Publications

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

Keywords: Leadership; Age; Race; Identity; Failure; Gender; Consulting Industry

October 2000 (Revised November 2000)
Case

Bridgespan Group, The

By: Allen S. Grossman and John D. Kalafatas

Bain & Co., a consulting firm with a client list that ranges from entrepreneurial start-ups to global corporations, wanted to increase its involvement with nonprofit organizations. Rather than continuing to integrate the work into the existing organization, Bain... View Details

Keywords: Nonprofit Organizations; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Problems and Challenges; Leadership Style; Growth and Development Strategy; Consulting Industry

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

Keywords: Partners and Partnerships; Negotiation; Multinational Firms and Management; Mergers and Acquisitions; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues

May 1996 (Revised May 1997)
Case

Colliers International Property Consultants, Inc.: Managing a Virtual Organization

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Carin-Isabel Knoop

In less than 20 years, the real estate firm Colliers International expanded into a federation of 180 offices with close to 4,500 professionals in over 30 countries. Because Colliers expanded by signing up existing firms strong in their local markets, its leaders had to... View Details

Keywords: Demand and Consumers; Globalized Firms and Management; Management Practices and Processes; Service Operations; Information Technology; Organizational Structure; Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Strategy; Budgets and Budgeting; Real Estate Industry

Josh Krieger is an Associate Professor of Business Administration in the Entrepreneurial Management Unit. Josh’s research focuses on R&D strategy and the economics of innovation. His work examines project selection, R&D competition, and... View Details

October 1999
Case

ZEFER: Building a Business at Hyperspeed

By: John T. Gourville and Joseph B. Lassiter III

In the past 18 months, ZEFER has gone from a several-person Internet consulting firm to a major player in the information-technology services industry. In particular, in the past six months, it has grown from 40 to 400 professionals, has hired a seasoned management... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development; Recruitment; Venture Capital; Acquisition; Organizational Culture; Managerial Roles; Growth Management; Information Technology Industry

Fall 2012
Article

The Flattening Firm—Not As Advertised

By: Julie Wulf

For decades, management consultants and the popular business press have urged large firms to flatten their hierarchies. Flattening (or delayering, as it is also known) typically refers to the elimination of layers in a firm's organizational hierarchy and the broadening... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Structure; Governance Controls; Decision Making

Read Now

01 Jan 2005
News

08 Jan 2008
News

Why so many companies fail at succession

December 1999 (Revised March 2002)
Case

Hunter Business Group: TeamTBA

By: Das Narayandas and Elizabeth R. Caputo

The Hunter Business Group (HBG), a direct marketing consulting firm specializing in reorganizing the sales and marketing efforts of industrial firms, uses integrated customer contact technologies (including field sales, telephone, and mail) as a means of... View Details

Keywords: Communication Technology; Marketing Communications; Marketing Reference Programs; Marketing Strategy; Market Participation; Sales; Value Creation; Consulting Industry

February 2022 (Revised January 2024)
Supplement

Winning Business at Russell Reynolds (C)

By: Ethan Bernstein and Cara Mazzucco

In an effort to make compensation drive collaboration, Russell Reynolds Associates’ (RRA) CEO Clarke Murphy sought to re-engineer the bonus system for his executive search consultants in 2016. As his HR analytics guru, Kelly Smith, points out, that risks upsetting—and... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Talent and Talent Management; Compensation and Benefits; Growth and Development Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Performance Evaluation; Motivation and Incentives; Consulting Industry

10 Jun 2015
News

Is Culture of Overwork Behind Women's Stalled Advancement?

02 Jun 2022
News

Guild Education Reaches $4.4 Billion Valuation As Labor Market Demands Continue—And A Downturn Threat Rises

08 Mar 2004
Research & Ideas

Creating Value in Your Business Ecosystem

Wal-Mart's and Microsoft's dominance in modern business has been attributed to any number of factors, ranging from the vision and drive of their founders to the companies' aggressive competitive practices. But the performance of these two very different View Details

Keywords: by Marco Iansiti & Roy Levien

06 Oct 2009
First Look

First Look: October 6

PublicationsDoes Foreign Direct Investment Promote Growth? Exploring the Role of Financial Markets on Linkages Authors:Laura Alfaro, Sebnem Kalemli-Ozcan, Areendam Chanda, and Selin Sayek Publication:Journal of Development Economic (forthcoming) Abstract Do... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

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

Keywords: Leadership; Management Practices and Processes; Service Operations; Performance Effectiveness; Strategy

Find at Harvard

September 2011 (Revised January 2012)
Case

Gerson Lehrman Group: Managing Risks

By: Boris Groysberg, Paul Healy and Sarah L. Abbott

It was June 2011 and Alexander Saint-Amand, President and CEO of Gerson Lehrman Group, the largest expert network firm globally, has found his firm once again in the midst of controversy. This controversy centered around a number of insider trading cases that had been... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management