In recent decades, numerous professional service firms have gone ‘global’ in search new markets and to support clients requiring services across nations. Whilst a lively debate has developed over the organizational implications of this phenomenon, the role of the firms in globalizing the wider world economy has received less attention. In this paper, we address this imbalance through an inter-disciplinary synthesis of the literature at the intersection of the professions and economic globalization and apply a political perspective to frame our analysis. Our contribution is twofold. First, we argue for a broadening of the research agenda to better elucidate the critical role of professional service firms as agents of economic globalization. This role, we argue, should become a core research theme given the firms are not just businesses offering services across the globe but also active participants in the globalization of the world economy. Second, we shed light on and conceptualize the specific power strategies deployed by the firms as part of their role as agents of globalization. We develop an integrative framework which, firstly, distinguishes between ‘design’ and ‘implementation’ and, secondly, specifies how the firms exert power to their advantage in each of these related areas. This model provides a theoretical scaffolding for understanding how professional service firms shape and indeed become hegemonic agents of economic globalization.

中文翻译：

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作为经济全球化代理人的专业服务公司：政治视角

近几十年来，许多专业服务公司已经走向“全球化”，寻找新市场并支持需要跨国服务的客户。虽然就这一现象的组织影响展开了热烈的辩论，但企业在使更广泛的世界经济全球化中的作用却很少受到关注。在本文中，我们通过跨学科综合专业和经济全球化交叉领域的文献来解决这种不平衡问题，并应用政治视角来构建我们的分析。我们的贡献是双重的。首先，我们主张扩大研究议程，以更好地阐明专业服务公司作为经济全球化代理人的关键作用。我们认为，这个角色，鉴于这些公司不仅是在全球范围内提供服务的企业，而且还是世界经济全球化的积极参与者，因此应该成为核心研究主题。其次，我们阐明并概念化了公司作为全球化代理人角色的一部分而部署的具体权力战略。我们开发了一个综合框架，首先，区分“设计”和“实施”，其次，指定公司如何在这些相关领域中发挥其优势。该模型为理解专业服务公司如何塑造并真正成为经济全球化的霸权代理人提供了理论框架。我们阐明并概念化了公司作为全球化代理人角色的一部分而部署的具体权力战略。我们开发了一个综合框架，首先，区分“设计”和“实施”，其次，指定公司如何在这些相关领域中发挥其优势。该模型为理解专业服务公司如何塑造并真正成为经济全球化的霸权代理人提供了理论框架。我们阐明并概念化了公司作为全球化代理人角色的一部分而部署的具体权力战略。我们开发了一个综合框架，首先，区分“设计”和“实施”，其次，指定公司如何在这些相关领域中发挥其优势。该模型为理解专业服务公司如何塑造并真正成为经济全球化的霸权代理人提供了理论框架。