Managing the Knowledge-Intensive Firm

by Nicolaj Ejler; Flemming Poulfelt; Fiona Czerniawska

• ISBN13: 9780203806692
• ISBN10: 0203806697
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2012-04-27
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Summary

Over the last decade, there has been a substantial rise in the number of knowledge-intensive firms - constituted primarily of professionals. The core assets of these businesses are the people themselves. Handle them badly, and they may defect or stall. Successful managers of knowledge-intensive firms must create meaning among and inspire their employees, to ensure high performance. To achieve this, leaders must understand how to target each employee#xE2;#xAC;"s ambitions and challenges to facilitate their personal and professional development. This book examines what sets knowledge-intensive firms apart from other types of organizations, and the resultant organizational and strategic differences in business models, talent management, and client-handling approaches. The authors bring their own complementary perspectives on the subject: one, as the manager of a private consulting firm with a strong research background; another, as a business school professor whose practice-based skills are fundamental to his work; and a third, a world leading commentator on professional service firms acting as a consultant, business school researcher and a manager. Ejler, Poulfelt and Czerniawska present a new model for transforming the management of knowledge-intensive firms, which is supported throughout with practical examples and cases.