Managing professional service firms: Role of managerial abilities

Abstract

More professional service firms are increasing their role in modern economies, both as employers and as economic value providers. Although there is a quite extensive literature explaining the importance of management and managerial abilities for a firm's competitiveness, the studies focusing on the same issue in professional service businesses are rare. Hence, this paper aims to expand knowledge on this issue and to present a framework for studying managerial abilities in professional service firms. Design/methodology/approach: The research is constructed as a multi-case study and includes six cases. The cases were selected among the members of the Turkish Association of Advertising and only full-service advertising agencies were included in the sample. Three multinational and three national agencies are included in the sample. Findings: It was found that multinational agencies show significant differences according to their top managers' status and credibility. Managerial knowledge has a different impact on the competitiveness of both agency types. Originality/value: The paper offers a framework to study the role of managerial capabilities in competitiveness of professional service firms.