The investigation of work in small consultancy firms poses particular challenges for researchers. These include the omnipotence of the founding entrepreneur, estrangement from the academic community, a lack of time, an ambiguous knowledge base and the ostensibly unitarist nature of work relations in such settings. Drawing on the experience of an intensive fieldwork study of employment relations in three small consultancy firms, this paper examines how an `entrepreneurial' approach was used to address such contingencies. Key features of this process were the enactment of fieldwork opportunities, the potential creation of a `joint venture' and the subsequent management of relations in the field. A degree of manipulation is an inherent feature of such an enterprise; but this should be seen in the context of a relationship of `symmetry' between researcher and researched.
Ackroyd, S. (1995) `On the Structure and Dynamics of Some Small, UK-based Information Technology Firms', Journal of Management Studies32(2): 142-161.
2.
Adler, P.A. and Adler, P. (1991) `Stability and Flexibility: Maintaining Relations within Organized and Unorganized Groups', in W.B. Shaffir and R.A. Stebbins (eds) Experiencing Fieldwork. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
3.
Alvesson, M. (1993) `Organisation as Rhetoric: Knowledge-intensive Firms and the Struggle with Ambiguity', Journal of Managment Studies30(6), 997-1016.
4.
Alvesson, M. (1995) Management of Knowledge-intensive Companies. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.
5.
Andersen, M.L. (1993) `Studying across Difference: Race, Class, and Gender in Qualitative Research', in J.H. Stanfield and R.M. Dennis (eds) Race and Ethnicity in Research Methods. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
6.
Bell, C. and Newby, H., eds (1977) Doing Sociological Research. London: Allen & Unwin.
7.
Blaschke, J. , Boissevain, J., Grotenberg, H.et al. (1990) `European Trends in Ethnic Business', in R. Waldinger, H. Aldrich and R. Ward (eds) Ethnic Entrepreneurs. London: Sage.
8.
Borch, O. and Arthur, M.B. (1995) `Strategic Networks among Small Firms: Implications for Strategy Research Methodology', Journal of Management Studies32(4): 419-440.
9.
Brar, H.S. (1992) `Unasked Questions, Impossible Answers: The Ethical Problems of Researching Race and Education', in M. Leicester and M. Taylor (eds) Ethics, Ethnicity and Education, pp. 191-197. London: Kogan Page.
10.
Brown, C. , Guillet de Monthoux, P. and McCullough, A. (1976) The Access Casebook. Stockholm: Teknisk Hogskolelitteratur.
11.
Brunskell, H. (1998) `Feminist Methodology', in C. Seale (ed.) Researching Society and Culture. London: Sage.
12.
Bryman, A. (1988) `Introduction: Inside Accounts and Social Research in Organisations', in A. Bryman (ed.) Doing Research in Organisations. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
13.
Bryson, J. , Wood, P. and Keeble, D. (1993) `Business Networks, Small Firm Flexibility and Regional Development in UK Business Services', Entrepreneurship and Regional Development5(2): 265-277.
14.
Caird, S.P. (1989) `What do Psychological Tests Suggest about Entrepreneurs', Journal of Managerial Psychology8(6): 11-20.
15.
Casey, C. (1995) Work, Self and Society. London: Routledge.
16.
Cavendish, R. (1982) Women on the Line. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
17.
Chia, R. (1995) `From Modern to Postmodern Organizational Analysis', Organization Studies16(4): 579-604.
18.
Clark, T. (1995) Managing Consultants: Consultancy as the Management of Impressions. Buckingham: Open University Press.
19.
Curran, J. (1991) `Employment and Employment Relations in the Small Enterprise', in J. Stanworth and C. Gray (eds) Bolton 20 Years on—The Small Firm in the 1990s. London: Paul Chapman Press.
20.
Curran, J. , Blackburn, R.A. and Kitching, J. (1995) `Small Businesses, Networking and Networks: A Literature Review, Policy Survey and Research Agenda', Small Business Research Centre, Kingston University.
21.
Czarniawska, B. (1998) A Narrative Approach to Organization Studies. London: Sage.
22.
Czarniawska-Joerges, B. and Wolff, R. (1991) `Leaders, Managers and Entrepreneurs on and off the Organisational Stage', Organisation Studies12(4): 529-546.
23.
Dalton, M. (1959) Men who Manage. New York: Wiley.
24.
Dennis, R.M. (1993) `Participant Observations', in J.H. Stanfield and R.M. Dennis Race and Ethnicity in Research Methods. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
25.
