title: Learning in engineering consultancy practice
title: a rapprochement between cognitive learning and knowing in practice in
      international consultancy alliances at NESPAK Pakistan
titleType: Subtitle
Creators: name: Aslam, Shakeel
Publisher: name: Lancaster University
Year: 2019

description: The current research examines engineers’ learning in the practice of
      engineering consultancy in the context of international consultancy
      alliances. Though practice-based approaches to learning have been well
      established since the early 1990s, the area is still relatively
      under-studied as only relatively few notable empirical studies have been
      conducted so far. And there is no empirical study that has used this
      concept to examine learning across the boundaries of an organization, such
      as in the context of international alliances wherein the practice is
      constituent of local and foreign practices, activities and ways of
      working. Further, practice-based approaches to learning are especially
      dismissive of cognitive learning and do not give much importance to
      explicit knowledge. On the other hand, there are research calls for using
      a knowing in practice perspective in different organizational contexts, as
      well as for developing the rapprochement between cognitive learning and
      knowing in practice and acknowledging the role of explicit knowledge in
      knowing in practice. To address these research calls, the current research
      examines learning in doing the practice of engineering consultancy, which
      is a rapprochement between cognitive learning and knowing in practice.
      This rapprochement is informed by the concepts of distributed cognition
      and the collective mind. Thus, engineers’ learning is studied in this
      research, which takes place through cognitive learning and learning in the
      practice of engineering consultancy in an integrated manner. Further, this
      research also studies the role of explicit knowledge, in addition to tacit
      knowledge, in learning in doing consultancy practice.
      
      Further, the practice of engineering consultancy emerges through the
      integration of local and foreign working practices shared by the partners
      in an international consultancy alliance. Thus, in addition to engineers’
      learning, I also study cross-border sharing of working practices and
      knowledge in consultancy alliances to complete Pakistan-based
      infrastructure projects. In the domain of cross-border sharing of
      practices, the existing literature is extremely deficient as I could find
      only one study exploring the cross-border transfer of Japanese practices
      to China-based foreign subsidiaries. On the other hand, there is
      voluminous literature available on the factors influencing cross-border
      sharing of knowledge in strategic alliances. However, most of these
      studies are quantitative in nature and measure the effects of different
      factors on knowledge-sharing in strategic alliances. There is a deficiency
      of qualitative research on this phenomenon that explores how different
      factors influence such cross-border sharing of knowledge. The current
      research addresses these literature gaps and contributes to the existing
      body of knowledge by empirically studying cross-border sharing of
      consultancy practices and related knowledge in international consultancy
      alliances.
      
      The research is conducted at NESPAK, Pakistan, an engineering consultancy
      company following a critical realist philosophy of social science, a
      qualitative research approach and a single case study design based on
      systematic combining. Participants of the research are NESPAK’s engineers
      who have been involved in developing and performing engineering
      consultancy practices for local projects through collective working with
      foreign consultants. I assembled a sample of 30 engineers through
      purposive and snowball sampling and collected data using semi-structured
      interviews, observation, field notes and documentary analysis. The data is
      analyzed using grounded theory. Following systematic combining, data
      collection and analysis were done simultaneously in order to consider
      emerging themes relevant to the phenomenon being studied.
      
      The findings of the research are presented in the form of two core
      categories. The first core category is labelled as Learning in Engineering
      Consultancy Practice, which offers three accounts of engineers’ learning
      (categories): Self-directed Learning, Managerially Influenced Learning and
      Partner-influenced Learning. The second core category is labelled
      ‘Symbiotic Learning Alliance’ and identifies different factors
      (categories) influencing the cross-border sharing of consultancy practices
      and knowledge and their ways to have influence. These factors are:
      Symbiotic Alliance Relationship, Developing Cultural Harmony, Intention to
      Learn and Willingness to Share Knowledge, and Constructive Disagreements.
      Each category of both core categories is presented and analyzed. Findings
      are further discussed theoretically in relation to relevant existing
      literature, theories and models.
      
      This research makes a substantial contribution to the existing body of
      knowledge by empirically substantiating the rapprochement between two
      perspectives of learning which were previously seen as being in contrast
      to each other. Rapprochement is developed through theories of distributed
      cognition and the collective mind. Further, this research also identifies
      new aspects, such as disagreements and cultural differences, that
      influence the cross-border sharing of working practices and knowledge and
      how these aspects influence this sharing process, and how impeding aspects
      are variously addressed. A learning model in place at NESPAK that reflects
      a comprehensive learning process is presented, which is another
      significant contribution to the existing body of knowledge. The findings
      of the study also present significant insights not only for NESPAK, but
      for other organizations as well, where employees are learning in practice
      in the context of international alliances.