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Show Results For
- All HBS Web
(1,181)
- People (6)
- News (391)
- Research (476)
- Events (3)
- Multimedia (4)
- Faculty Publications (262)
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- January 2003 (Revised March 2005)
- Case
Planning in Professional Service Firms
By: Ashish Nanda
In this case, four consultants discuss business planning issues that they are each having within their respective consulting firms. The case addresses how professional compensation, project staffing, hours worked, overhead costs, and billing rates impact profitability. View Details
Nanda, Ashish, and Kelley Elizabeth Morrell. "Planning in Professional Service Firms." Harvard Business School Case 903-085, January 2003. (Revised March 2005.)
- 02 May 2000
- Research & Ideas
Leading Professional Service Firms
firms. The faculty are drawn from Harvard Business School's Organizational Behavior and Service Management groups and have expertise researching professional service industries, providing consulting services to major firms, and in some... View Details
- August 2018
- Case
Performance Improvement Consulting and Hi-R-Me: Making Sales Calls
By: Frank V. Cespedes and David Mattson
This case study focuses on a professional services firm (“Performance Improvement Consulting”) and its sales calls on Hi-R-Me, a potential client. The case is supplemented by videos showing the initial contact call, a follow-up discovery call, and a face-to-face... View Details
Cespedes, Frank V., and David Mattson. "Performance Improvement Consulting and Hi-R-Me: Making Sales Calls." Harvard Business School Case 819-043, August 2018.
- July 2010 (Revised March 2013)
- Case
One Firm One Future at Davis Langdon (A)
By: Robert G. Eccles and Kaitlyn A. Simpson
Senior Partner Rob Smith just led construction consultancy firm Davis Langdon through a major organizational change in Europe and the Middle East. In the past, compensation arrangements had not incentivized partners to collaborate across the firm to serve clients'... View Details
Keywords: Profit Sharing; Global Strategy; Compensation and Benefits; Leading Change; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Partners and Partnerships; Cooperation; Expansion; Consulting Industry; Europe; Middle East
Eccles, Robert G., and Kaitlyn A. Simpson. "One Firm One Future at Davis Langdon (A)." Harvard Business School Case 411-006, July 2010. (Revised March 2013.)
- March 2015
- Teaching Note
McKinsey & Co.—Protecting its Reputation (A) and (B)
By: Jay Lorsch and Emily McTague
McKinsey & Co—Protecting its Reputation (A&B) is a field case written from the perspective of the Firm's Managing Director Dominic Barton. The two cases describe the actions McKinsey & Co took to protect the firm's reputation after the Rajat Gupta matter.
The... View Details
The... View Details
Keywords: Consulting Firms; Leadership & Corporate Accountability; Leadership And Change Management; Leadership And Managing People; Leading A Global Business; Corporate Culture; Professional Service Firms; Professional Service Firm; Leadership; Corporate Accountability; Corporate Governance; Organizational Culture; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Consulting Industry; United States
- May 2022
- Case
What to Propose?
By: David G. Fubini
Two audit and financial services firms, one of which your consulting firm has supported extensively, have merged to create one of the largest audit firms in the world. The audit firm's Executive Team has requested proposals aimed at re-evaluating their internal... View Details
Keywords: Consulting; Professional Services; Governance; Presentations; Organizational Structure; Transition; Mergers and Acquisitions; Consulting Industry
Fubini, David G. "What to Propose?" Harvard Business School Case 422-095, May 2022.
