Publications
Publications
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- All HBS Web
(3,031)
- Faculty Publications (239)
- January 2004 (Revised May 2004)
- Background Note
Strategy and Positioning in Professional Service Firms
By: Ashish Nanda
This case provides a definition of strategy, distinguishes between corporate and practice strategy, and discusses how and why developing and implementing strategy for professional service firms is different from developing and implementing strategy for commercial... View Details
- January 2004 (Revised April 2005)
- Background Note
Personal Values and Professional Responsibilities
Describes some of the classic conflicts managers face in trying to live and work by their personal values and uses Hirschman's "exit, loyalty, and voice" framework to suggest ways for resolving these conflicts. View Details
- November 2003 (Revised May 2005)
- Case
Beverly Stern: Retail Executive
By: H. Kent Bowen and Alison Berkley Wagonfeld
Beverly Stern has been a successful operating manager in three prominent retail chains: GAP, Pottery Barn, and Williams-Sonoma. Stern's last job at a start-up did not meet her expectations, and she must now decide what to do next. She has an offer to start a new retail... View Details
- November 2003 (Revised March 2005)
- Compilation
Being a Professional
By: Ashish Nanda
We encounter in all aspects of our daily lives groups of individuals who identify themselves as professionals. Many of us aspire to be professionals in our vocation and conduct. But what are the aspects of being a professional? The following anthology of book excerpts... View Details
- November 2003 (Revised September 2016)
- Case
Creating Global Oil, 1900-1935
By: Geoffrey G. Jones and Daniel Wadhwani
Taught in the elective MBA course entitled The Evolution of Global Business. Examines the development of an international cartel in the oil industry in the 1920s and 1930s. Focuses on the decisions and actions of the leading multinational oil companies—particularly... View Details
- May 2003 (Revised March 2006)
- Case
Carol Fishman Cohen: Professional Career Reentry (A)
By: Myra M. Hart, Robin J. Ely and Susan Wojewoda
Explores the career challenges facing highly successful women who leave the full-time workforce for several years to manage family commitments. Carol Cohen is a 1985 Harvard MBA who has professional line experience in a manufacturing environment, followed by a... View Details
- May 2003 (Revised March 2006)
- Case
Carol Fishman Cohen: Professional Career Reentry (B)
By: Myra M. Hart, Robin J. Ely and Susan Wojewoda
Supplements the (A) case. View Details
- February 2003 (Revised October 2003)
- Case
Peter Jacobs at Versity.com
By: Leslie A. Perlow
Peter Jacobs is Versity.com's new professional CEO. This case provides a behind-the-scenes look at his thoughts and feelings about the company's evolution as he takes charge and tries to establish a new direction for the company. View Details
- February 2003 (Revised October 2003)
- Case
Versity.com
By: Leslie A. Perlow
Versity.com has grown from four college students working out of a dorm to a $125 million venture capital-backed company. The young founders and new professional managers struggle to create a company vision and grapple with the question of whether to acquire another... View Details
- 2003
- Casebook
Professional Services: Text and Cases
By: Thomas J. DeLong and Ashish Nanda
DeLong and Nanda's Professional Services: Text and Cases is the first casebook to be published on the management of professional service firms (law firms, architecture, financial services, consulting). It includes a comprehensive selection of case studies that... View Details
- July 2002
- Case
Introducing ... The XFL!
By: Susan M. Fournier, Stephen A. Greyser and Seth Schulman
When the XFL professional football league debuted on February 3, 2001, it generated a Nielsen rating of 10.1, higher than any nationally televised program in a Saturday evening time slot. The next week, ratings plummeted, and by week nine the XFL game earned the title... View Details
- May 2002
- Case
Mellon Investor Services
By: Thomas J. DeLong
James Aramanda, head of Mellon Investor Services, must decide how to change the focus of his business. He works with consultants to create a change strategy to enhance a business that is already doing well. Will he be able to interest his professionals in changing the... View Details
- October 2001 (Revised March 2002)
- Case
Perlegen Sciences
By: Linda A. Hill and Nicole Tempest
As a biotech start-up company involved in studying human genomes, Perlegen needed to develop an organization that fostered innovation and teamwork among a group of highly trained professionals from both the science and technology fields. Perlegen's CEO, Brad Margus,... View Details
- June 2001 (Revised May 2002)
- Case
Tradeoffs: Juggling Careers in Professional Services Firms with Private Life
By: Thomas J. DeLong, Ashish Nanda, Scot Landry and Scott M O'Neil
Balancing professional and private lives continues to challenge single and committed partners alike. Professionals are expected to work long hours. It is simply part of the ethos of professional service firms. This case focuses on the lives of three couples connected... View Details
- October 2000 (Revised March 2001)
- Case
eLance.com: Building a Professional Services Marketplace
By: Lynda M. Applegate and Kristin Kohler
Launched as an eBay for services, eLance promises to leverage the capabilities of the Internet to not only change the way services are bought and sold, but change the fundamental dynamics of the global economy. Building on theories posited in the HBR article by Tim... View Details
- September 2000 (Revised October 2002)
- Background Note
Professional Services Module Seven: Becoming a Professional
By: Thomas J. DeLong, Ashish Nanda and Scot H. Landry
Discusses strategies for balancing private and professional life. View Details
- April 2000 (Revised October 2002)
- Background Note
Career Strategies and Tactics in Professional Service Firms
By: Ashish Nanda, Thomas J. DeLong and Scot H. Landry
Presents suggestions for ensuring a good start in a professional services career. View Details
- April 2000
- Case
Professionals' Quandaries
By: Ashish Nanda, Thomas J. DeLong and Scot H. Landry
Presents five situations in which professionals face ethical dilemmas. View Details
- March 2000
- Background Note
Fall Before Rising, A: The Story of Jai Jaikumar (A)
By: H. Kent Bowen, Richard Compton Squire, Sarah Patricia Vickers-Willis and Harry James Wilson
What is the relationship between good fortune, professional success, and a moral obligation to other people? Jai Jaikumar, who as a youth was saved by a shepherd woman after a tragic mountaineering accident in the Himalayas, and who later rose to the top of his... View Details
- March 2000 (Revised August 2000)
- Background Note
Fall Before Rising, A: The Story of Jai Jaikumar (B)
By: H. Kent Bowen, Richard Compton Squire, Sarah Patricia Vickers-Willis and Harry James Wilson
What is the relationship between good fortune, professional success, and a moral obligation to other people? Jai Jaikumar, who as a youth was saved by a shepherd woman after a tragic mountaineering accident in the Himalayas, and who later rose to the top of his... View Details