On the existence and sustainability of organizational alternatives to the dominant PSF model: crisis and change in a democratic consulting firm

Sébastien Gand (1) , Lucie Noury (1) , Jean-Claude Sardas (1)

1 CGS i3 - Centre de Gestion Scientifique i3

In this paper, we contribute to the study of the heterogeneity of professional service firms through an extreme case, by investigating the conditions of the existence and sustainability of democratic forms of organizing in a professional setting. To do so, we studied DemEx, a long-standing mid size consultancy, over the course of three years and three consecutive intervention researches. At the time, DemEx was confronted to dramatic changes in client demands, which led to both a competency and a governance crisis, questioning the democratic essence of the company's functioning. We show how the crisis was overcome thanks to a move from an "individual craft" model to a refashioned organization obtained through the development of career management, the creation of expertise groups and executive governance which also redefined and redynamised the democratic functioning. We finally discuss the conditions of DemEx's alternative organization and its sustainability through the crisis and shed light on five key factors: environment, strategy, history, membership and capacities to organize exploration and re-design.

Mots clés: Professional Service Firm; Corporate democracy; Cooperation; Organizational change

Domaines: Gestion et management

Sébastien Gand, Lucie Noury, Jean-Claude Sardas. On the existence and sustainability of organizational alternatives to the dominant PSF model: crisis and change in a democratic consulting firm. EGOS, Jul 2013, Montréal, Canada. ⟨hal-00956789⟩