- 13 Apr 2015
- Research & Ideas
3 Ways Firms Can Profit From Environmental Investments
In the course of her work, Rebecca Henderson meets business executives who don't address the threat of climate change because they don't believe that it exists. Her recommendation: They should consider investments in environmental sustainability anyway, assuming that... View Details
- July 2014 (Revised October 2014)
- Case
McKinsey & Co. - Protecting its Reputation (A)
By: Jay Lorsch and Emily McTague
On Tuesday March 15, 2011, all 1,200 global Partners of McKinsey & Co. gathered at the Gaylord National Hotel & Convention Center near Washington, DC for their annual Partners' conference. The atmosphere was tense as Partners, in addition to their normal agenda,... View Details
Keywords: Board; McKinsey; Consulting Firms; Risk; Risk Assessment; Partnerships; Insider Trading; Confidentiality; Personal Investing; Reputation; Corporate Accountability; Corporate Governance; Management Practices and Processes; Risk Management; Consulting Industry; United States; California
Lorsch, Jay, and Emily McTague. "McKinsey & Co. - Protecting its Reputation (A)." Harvard Business School Case 415-021, July 2014. (Revised October 2014.)
- May 2022 (Revised June 2022)
- Case
Proposing to Redesign a Global Investment Bank
By: David G. Fubini
A major, NYC-based, global investment bank is looking to rethink its Systems strategy amid a rapidly evolving digital landscape. Your firm has served the client across most of its major geographies on a range of substantial Systems and IT efforts, but is facing... View Details
Keywords: Consulting; Professional Services; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Digital Strategy; Presentations; Competitive Strategy; Consulting Industry; New York (city, NY)
Fubini, David G. "Proposing to Redesign a Global Investment Bank." Harvard Business School Case 422-096, May 2022. (Revised June 2022.)
- 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).
- July 2014 (Revised October 2014)
- Supplement
McKinsey & Co. - Protecting its Reputation (B)
By: Jay Lorsch and Emily McTague
On Tuesday March 15, 2011, all 1,200 global Partners of McKinsey & Co. gathered at the Gaylord National Hotel & Convention Center near Washington, DC for their annual Partners' conference. The atmosphere was tense as Partners, in addition to their normal agenda,... View Details
Keywords: Board; McKinsey; CONSULTING Firms; Risk; Risk Assessment; Partnerships; Insider Trading; Confidentiality; Personal Investing; Reputation; Corporate Accountability; Corporate Governance; Management Practices and Processes; Risk Management; Construction Industry; United States; California
Lorsch, Jay, and Emily McTague. "McKinsey & Co. - Protecting its Reputation (B)." Harvard Business School Supplement 415-022, July 2014. (Revised October 2014.)
- 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
Keywords: Personal Development and Career; Performance Expectations; Performance Effectiveness; Customization and Personalization; Practice; Valuation; Performance Evaluation; Business Startups; Competency and Skills; Learning; Talent and Talent Management; Management Skills; Consulting Industry
Nanda, Ashish, Thomas J. DeLong, and Scot H. Landry. "Career Strategies and Tactics in Professional Service Firms." Harvard Business School Background Note 800-375, April 2000. (Revised October 2002.)
- 28 Oct 2010
- Working Paper Summaries
The Distinct Effects of Information Technology and Communication Technology on Firm Organization
- March 2015
- Case
Tim Keller at Katzenbach Partners LLC (A) (Abridged)
By: Boris Groysberg and James Weber
Tracks the first six months of a recent MBA grad, Tim Keller, at Katzenbach Partners, a boutique consulting firm focused on organizational change and strategy. Covers how Keller initially struggles with his assignment and ends with a question of whether or not he... View Details
Keywords: Interpersonal Relations; Organization Behavior; Superior ＆ Subordinate; Managing Projects; Informal Organization; Consulting; Professional Services; Leadership; Work-Life Balance; Decision Choices and Conditions; Organizations; Rank and Position; Product Development; Consulting Industry; Consulting Industry
Groysberg, Boris, and James Weber. "Tim Keller at Katzenbach Partners LLC (A) (Abridged)." Harvard Business School Case 415-070, March 2015.
- November 2012
- Article
Does Management Really Work?
