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Show Results For
- All HBS Web
(4,921)
- People (23)
- News (1,816)
- Research (2,357)
- Events (8)
- Multimedia (6)
- Faculty Publications (1,228)
- September 2021
- Teaching Note
Vignettes on Professional Service Firm Governance
By: David G. Fubini, Suraj Srinivasan and Li-Kuan Ni
- Article
Guarantees Come to Professional Service Firms
By: Leonard A. Schlesinger, Christopher L. Hart and Dan Maher
Schlesinger, Leonard A., Christopher L. Hart, and Dan Maher. "Guarantees Come to Professional Service Firms." MIT Sloan Management Review 33, no. 3 (Spring 1992): 19–29.
- May 2008 (Revised May 2010)
- Background Note
Organizational Alignment, Performance, and Change in Professional Service Firms
By: John J. Gabarro
This note describes the relationship between organizational alignment and performance in professional service firms and how to use McKinsey 7S Alignment to diagnose a firm's or practice's alignment, identify misalignments and determine how to bring about the changes... View Details
Gabarro, John J. "Organizational Alignment, Performance, and Change in Professional Service Firms." Harvard Business School Background Note 908-416, May 2008. (Revised May 2010.)
- February 2003 (Revised August 2004)
- Background Note
Note on Valuation-Compensation Tradeoff in Professional Service Firm Acquisitions
By: Ashish Nanda
This case highlights the tradeoff between valuation ascribed to professionals at the time of a professional services firm (PSF) acquisition and the postacquisition compensation of these professionals. It emphasizes how a high valuation at acquisition carries with it... View Details
Nanda, Ashish. "Note on Valuation-Compensation Tradeoff in Professional Service Firm Acquisitions." Harvard Business School Background Note 903-111, February 2003. (Revised August 2004.)
What Professional Service Firms Must Do to Thrive
During times of economic turbulence, consulting, law, and accounting firms often start offering services and taking on clients they really shouldn’t, just to keep the lights on. This path is perilous. If a firm’s practices have a diffuse mix of clients and unclear... View Details
- 2012
- Working Paper
An Outside-Inside Evolution in Gender and Professional Work
By: Lakshmi Ramarajan, Kathleen McGinn and Deborah Kolb
We study the process by which a professional service firm reshaped its activities and beliefs over nearly two decades as it adapted to shifts in the social discourse regarding gender and work. Analyzing archival data from the firm over eighteen years and... View Details
Keywords: Professional Service Firms; Social Institutions; Organizational Learning; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Employment; Gender; Society; Service Industry
Ramarajan, Lakshmi, Kathleen McGinn, and Deborah Kolb. "An Outside-Inside Evolution in Gender and Professional Work." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 13-051, November 2012. (Work in progress for requested submission, Research in Organizational Behavior.)
- 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
Keywords: Work-Life Balance; Family and Family Relationships; Problems and Challenges; Service Industry
DeLong, Thomas J., Ashish Nanda, Scot Landry, and Scott M O'Neil. "Tradeoffs: Juggling Careers in Professional Services Firms with Private Life." Harvard Business School Case 801-463, June 2001. (Revised May 2002.)
- July 2012 (Revised March 2013)
- Supplement
Shanghai Diligence Law Firm (B)
By: Robert G. Eccles and Catherine Zhang
Shanghai Diligence Law Firm continued with its approach to grow through a merger, rather than organically, and was eventually merged into a bigger law firm in China. After the merger, a refined A-B-C-D model is still in use as compensation system, although the... View Details
Keywords: Professional Service Firms; Compensation; Law Firms; Motivating Professionals; Client Management; Developing Professionals; Entrepreneurship; China; Mergers and Acquisitions; Employee Relationship Management; Compensation and Benefits; Groups and Teams; Legal Services Industry; China
Eccles, Robert G., and Catherine Zhang. "Shanghai Diligence Law Firm (B)." Harvard Business School Supplement 413-027, July 2012. (Revised March 2013.)
