Radical strategic change in the global professional network: the “Big Five” 1999‐2001
Journal of Organizational Change Management
ISSN: 0953-4814
Article publication date: 1 October 2005
Abstract
Purpose
This paper seeks to explore and explain the dramatic organizational changes that took place over a relatively short time period in the five largest global professional networks, or GPNs – a group of organizations that were originally global accounting firms and traditionally accustomed to relatively gradual change.
Design/methodology/approach
Begins by describing the background of divestiture and diversification in GPNs. The data were collected from the firms' web sites, interviews with GPN managers, e‐mail requests for information via Big Five web sites, and from reports in the newspapers and business press over the two‐year period to June 2001. Uses neo‐institutional theory to study the context, precipitating dynamics, and enabling dynamics of large‐scale organizational change, including the part played by governmental and regulatory forces.
Findings
Explains the extent to which changes have occurred in a sample of countries in which these organizations operate, noting that the firm effects seem to be stronger than the country effects in the consulting area, while country effects are more pronounced in the law area.
Originality/value
This paper is an original study of mainly secondary data – including those collected from firms' internet sites – analyzing change in an institutionalized environment. It is one of the first studies to make use of the GPN concept. Researchers and practitioners interested in professional service firms in general will find a unique combination of data, analyses, and conclusions.
Keywords
Citation
Brock, D.M. and Powell, M.J. (2005), "Radical strategic change in the global professional network: the “Big Five” 1999‐2001", Journal of Organizational Change Management, Vol. 18 No. 5, pp. 451-468. https://doi.org/10.1108/09534810510614940
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2005, Emerald Group Publishing Limited