Publications
Publications
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- All HBS Web
(2,513)
- Faculty Publications (184)
- 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
- 2007
- Other Unpublished Work
Practice Segmentation in Professional Services
By: John J. Gabarro, Thomas J. DeLong and Robert Lees
- 2007
- Other Unpublished Work
Professional Service Firms: A Breed Apart
By: John J. Gabarro, Thomas J. DeLong and Robert Lees
- September 2006 (Revised March 2007)
- Case
Recruitment of a Star
By: Boris Groysberg, Stephen Balog and Jennifer Haimson
Details power dynamics that unfold in the firm when one of its best and brightest threatens to leave. It focuses on the dynamics of attracting, hiring, compensating, negotiating, and leveraging a star performer in a professional service firm. In particular, traces the... View Details
- March 2006 (Revised February 2007)
- Case
UBS: Towards the Integrated Firm
By: Rajiv Lal, Nitin Nohria and Carin-Isabel Knoop
In late June 2005, UBS Group CEO Peter Wuffli--anointed "Master of Zurich" by the financial press--was returning to Zurich from the firm's latest three-day Senior Leadership Conference (SLC). Tapping 600 top managers, this SLC featured an outdoor event at a former... View Details
- October 2005 (Revised September 2006)
- Case
Sapient Corporation (Abridged)
By: Rakesh Khurana and Joel Podolny
Describes the start-up, growth, organizational design, and operations over the first 10 years of a professional services firm. Focuses on the creative use of organizational purpose and values as an integral part of strategy and alignment of organizational activities. View Details
- July 2005
- Case
Harvard Business School and the Making of a New Profession
By: Rakesh Khurana, Tarun Khanna and Daniel Penrice
Since its founding in 1908, Harvard Business School's mission has been to perform a much-needed service for American society by turning business management into a profession. One of the most important factors in the founding of HBS and the nation's other new business... View Details
- April 2005 (Revised July 2005)
- Case
Ilene Lang and the Catalyst Search (A)
By: Myra M. Hart and Laura L. Nash
Catalyst, the nonprofit organization dedicated to championing women in professional ranks, is searching for a new president--only the third in its 42-year history. Ilene Lang, a corporate executive and entrepreneur with over 25 years of experience in high-tech... View Details
Keywords: Strategy; Nonprofit Organizations; Work-Life Balance; Job Search; Gender; Service Industry
- April 2005 (Revised January 2007)
- Case
Furman Selz LLC (A): A Tale of Two Acquisitions
By: Nancy D. Beaulieu, Boris Groysberg and Kyle Doherty
Profiles a firm that was reacquired by two companies with different degrees of success. Highlights integration challenges present in acquisition deals when the primary assets of the target are human capital. Focuses on Furman Selz's acquisition by Xerox in 1987; its... View Details
- 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
- October 2004 (Revised March 2006)
- Background Note
Compensation in Professional Service Firms
By: Ashish Nanda
Discusses the compensation of professionals--partners and nonpartners--in a professional services firm. Discusses the considerations that determine the choice of compensation systems and the interrelationship between compensation and other human resources management... View Details
- October 2004 (Revised February 2006)
- Case
Staffing in Professional Service Firms
By: Ashish Nanda
This case discusses the problem of balancing demand and supply of professionals over time using a fictional scenario. View Details
- October 2004 (Revised July 2006)
- Background Note
Ownership Structure in Professional Service Firms: Partnership versus Public Corporation
By: Ashish Nanda
This case reviews the relative merits of partnership and public ownership structures in professional services firms. It also evaluates the various rationales for converting partnership professional services firms to publicly owned firms. Finally, the case highlights... View Details
- September 2004 (Revised February 2007)
- Case
Roller Coaster Ride, The: The Resignation of a Star
By: Boris Groysberg, Steve Balog and Jennifer Haimson
Presents a detailed account of power dynamics that unfold in the firm when one of its best and brightest threatens to leave. Focuses on the dynamics of attracting, retaining, compensating, negotiating, and leveraging a star performer in a professional services firm. A... View Details
- September 2004 (Revised October 2005)
- Case
Sapient Corporation
By: Rakesh Khurana and Joel Podolny
Describes the start-up, growth, organizational design, and operations over the first 10 years of a professional services firm. Focuses on the creative use of organizational purpose and values as an integral part of strategy and alignment of organizational activities. View Details
- April 2004 (Revised July 2007)
- Case
OfficeTiger
By: Joseph B. Lassiter III and Johanna Regine Naunton Blaxall
OfficeTiger was founded in late 1999 with an innovative approach to global outsourcing. The company's employees, located primarily in India, provided services for corporations, investment banks, and professional services firms throughout the United States, Europe, and... View Details
- February 2004 (Revised April 2005)
- Exercise
Necessary Evils: A Diagnostic Exercise
By: Joshua D. Margolis and Andrew Molinsky
Central to the work of leaders and professionals are tasks that entail harming one party to deliver benefits or advance valued and worthy goals. Sometimes a person must, as part of his or her job, perform an act that causes emotional, material, or physical harm to... View Details
- February 2004 (Revised March 2004)
- Background Note
Profitability Drivers in Professional Service Firms
By: Ashish Nanda
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
- January 2004 (Revised May 2004)
- Background Note
Strategy and Positioning in Professional Service Firms
By: Ashish Nanda
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