Learning by doing - En studie om hur små managementkonsultfirmor arbetar med kunskap

Sammanfattning: Management consulting firms are an important part of the knowledge economy and they capitalize on the analytical ability and knowledge of their employees. Much research have been made on large consulting firms and their management of knowledge, but little is known about how small consultancies manage their knowledge. Even less is known about the management of knowledge in small consultancies specialized in change management. These firms rely solely on senior consultants and focus on the human aspect of organizational development. This thesis aims to show how these firms manage their knowledge and also provide an understanding of why. Using a qualitative case study, we conducted interviews with consultants from three small management consulting firms specialized in change management. This thesis' main contribution is a theoretical model that explains the core components of the management of knowledge in small consultancies and its main drivers. The firms have a passive approach to managing knowledge, which is due to five distinctive factors. They emphasize informal processes in social contexts such as learning by doing and internal networks rather than codification. From a theoretical perspective, the firms currently manage knowledge in an adequate way. However, today's informal processes may hinder future growth when the internal networks get too large, which would make creation and sharing of knowledge more difficult.