Publications

March 2022 (Revised October 2022)
Case

Transforming Kimball International, Inc. (A)

By: Lynn S. Paine and Will Hurwitz

Kimball International, Inc. (KII), led by CEO Kristie Juster, and its board of directors, chaired by Kim Ryan, faced critical questions about KII’s future in the spring of 2021. Two years earlier, the board had appointed Juster as the new CEO of KII, a publicly traded,... View Details

March 2001 (Revised May 2001)
Case

&Samhoud Service Management

By: Thomas J. DeLong, Ashish Nanda and Monica Mullick

&Samhoud, a small service management consulting firm in the Netherlands, grapples with the dilemma of firing its largest client while introducing Heskett's theory of the service profit chain. View Details

Keywords: Mission and Purpose; Management Practices and Processes; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Relationship Management; Consulting Industry; Netherlands

22 Jun 2015
News

How To Stop Working All The Time And Get More Done

August 1997 (Revised November 1998)
Case

Cambridge Technology Partners - 1991 Start Up

By: Paul A. Gompers and Catherine M. Conneely

Jim Sims tries to close the deal to create Cambridge Technology Partners (CTP) in a spin-out from a troubled technology consulting firm. The deal looks tenuous. View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Negotiation Deal; Information Technology; Organizations; Consulting Industry; Consulting Industry; Cambridge

Find at Harvard

Erin Shirtz is a doctoral student in the Organizational Behavior program jointly offered by Harvard Business School and the Department of Sociology at Harvard University. Her research broadly examines... View Details

16 Dec 2020
Video

On-Demand Workforce: Segment 1

December 2004 (Revised April 2006)
Case

Mavens & Moguls: Because Marketing Matters...

By: Myra M. Hart, Kristin Lieb and Victoria Winston

Mavens & Moguls is a virtual marketing-consulting firm of approximately 40 professionals. Examines the processes by which Paige Arnof-Fenn (an HBS grad with deep industry experience)draws on her experience and her network to create a high-quality marketing consulting... View Details

Keywords: Networks; Values and Beliefs; Business Growth and Maturation; Organizational Structure; Marketing; Entrepreneurship; Experience and Expertise; Growth and Development Strategy; Consulting Industry

Find at Harvard

Feng Zhu is the MBA Class of 1958 Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, where he leads the Platform Lab within the Digital, Data, and Design Institute, co-chairs the Harvard Business Analytics Program, and serves as the course head for the... View Details

Ria Sen

Ria is a JD/PhD student at Harvard Law School and Harvard Business School. At HLS, she was a John M. Olin Fellow and the winner of the 2021 Victor Brudney Writing Prize. She previously studied Economics and Mathematics at Columbia University, where she was nominated... View Details

June 2013 (Revised October 2013)
Case

Tim Blanchard at Jones Mendel & Co. (Abridged)

By: Jay W. Lorsch and John Gabarro

Tim Blanchard struggles to balance all the demands facing him as a partner of a consulting firm. He must decide how to serve clients, mentor his people, provide strategy and direction to the high-tech group, and spend time with family. View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Management Style; Partners and Partnerships; Work-Life Balance; Problems and Challenges; Management Teams; Consulting Industry

November 1999 (Revised February 2002)
Case

Family Feud (A): Andersen v. Andersen

By: Ashish Nanda and Scot H. Landry

Traces the history and development of consulting within Andersen and the history of the schism between Arthur Andersen and Andersen Consulting. Ends with the two units seeking external arbitration of their dispute. View Details

Keywords: Organizational Design; Corporate Governance; Conflict and Resolution; Consulting Industry

Video

Reuel J. Khoza

Reuel J. Khoza, Chairman of South Africa's Dzana Investments and Discovery Bank, describes the obstacles he faced to establish his management consultancy firm in the context of apartheid. View Details

November 1999 (Revised May 2001)
Case

AGENCY.COM (A): Launching an Interactive Service Agency

By: Ashish Nanda, Thomas J. DeLong and Scot H. Landry

Having recently launched one of Silicon Valley's first start-ups, cofounders Chan Suh and Kyle Shannon ponder whether their interactive consulting firm is prepared to bid for work from a very large client. View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Internet and the Web; Problems and Challenges; Business Strategy; Decision Making; Entrepreneurship; Consulting Industry; Consulting Industry

November 1999 (Revised June 2000)
Case

AGENCY.COM (B): Managing Rapid Growth

By: Thomas J. DeLong, Ashish Nanda and Scot H. Landry

AGENCY.COM continues on its path of rapid growth, emerging as a leading interactive consulting firm. Its growth leads to new challenges related to the integration of diverse operations and the financing of future growth. View Details

Keywords: Growth Management; Problems and Challenges; Entrepreneurship; Internet; Consulting Industry

July 2021 (Revised February 2022)
Case

Mary Kay Inc.: Enriching Women's Lives while Embracing Change

By: Elie Ofek, K. Shelette Stewart and Julia Kelley

In December 2020, Mary Kay Inc. Chief Marketing Officer Sheryl Adkins-Green considered several strategic dilemmas. Founded in 1963 by Mary Kay Ash, Mary Kay was a direct sales company whose Independent Beauty Consultants purchased its beauty and cosmetics products at... View Details