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The purpose of this paper is to study the process in which dynamic capabilities renewed operational capabilities to sustain competitive advantage in management consulting firms of Iran during a period of drastic environmental changes.

Using a grounded theory building approach, comparative longitudinal case analyses were conducted in consultancies of Iran. The research was based on a deep study of documents, observations and interviews with managers and employees of 14 consulting firms.

It was found that during a period of environmental changes there was a relationship between dynamic capabilities and competitive advantage, but this relationship was mediated by the role of marketing and technological capabilities of a firm. It was also found that trust-building capabilities of the consulting firms moderate the relationship between dynamic and operational capabilities. The research explores homogeneity and heterogeneity of dynamic capabilities among consultancies too.

This research shows that under changing environmental conditions, dynamic capabilities of consultancies can become a source of competitive advantage. Moreover, it discusses whether dynamic capabilities are idiosyncratic or are best practices. It also explains the role of trust-building capabilities of consulting firms in moderating the relationship between dynamic and operational capabilities in the particular environment of Iran.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the significance of entrepreneurial role from the perspective of a global, family-owned firm located in Uruguay and operating in a niche market.

This case study adopts role theory as its theoretical framework. Face-to-face, semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted with the firm’s ownership/management. The data were analysed using content analysis.

During the interviews, the importance of entrepreneurs’ role was highlighted in various ways. For instance, role emerged in the form of re-developing a business vision, executing strategies and ideas, anticipating events, innovating and internationalising. Together, these key elements helped build entrepreneurial resilience in light of emerging issues. An alignment with various perspectives of role theory, including “functional”, “symbolic interactionist” and “structural” was identified.

The role of the succeeding generation of the firm’s ownership not only is fundamental in reinforcing an entrepreneurial path established by the firm’s founder but also is critical in building upon the earlier foundation, continue innovating and adapting to contemporary challenges in a very dynamic business environment.

The present study makes an original contribution, by examining the significance of entrepreneurial role through the lens of role theory. In this context, the case of a medium-sized, global Latin American family business is investigated.

The purpose of this paper is to identify and discuss issues impacting Form ADV filings that include new adviser firm brochures and brochure supplements.

Issues were identified by reading against relevant SEC form requirements and guidance, a random sampling of Form ADV amendments filed on the IARD system between January and April 2011.

A host of problems and unusual approaches were found in brochures and supplements created under new Form ADV Part 2, along with numerous issues still challenging advisers on Part 1.

The issues discussed in this paper are among those observed in a limited number of ADV filings selected at random. A more systematic or extensive analysis of filings would likely reveal additional issues that would be fruitful for future discussion.

Advisers and other industry professionals can learn from the issues discussed in this paper and be alert to their potential application to other filings.

This paper provides practical information and insight about Form ADV useful to enhancing an understanding of the form as it has been recently amended.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relative cultural shift from professionalism to commercialism in the accounting profession, based on an analysis of the promotional brochures used by the Ordre des comptables agréés du Québec (Institute of Chartered Accountants of Québec), over the last 40 years, to attract new members.

The study's specific objectives are: to examine accountancy's cultural representations depicted in promotional brochures; to evaluate the extent to which these representations are indicative of the commercialist shift as documented in the literature; and to establish whether the representations under study provide further insight into the nature of the cultural shift. Drawing on the semiotic approach developed by Roland Barthes, the authors' analysis is predicated on the idea that promotional brochures and advertisements, though often simple in appearance, constitute complex representations that convey meaningful information about influential values and cultural change.

The authors found that commercial values are increasingly apparent through the celebration of multidisciplinary services and the emphasis on generous compensation and high dynamism.

Barthes' framework was especially useful to analyze the interplay between images and text to gain insight into the historical emergence of what has become the accountant's representation of today. As such, this study points to promotional representations participating to the inculcation of a cosmopolitan culture, where the internationalization of business is supposedly natural, inevitable, and beneficial to everyone. The authors' research also highlights the increasingly significant role played by marketing experts in designing professional institutes' brochures, consistent with the broader view of marketization as a key trend within the accounting industry.

Concomitant with the trend towards specialisation in UK accountancy and the rise of relatively separate formal spheres of professional work along formal specialisms such as tax, audit and management consultancy, women entered the profession in unprecedented numbers, but not evenly distributed across those specialisms. This paper aims to draw on the sociology of accountancy and feminist studies of the professions to show that specialisms have emerged through and, in turn, have been shaped and recreated by gender as well as other processes.

The paper's research approach combines the sociology of professions with critical gender studies. It draws on interviews, brochures, web pages, and results from a questionnaire survey to investigate professional identities within UK accountancy.