Eden, C. and Huxham, C. (1996) `Action Research for Management Research', British Journal of Management7(1): 75-86.
26.
Edwards, P.K. (1986) Conflict at Work. Oxford: Blackwell.
27.
Ferner, A. , Edwards, P. and Sisson, K. (1995) `Coming Unstuck? In Search of the "Corporate Glue" in an International Professional Service Firm', Human Resource Management (Fall): 343-361.
28.
Fetterman, D. (1998) Ethnography. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
29.
Finch, J. (1984) ` "It's Great to Have Someone to Talk to": The Ethics and Politics of Interviewing Women', in C. Bell and H. Roberts (eds) Social Researching: Politics, Problems and Practice. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
30.
Fonow, M.M. and Cook, J.A., eds (1991) Beyond Methodology. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.
31.
Fortier, A. (1998) `Gender, Ethnicity and Fieldwork: A Case Study', in C. Seale (ed.) Researching Society and Culture. London: Sage.
32.
Gartner, W.B. (1985) `A Conceptual Framework for Describing the Phenomenon of New Venture Creation', Academy of Management Review10(4): 696-706.
33.
Gartner, W.B. (1990) `What are we Talking about when we Talk about Entrepreneurship', Journal of Business Venturing5: 15-28.
34.
Gibb, A. (1996) `Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management: Can we Afford to Neglect them in the Twenty-first Century Business School?', British Journal of Management7(4): 309-322.
35.
Gidoomal, R. (1997) The UK Maharajahs: Inside the Asian Success Story. London: Nicholas Brealey.
36.
Goffee, R. and Scase, R. (1995) Corporate Realities: The Dynamics of Large and Small Organisations. London: Routledge.
37.
Gold, R. (1997) `The Ethnographic Method in Sociology', Qualitative Inquiry3(4): 388-402.
38.
Granovetter, M. (1973) `The Strength of Weak Ties', American Journal of Sociology78(6): 1360-1380.
39.
Hall, S. (1992) `The Question of Cultural Identity', in S. Hall, D. Held and T. McGrew (eds) Modernity and its Futures. Cambridge: Polity.
40.
Hammersley, M. and Atkinson, P. (1995) Ethnography-Principles in Practice. London: Routledge.
41.
Hanappi-Egger, E. (1996) `The Hidden Trade-offs of Cooperative Work-An Empirical Study', Organization Studies17(6): 1011-1022.
42.
Hendry, C. , Arthur, M.B. and Jones A.M (1995) Strategy through People: Adaptation and Learning in the Small-medium Enterprise. London: Routledge.
43.
Hinings, C.R. , Brown, J.L. and Greenwood, R. (1991) `Change in an Autonomous Professional Organisation', Journal of Management Studies28(4): 375-393.
44.
Hisrich, R.D. and Peters, M.P. (1995) Entrepreneurship. Chicago: Irwin.
45.
Hobbs, D. (1988) Doing the Business: Entrepreneurship, the Working Class and Detectives in the East End of London. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
46.
Hobbs, D. and May, T., eds (1993) Interpreting the Field. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
47.
Holliday, R. (1995) Investigating Small Firms: Nice Work?London: Routledge.
48.
Hyman, R. (1987) `Strategy or Structure? Capital, Labour and Control', Work, Employment and Society1(1): 25-55.
49.
Jackall, R. (1988) Moral Mazes. New York: Oxford University Press.
50.
Jones, T. , McEvoy, D. and Barrett, G. (1994) `Labour Intensive Practices in the Ethnic Minority Firm', in J. Atkinson and D. Storey (eds) Employment, the Small Firm and the Labour Market, pp. 172-205. London: Routledge.
51.
Keeble, D. , Bryson, J. and Wood, P. (1992) `The Rise and Role of Small Service Firms in the United Kingdom', International Small Business Journal11(2): 11-22.
52.
Kitching, J. (1997) `Labour Regulation in the Small Service Sector Enterprise'. Unpublished Phd thesis, Small Business Research Centre, Kingston University.
53.
Kunda, G. (1992) Engineering Culture. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press.
54.
Lowendahl, B.R. (1997) Strategic Management of Professional Service Firms. Copenhagen: Munksgaard.
55.
Metcalf, H. , Modood, T. and Virdee, S. (1996) Asian Self-employment: The Interaction of Culture and Economics in England. London: Policy Studies Institute.
56.
Mintzberg, H. (1983) Structure in Fives: Designing Effective Organizations. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
57.
