5%). At 90 days, 510 patients (31.1%) in the pantoprazole group and 499 (30.4%) in the placebo group had died (relative risk, 1.02; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.91 to 1.13; P=0.76). During the ICU stay, at least one clinically important event (a composite of clinically important gastrointestinal bleeding, pneumonia, Clostridium difficile infection, or myocardial ischemia) had occurred in 21.9% of patients assigned to pantoprazole and 22.6% of those assigned to placebo (relative risk, 0.96; 95% CI, 0.83 to 1.11). In the pantoprazole group, 2.5% of patients had clinically important gastrointestinal bleeding, as compared with 4.2% in the placebo group. The number of patients with infections or serious adverse reactions and the percentage of days alive without life support within 90 days were similar in the two groups. CONCLUSIONS Among adult patients in the ICU who were at risk for gastrointestinal bleeding, mortality at 90 days and the number of clinically important events were similar in those assigned to pantoprazole and those assigned to placebo. (Funded by Innovation Fund Denmark and others; SUP-ICU ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT02467621.

Pantoprazole in Patients at Risk for Gastrointestinal Bleeding in the ICU

BACKGROUND Prophylaxis for gastrointestinal stress ulceration is frequently given to patients in the intensive care unit (ICU), but its risks and benefits are unclear. METHODS In this European, multicenter, parallel-group, blinded trial, we randomly assigned adults who had been admitted to the ICU for an acute condition (i.e., an unplanned admission) and who were at risk for gastrointestinal bleeding to receive 40 mg of intravenous pantoprazole (a proton-pump inhibitor) or placebo daily during the ICU stay. The primary outcome was death by 90 days after randomization. RESULTS A total of 3298 patients were enrolled; 1645 were randomly assigned to the pantoprazole group and 1653 to the placebo group. Data on the primary outcome were available for 3282 patients (99.5%). At 90 days, 510 patients (31.1%) in the pantoprazole group and 499 (30.4%) in the placebo group had died (relative risk, 1.02; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.91 to 1.13; P=0.76). During the ICU stay, at least one clinically important event (a composite of clinically important gastrointestinal bleeding, pneumonia, Clostridium difficile infection, or myocardial ischemia) had occurred in 21.9% of patients assigned to pantoprazole and 22.6% of those assigned to placebo (relative risk, 0.96; 95% CI, 0.83 to 1.11). In the pantoprazole group, 2.5% of patients had clinically important gastrointestinal bleeding, as compared with 4.2% in the placebo group. The number of patients with infections or serious adverse reactions and the percentage of days alive without life support within 90 days were similar in the two groups. CONCLUSIONS Among adult patients in the ICU who were at risk for gastrointestinal bleeding, mortality at 90 days and the number of clinically important events were similar in those assigned to pantoprazole and those assigned to placebo. (Funded by Innovation Fund Denmark and others; SUP-ICU ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT02467621 .)