Accountants' self-articulated notions of professionalism in the different specialisms are gendered and ordered hierarchically. Gender is an encompassing conceptual frame for ordering discursive attributes of the different specialisms. Working long and unpredictable hours was central to accountants' understandings of their professional life. Socialising with clients was seen as functional in bringing new opportunities to the firm. Socialising with peers also was deemed important, especially in solving internal frictions and in controlling new entrants' behaviour in firms. The more “public” the ideology of a specialism, the more masculine it was perceived to be.

This study challenges the uniform representations of professional identities offered by previous studies. It suggests that gender offers a discursive and ideological frame of reference for accountancy whose relevance extends beyond the working practices of men and women to the very constitution of the profession. It does so with reference to an original mix of qualitative and quantitative data.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a linguistic perspective for corporate brochures. Corporate brochures are published to introduce an organization and to provide information about it but the brochures have been claimed to include promotional elements. By conducting a genre analysis the paper aims to confirm that genre-based writing is not formulaic but instead demonstrates versatility and creativity.

Corporate brochures from a specific industry, oil and gas were sourced from the websites and a total of 16 were available. The method of analysis was genre analysis to establish the generic structure of the brochures by examining the rhetorical moves and strategies, and to identify the textual features of the texts to explain why they are written the way they are.

The oil and gas brochures display a five-move generic structure with a number of strategies. The moves show high occurrence proving the industry as a specialized one. Although the moves are the same, the contents are varied. Versatility is also seen in the presentation style in terms of form, content and language.

Findings on generic structure and textual features of brochures can be used as a guide for corporate writers, as well as trainees and students of corporate communication.

The data for this research represent one industry which has not been explored before thus contributing to the body of knowledge in the field of genre analysis. Although generic in form, genre-based writing has proven to be versatile. The textual features show how companies project their corporate image via brochures.

Beginning in January 2001, investment advisers registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) will begin filing their registration forms electronically through the new Investment Adviser Registration Depository (IARD). The IARD is a Web‐based filing system operated by NASD Regulation (the NASD‐R), that will enable advisers and their representatives to submit their filings with the SEC and state regulators electronically similar to the current method used by broker‐dealers to submit filings on the Web CRDSM system. Other significant aspects of the new system include the ability for investors to search the IARD database to get current information about advisers, including the services they provide, fees they charge, their conflicts of interest, and disciplinary history. To finance the development and operation of the IARD, advisers will now be required to pay initial and annual filing fees to the NASD‐R.

This article is written to advance the idea that U.S. small and medium‐sized firms should have something more than a domestic presence and to help business owners to become aware of free or low‐cost international growth assistance. One such resource, the USDOC Commercial Service Multi‐State International Catalog Exhibition Program (ICEP), is designed to work in partnership with state offices of international business development and/or with individual client firms. Through active participation small firms can leverage their limited export promotion resources. Objectives and benefits of multistate international catalog exhibitions and participation details are discussed.

The purpose of this paper is to explore how financial services (FS) organizations manage the customer experience. It aims to establish what practices are used, to articulate the role of the FS context in influencing the choice of practices, and to identify how these practices support experience co-creation from the perspective of the organization.

The authors adopt a multiple case study approach. In total, 23 cases provide a rich understanding of the phenomenon studied which permits grounding the findings on robust data.

The authors identify five practices that are consistently used by FS organizations to manage the customer experience. The findings suggest that four industry-specific characteristics affect the choice of these practices. The results also reveal how these practices support the co-creation of the customer experience.

The authors focus on the FS context only, do not examine the impact of the practices on performance, and do not explore experience co-creation from the perspective of the customer.

Adopting these practices can facilitate a more co-created customer experience, which in turn can provide FS organizations with a competitive differentiator.

The paper advances current knowledge by revealing five customer experience management practices that are specific to the FS context. Moreover, this is one of the first studies to explore experience co-creation from the perspective of the organization and to identify ways in which organizations can support customers in co-creating the experiences.

Successful segmentation and implementation are crucial for firms. This paper aims to focus on what areas small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) consider when implementing new target segments in the organization. If firms do not understand the potential complexity and plan for implementation, they risk overlooking important areas that cause organizational resistance and failure in the market.

This paper builds on a literature study and five SME case studies based on 44 interviews and 10 intervention workshops.

The authors identify key areas of change that SMEs consider when planning to implement segments in the organization, including marketing strategy and plans, organizational aspects and implementation processes. Organization changes and sales plays are key considerations among SME managers. The authors further identify four categories characterized by different degrees of marketing and organizational changes that SMEs face when implementing new target segments, reflecting SMEs former choices.

This research is based on interviews and workshops that bring managers into a situation where they can evaluate needed changes to implement segments. The managers can express the complexity and the effect of the implementation.

This paper presents considerations and insights derived from SMEs and discusses how firms can be better equipped to implement new segments.

This paper offers new insights and directions for segmentation literature, focusing on implementation and proposing how to advance the segmentation literature.