Modood, T. , Berthoud, R., Lakey, J., Nazroo, J., Smith, P., Virdee, S. and Beishon, S. (1997) Ethnic Minorities in Britain: Diversity and Disadvantage. London: Policy Studies Institute.
58.
Oakley, A. (1981) `Interviewing Women: A Contradiction in Terms', in H. Roberts (ed.) Doing Feminist Research. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
59.
Olesen, V. (1994) `Feminisms and Models of Qualitative Research', in N. Denzin and Y. Lincoln (eds) Handbook of Qualitative Research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
60.
Phizacklea, A. (1990) Unpacking the Fashion Industry. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
61.
Pollert, A. (1981) Girls, Wives, Factory Lives. London: Macmillan.
62.
Punch, M. (1994) `Politics and Ethics in Qualitative Research', in N. Denzin and Y. Lincoln (eds) Handbook of Qualitative Research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
63.
Rainnie, A. (1989) Industrial Relations in Small Firms. London: Routledge.
64.
Ram, M. (1994) Managing to Survive-Working Lives in Small Firms. Oxford: Blackwell.
65.
Ram, M. (1996) `Uncovering the Management Process: An Ethnographic Approach', British Journal of Management7(1): 35-44.
66.
Ram, M. and Jones, T. (1998) Ethnic Minorities in Business. Milton Keynes: Small Business Research Trust.
67.
Ramsay, K. (1996) `Emotional Labour and Qualitative Research', in S.E. Lyon and J. Busfield (eds) Methodological Imaginations. Basingstoke: Macmillan.
68.
Ring, P.S. and Van de Ven, J. (1994) `Developmental Processes of Cooperative Interorganizational Relationships', Academy of Management Review19(1): 90-118.
69.
Rosen, M. (1991) `Coming to Terms with the Field: Understanding and Doing Organizational Ethnography', Journal of Management Studies28(1): 1-24.
70.
Roy, D. (1954) `Efficiency and the "Fix": Informal Intergroup Relations in a Piecework Machine Shop', American Journal of Sociology60: 255-266.
71.
Scarborough, H. (1995) `Understanding and Managing Expertise', in H. Scarborough (ed.) The Management of Expertise. Basingstoke: Macmillan.
72.
Scase, R. (1995) `Employment Relations in Small Firms', in P. Edwards (ed.) Industrial Relations in Britain. Oxford: Blackwell.
73.
Shaffir, W.B. (1991) `Managing a Convincing Self-presentation: Some Personal Reflections on Entering the Field', in W.B. Shaffir and R.A. Stebbins (eds) Experiencing Fieldwork. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
74.
Shaffir, W.B. and Stebbins, R.A., eds (1991) `Introduction', in W.B. Shaffir and R.A. Stebbins (eds) Experiencing Fieldwork. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
75.
Stanfield, J.H. (1993) `Epistemological Considerations', in J.H. Stanfield and R.M. Dennis (eds) Race and Ethnicity in Research Methods. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
76.
Stanley, L. and Wise, S. (1993) Breaking out Again: Feminist Ontology and Epistemology. London: Routledge.
77.
Stewart, A. (1989) Team Entrepreneurship. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
78.
Stockport, G. and Kakabadse, A. (1992) `Using Ethnography in Small Firms Research', in K. Caley, E. Chell, F. Chittenden and C. Mason (eds) Small Enterprise Development: Policy and Practice in Action. London: Paul Chapman.
79.
Sturdy, A. (1997) `The Consultancy Process-An Insecure Business?', Journal of Management Studies34(3): 389-413.
80.
Van Maanen, J. (1988) Tales of the Field: On Writing Ethnography. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
81.
Van Maanen, J. (1991) `Playing back the Tape: Early Days in the Field', in W.B. Shaffir and R.A. Stebbins (eds) Experiencing Fieldwork. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
82.
Walsh, D. (1998) `Doing Ethnography', in C. Seale (ed.) Researching Society and Culture. London: Sage.
83.
Watson, T. (1994a) In Search of Management. London: Routledge.
84.
Watson, T. (1994b) `Managing, Crafting and Researching: Words, Skill and Imagination in Shaping Management Research', British Journal of Management5: 77-87.
85.
Westwood, S. (1984) All Day Every Day. London: Pluto.
86.
Whalley, P. (1986) The Social Production of Technical Work. Basingstoke: Macmillan.
Winch, G. and Schneider, E. (1993) `Managing the Knowledge-based Organization: The Case of Architectural Practice', Journal of Management Studies30(6): 923-937.
