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Managing intensity in knowledge work: Self-leadership practices among Danish management consultants

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 October 2018

Gisela Bäcklander Open the ORCID record for Gisela Bäcklander [Opens in a new window] ,
Calle Rosengren  and
Matti Kaulio
Gisela Bäcklander*
Affiliation:
Department of Industrial Economics and Management, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden
Calle Rosengren
Affiliation:
Faculty of Engineering, Department of Design Sciences, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
Matti Kaulio
Affiliation:
Department of Industrial Economics and Management, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden
*
*Corresponding author. Email: gisela.backlander@indek.kth.se
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Abstract

This paper examines the sources of knowledge workers’ work intensity and the self-leading strategies they apply to deal with it. The paper is based on focus group interviews with management consultants in a Danish management consultancy firm. Work intensity was identified as resulting from a combination of: (1) a results-only focus, (2) vagueness, (3) boundaryless work, and (4) low control of the quantitative load. A framework for self-leading strategies is developed based on the dimensions of reactive/proactive and self-focused/externally focused strategies in different combinations. The results indicate that while consultants expressed a belief in internal self-discipline strategies of a more reactive nature, in fact, external and proactive strategies were the most effective in practice. In conclusion, the paper contributes to an extension of self-leadership theory to better account for current research on self-control.

Keywords

management consultingself-leadershipknowledge-intensive workwork intensity
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Management & Organization , Volume 27 , Issue 2 , March 2021 , pp. 342 - 360
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press and Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management 2018

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