By: Nicholas Bloom, Raffaella Sadun and John Van Reenen
HBR's 90th anniversary is a sensible time to revisit a basic question: Are organizations more likely to succeed if they adopt good management practices? The answer may seem obvious to most HBR readers, but these three economists cast their net much wider than that. In... View Details
Keywords: Best Practices; Consulting Firms; Corporations; Cost Control; Employee Training; Executive Ability (Management); Executives—training Of; Hospitals—administration; Industrial Management—research; Productivity Incentives; School Management Teams; Work Environment; Management; Research
Bloom, Nicholas, Raffaella Sadun, and John Van Reenen. "Does Management Really Work?" Harvard Business Review 90, no. 11 (November 2012).
- 2016
- Working Paper
Through the Grapevine: Network Effects on the Design of Executive Compensation Contracts
By: Susanna Gallani
Effective design of executive compensation contracts involves choosing and weighting performance measures, as well as defining the mix between fixed and incentive-based pay components, with a view to fostering talent retention and goal congruence. The variability in... View Details
Keywords: Compensation Design; Board Interlocks; Compensation Consultants; Network Centrality; Homophily; Quadratic Assignment Procedure; Blockholders; Executive Compensation
Gallani, Susanna. "Through the Grapevine: Network Effects on the Design of Executive Compensation Contracts." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 16-019, August 2015. (Revised December, 2016.)
- 2021
- Working Paper
rTSR: Properties, Determinants, and Consequences of Benchmark Choice
By: Paul Ma, Jee-Eun Shin and Charles C.Y. Wang
We develop a measurement-error framework for assessing the quality of relative-performance metrics designed to filter out the systematic component of performance and analyze relative total shareholder return (rTSR)—the predominant metric market participants use to... View Details
Keywords: Relative TSR; Relative Performance Evaluation; Systematic Risk; Board Of Directors; Compensation Consultants; Style Effects; Executive Compensation; Performance Evaluation; Corporate Governance
Ma, Paul, Jee-Eun Shin, and Charles C.Y. Wang. "rTSR: Properties, Determinants, and Consequences of Benchmark Choice." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 19-112, April 2019. (Revised May 2021.)
- February 2003 (Revised May 2004)
- Case
ENSR International
What is the best way to "sell" consulting services? Should the firm focus on key accounts? Should it have dedicated salespeople? How should the firm account for "selling" activities in its compensation plan? ENSR is an environmental consulting firm located in Westford,... View Details
Godes, David B. "ENSR International." Harvard Business School Case 503-075, February 2003. (Revised May 2004.)
- June 1996 (Revised January 2000)
- Case
McKinsey & Co.: Managing Knowledge and Learning
Describes the development of McKinsey & Co. as a worldwide management consulting firm from 1926 to 1996. In particular, it focuses on the way in which McKinsey has developed structures, systems, processes, and practices to help it develop, transfer, and disseminate... View Details
Keywords: Management; Managerial Roles; Management Practices and Processes; Competitive Advantage; Global Range; Knowledge Dissemination; Business Processes; Consulting Industry
Bartlett, Christopher A. "McKinsey & Co.: Managing Knowledge and Learning." Harvard Business School Case 396-357, June 1996. (Revised January 2000.)
- December 2002 (Revised February 2005)
- Case
Cap Gemini Ernst & Young (A): A Global Merger
By: Ashish Nanda
French IT consulting giant Cap Gemini is poised to purchase the consulting arm of Ernst & Young, a U.S.-based Big 5 accounting firm. In doing so, many differences need to be resolved, including negotiating with Ernst & Young entities all over the world as well as... View Details
Keywords: Negotiation; Multinational Firms and Management; Mergers and Acquisitions; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Consulting Industry; Consulting Industry; France
Nanda, Ashish, Bertrand Moingeon, Lisa Haueisen Rohrer, and Guillaume Soenen. "Cap Gemini Ernst & Young (A): A Global Merger." Harvard Business School Case 903-056, December 2002. (Revised February 2005.)