Publications

February 2004 (Revised March 2004)
Background Note

Profitability Drivers in Professional Service Firms

This case presents a simple model of the drivers of profitability in a professional service partnership and conducts an empirical exploration of the determinants of profitability among AmLaw 100 firms over the period 1994 to 1999. View Details

Keywords: Profitability; Model; Profit; Partners and Partnerships; Law; Service Industry

2009
Other Unpublished Work

Motivational Dynamics of Professionals

By: John J. Gabarro, Thomas J. DeLong and Robert Lees

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives

17 Jan 2008
Lecture

When Professionals Lead: The Challenges of Managing the Professional Services Firm.

By: Thomas J. DeLong

Keywords: Leadership; Management

2003
Working Paper

How Professional Schools Teach Professional Skills: The Case Method in Action

By: David A. Garvin

12 Sep 2018
Blog Post

Optimizing the Coaching Experience for Midcareer Professionals

Most HBS students are aware of the complementary coaching opportunities available through Career & Professional Development (CPD). Yet many of them, and their alumni colleagues, may not know that coaching remains available to them... View Details

2021
Chapter

The Professionalization of Compliance

By: Eugene F. Soltes

Keywords: Compliance

January 2004
Supplement

Evolution of Professional Reputation

01 Jul 2011
News

Searching for Professional Significance

May 2010
Article

Leadership Effort in Professional Radiology Associations

By: Srikant M. Datar, John Tan and Sanjay Saini

Professional associations advocate for their members' interests; provide forums for education, training, and certification; and support domain-specific research and development efforts. The purpose of this study was to determine the amount of resources devoted to the... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Cooperation; Society; Health Industry

December 2024
Article

Are Bankruptcy Professional Fees Excessively High?

By: Samuel Antill

Chapter 7 is the most popular bankruptcy system for U.S. firms and individuals. Chapter 7 professional fees are substantial. Theoretically, high fees might be an unavoidable cost of incentivizing professionals. I test this empirically. I study trustees, the most... View Details

Keywords: Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Motivation and Incentives; Policy

July 2010 (Revised September 2011)
Background Note

Hiring Professionals in China: A Practitioner's Guide

By: Heidi K. Gardner

This note outlines how leading professional service firms operating in China revise their standard hiring practices to fit local challenges and customs. Based on interviews with professionals in a number of established accounting, strategy consulting, and executive... View Details

Keywords: Talent and Talent Management; Globalized Firms and Management; Employees; Selection and Staffing; Service Industry; China

February 2003 (Revised April 2003)
Background Note

Note on Staffing in Professional Service Firms

This case discusses the problem of balancing demand and supply of professionals within a professional services firm (PSF). It emphasizes how human resources management policies impact supply conditions and how market opportunities determine demand conditions. The case... View Details

Keywords: Demand and Consumers; Balance and Stability; Supply and Industry; Employees; Service Industry

September 2000
Background Note

Professional Services Module Six: Succeeding in PSFs

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

Emphasizes the skills and values that we believe successful professionals possess: change management and leadership skills, a proactive career management approach, effective processes of giving and receiving feedback, a clear ethical perspective, balance between... View Details

Keywords: Management Skills; Service Industry

October 2004 (Revised March 2006)
Background Note

Learning from Scandals: Responsibility of Professional Organizations

This case comments on the responsibility of professional organizations to respond openly to public accusations of wrongdoing by its members. It briefly relates the circumstances of the sexual abuse scandal in the Boston archdiocese of the Roman Catholic Church and the... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Disclosure; Ethics

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

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Technological Innovation; Job Search; Business or Company Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Web Sites; Information Technology Industry; Service Industry

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

Keywords: Work-Life Balance; Family and Family Relationships

October 2005
Background Note

Tax Impropriety: Judicial Sanctions and Professional Repercussions

By: Henry B. Reiling, Catherine M. Conneely, Frank Bruno and Kevin Wall

Examines the case histories of high-profile individuals who failed to meet their tax obligations, the judicial sanctions carried out against them, and the repercussions on their professional and personal lives. View Details

Keywords: Governance Compliance; Taxation; Courts and Trials; Personal Development and Career

January 2004 (Revised May 2004)
Background Note

Strategy and Positioning in Professional Service Firms

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

Keywords: Corporate Strategy; Service Industry