Publications
Publications
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- All HBS Web
(1,191)
- Faculty Publications (138)
- 2007
- Book
When Professionals Have to Lead: A New Model for High Performance
By: Thomas J. DeLong, John J. Gabarro and Robert Lees
For too long, professional services firms (PSFs) have relied on the "producer-manager" model, which works well in uncomplicated business environments. However, today's managing directors must balance conflicting roles, more demanding clients, tougher competitors, and... View Details
- September 2006 (Revised April 2007)
- Case
Tim Keller at Katzenbach Partners LLC (A)
By: Boris Groysberg, Christopher Marquis and Ayesha Kanji
Tracks of the first 6 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
- April 2006
- Case
Managing a Public Image: Cheri Mack
By: Robin J. Ely and Ingrid Vargas
Cheri Mack, an African-American woman, has just arrived at Harvard Business School after working for three years at a major consulting firm where she learned to adopt the demeanor of her male colleagues in order to fit in. Some of her male classmates are critical of... View Details
- January 2006 (Revised September 2007)
- Case
Bentington Industries
By: David Ager and John A. Davis
Describes the situation facing Paul Bentington, the president, CEO, and member of the owning family of BIND, PLC, a large and successful family-owned engineering consulting firm in London. Bentington's sister and brother, both of whom are owners of the firm, confront... View Details
- August 2005 (Revised January 2012)
- Case
McKinsey and the Globalization of Consultancy
By: Geoffrey G. Jones and Alexis Lefort
Considers McKinsey's strategy during the first stage of the globalization of the management consultancy industry between the 1950s and 1973. Briefly reviews the history of management consulting before considering the factors that led McKinsey to open its first... View Details
- 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
- December 2004 (Revised April 2006)
- Case
Managing a Public Image: Rob Thomas
By: Robin J. Ely and Ingrid Vargas
Rob Thomas describes some of the challenges he has faced as a white, middle-aged man who is managing director of a mid-size consulting firm where he is committed to increasing staff gender and racial diversity. Unwilling to risk the disapproval of any constituency,... View Details
- December 2004 (Revised April 2006)
- Case
Managing Diversity at Spencer Owens & Co.
By: Robin J. Ely and Ingrid Vargas
Spencer Owens & Co, a disguised consulting firm, focuses on domestic and international economic development. As an extension of the firm's commitment to social justice, 20 years ago, Spencer Owens management introduced an affirmative action hiring and promotion... View Details
- October 2004 (Revised November 2004)
- Case
Mavens & Moguls: Creating a New Business Model
By: Myra M. Hart, Victoria Winston and Kristin Lieb
Mavens & Moguls is a "virtual" marketing-consulting firm of approximately 40 professionals. Examines the processes by which its founder, Paige Arnof-Fenn, learns the business, builds a power network of industry experts and potential customers, and uses this expertise... View Details
- September 2003 (Revised November 2005)
- Case
Best Buy Co., Inc. (A): An Innovator's Journey
By: Dorothy A. Leonard and Brian DeLacey
The CEO of Best Buy, a hugely successful retailing company, has hired consulting firm Strategos to imbue the company with an improved innovative capability. The six-month program of experimental learning yields new business ideas and also trains Best Buy employees as... View Details
- August 2003 (Revised August 2006)
- Case
New Sector Alliance (A): An Entry into Health Care?
By: Regina E. Herzlinger, Stacy Smollin Schwartz and Jeffrey Cronin
Describes the structure of the U.S. health care system and presents a study of a nonprofit consulting firm that hopes to enter the health care system. Includes descriptions of hospitals, doctors, insurers, medical technology providers, medical devices, pharmaceuticals,... View Details
- January 2003 (Revised September 2004)
- Case
Consulting by Auditors (B): The Compromise and its Fallout
By: Ashish Nanda
This case tracks the evolution from October 2000 to July 2001 of public debate, regulatory decisions, and firm perspectives on the subject of consulting by accounting firms. View Details
- 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
- 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
- December 2002 (Revised February 2005)
- Case
Cap Gemini Ernst & Young (B): A Global Merger
By: Ashish Nanda
The negotiations for the merger between Cap Gemini and Ernst & Young conclude, resolving issues of how to bring together Ernst & Young consulting partnerships from all over the world into the publicly held Cap Gemini. Reactions to the merger were optimistic within Cap... View Details
- December 2002 (Revised January 2014)
- Case
Matt Leeds (A)
By: Linda A. Hill
A new associate in a consulting firm attempts to navigate his way through the norms and culture of a new setting and to manage his relationships with his superiors and peers, which got off to a poor start.
PLEASE NOTE: This case was revised in January 2014.... View Details
- July 2002 (Revised December 2002)
- Case
Mercer Management Consulting (A)
By: Thomas J. DeLong and Michael Echenberg
Insurance giant Marsh & McLennan acquires management consulting firms Temple, Barker & Sloane (TBS) in 1987 and Strategic Planning Associates (SPA) in 1990 and sets out to merge the two. The merger proceeds slowly and painfully. Following the February 1990 merger,... View Details
- April 2002
- Case
Pallotta TeamWorks
By: Allen S. Grossman and Elizabeth Kind
Pallotta Team Works is a for-profit, privately owned company that produces multiday fundraising events for nonprofit organizations. Dan Pallotta, the 40-year-old CEO, founded the enterprise in 1992. The company has grown rapidly, having raised over $200 million for... View Details
- January 2002 (Revised June 2002)
- Background Note
The Rise and Decline of e-Consulting
By: Ashish Nanda and M. Julia Prats
E-consulting began as a specialized consulting service in the late 1990s. In January 2000, more than 100 firms were characterized as e-consultants. By December 2001, more than 50% of these firms had disappeared. This case tracks the rapid rise and sharp decline of... View Details
- January 2002 (Revised September 2004)
- Case
Consulting by Auditors (A): Levitt's Campaign
By: Ashish Nanda
This case highlights the debate between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and several of the large accounting firms over whether the same firms should offer consulting services to clients they audit. View Details