- 01 Jan 2009
- Conference Presentation
The Current State of Professional Service Firms
By: Thomas J. DeLong
Keywords: Business Ventures
- March 2022 (Revised January 2024)
- Case
Moksha Data: Delivering Insights for Public Service
By: Ashish Nanda and Zack Kurtovich
Moksha Data, a boutique consulting firm specializing in public sector work, started in January 2017 with a handshake between friends and a shared commitment to the principles of egalitarianism, ownership, and collaboration. The Houston-based firm had built momentum... View Details
Keywords: Professional Service Firms; Professional Service Firm; Strategy Formulation; Data; Data As A Service; Government Contracting; Consulting; Consulting Firms; Consulting Services; Entrepreneurship; Public Sector; Analytics and Data Science; Growth and Development; Strategy; Consulting Industry; Texas
Nanda, Ashish, and Zack Kurtovich. "Moksha Data: Delivering Insights for Public Service." Harvard Business School Case 722-397, March 2022. (Revised January 2024.)
- July–August 2013
- Article
Looking Up and Looking Out: Career Mobility Effects of Demographic Similarity among Professionals
By: Kathleen L. McGinn and Katherine L. Milkman
We investigate the role of workgroup sex and race composition on the career mobility of professionals in "up-or-out" organizations. We develop a nuanced perspective on the potential career mobility effects of workgroup demography by integrating the social... View Details
Keywords: Professional Service Firms; Race And Ethnicity; Ethnicity; Race; Personal Development and Career; Gender; Legal Services Industry
McGinn, Kathleen L., and Katherine L. Milkman. "Looking Up and Looking Out: Career Mobility Effects of Demographic Similarity among Professionals." Organization Science 24, no. 4 (July–August 2013): 1041–1060.
- October 2004 (Revised July 2006)
- Background Note
The Professional Services Course
By: Ashish Nanda
Outlines the conceptual framework, module structure, and service flow of an MBA course on professional services. View Details
Nanda, Ashish. "The Professional Services Course." Harvard Business School Background Note 905-046, October 2004. (Revised July 2006.)
- Forthcoming
- Article
You've Got Mail! The Late 19th-Century U.S. Postal Service Expansion, Firm Creation, and Firm Performance
By: Astrid Marinoni and Maria P. Roche
This paper examines the impact of the expansion of the US Postal Service in the late 19th century
on firm creation and performance. Utilizing newly digitized archival data on historic business establishments,
post office locations, and road networks in California,... View Details
Keywords: Institutional Innovation; Knowledge Exchange; US Postal Service; Firm Performance; Infrastructure; Expansion; Government Administration; Communication; Business History; Entrepreneurship; Public Administration Industry; California
Marinoni, Astrid, and Maria P. Roche. "You've Got Mail! The Late 19th-Century U.S. Postal Service Expansion, Firm Creation, and Firm Performance." Management Science (forthcoming). (Pre-published online January 15, 2025.)
- April 2003 (Revised October 2003)
- Background Note
Leading Public Professional Service Organizations
By: Ashish Nanda
Public professional service organizations (PPSOs) are professional service organizations that serve the public. This case describes the unique challenges facing PPSO leaders. View Details
Nanda, Ashish. "Leading Public Professional Service Organizations." Harvard Business School Background Note 903-123, April 2003. (Revised October 2003.)
- 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
DeLong, Thomas J., Ashish Nanda, and Scot H. Landry. "Professional Services Module Seven: Becoming a Professional." Harvard Business School Background Note 801-013, September 2000. (Revised October 2002.)
- November 2008
- Article
Chartering New Territory: Diversification, Legitimacy and Practice Area Creation in Professional Service Firms
By: Heidi Gardner, N. Anand and Timothy Morris
Diversification into innovative domains through new practice area creation is a critical imperative for professional services firms. Using theories of organizational territoriality and corporate charters, we conceptualize professional firms as federations of distinct... View Details
Keywords: Diversification; Lawfulness; Code Law; Management Practices and Processes; Service Operations; Innovation and Invention; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques
Gardner, Heidi, N. Anand, and Timothy Morris. "Chartering New Territory: Diversification, Legitimacy and Practice Area Creation in Professional Service Firms." Special Issue on Professional Service Firms: Where Organization Theory and Organizational Behavior Might Meet, edited by Roy Suddaby, Royston Greenwood, and Celeste Wilderom Journal of Organizational Behavior 29, no. 8 (November 2008).
- 31 Mar 2022
- News