Performative seduction: How management consultants influence practices of leadership

Jackie Ford, Nancy Harding

Research output: Contribution to journalBook/Film/Article reviewpeer-review

108 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

PurposeThis paper tracks how a policy recommended by management consultants becomes embedded as an integral part of leadership practice. It explores the launch of the concept of ‘talent management’ by McKinsey & Company and how it becomes adopted as part of expected leadership practices in the English National Health Service. The use of Management Consultants globally has increased exponentially, and the paper considers this phenomenon and the ways in which management consultant advice influences public sector leadership and practice at local level.Design/methodology/approachA case study approach is adopted, focussing on the introduction of the concept of talent management into the English NHS, following the wider emergence of the concept through influential reports published by McKinsey & Company in the late 1990’s. An analysis of the emergence of the concept is conducted drawing on this series of reports and the adoption of talent management policies and practices by the English government’s Department of Health. FindingsThese influential reports by the management consultancy firm, McKinsey & Company, constituted an urgent need for this newly identified concept of talent management and the secrecy surrounding its reception. It is this mystery surrounding the decisions about a talent management strategy in the NHS and the concealment of decisions behind closed doors, that leads us to offer a theory of management consultants’ influence on leaders as one of performative seduction.OriginalityManagement consultancy is a vast business whose influence reaches deeply into public and private sector organisations around the world. Understanding of the variegated policies and practices that constitute contemporary modes of governance therefore requires comprehension of management consultants’ role within those policies and practices. This paper argues that management consultants influence public sector leadership through insertion of their products into definitions of, and performative constitution of, local level leadership.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)222-235
Number of pages14
JournalInternational Journal of Leadership in Public Services
Volume17
Issue number3
Early online date23 Dec 2020
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 14 Jul 2021

Keywords

  • Talent Management;
  • Performative seduction.
  • Judith Butler;
  • Management Consultants;

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Business,Management and Accounting

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Performative seduction: How management consultants influence practices of leadership'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this