PATTERNS OF POWER AND INDIVIDUAL SOCIALIZ ATION IN A CONSULTING FIRM

Based on Minzberg's work and on observer-participation, this inside st udy of a big consulting firm shows how the latter's internal organizat ion has arisen out of a cleavage between an ''entrepreneur'' structure and a closed system. Thanks to the former, adjustments can be made to an uncertain environment (decentralization, personal relations) where as the latter, grounded in symbolic and material resources, ensures th e firm's stability. This cleavage is doubled by the norms for socializ ing consultants: inhouse norms and external norms borne by clients. Th e result is ongoing tension.