Publications

Read Now

May 2011
Case

Baria Planning Solutions, Inc.: Fixing the Sales Process

By: Steven C. Wheelwright and William Schmidt

Baria Planning Solutions (BPS) is a consulting firm that specializes in using spend analysis to help companies identify savings through reduced procurement costs and improved supplier performance. Management is concerned about the disappointing performance of the sales... View Details

Keywords: Quantitative Analysis; Technology; Operations Management; Product Lines; Manufacturing; Capacity Planning; Production Planning; Production; Management Practices and Processes; Service Operations; Supply Chain Management; Salesforce Management; Planning; Consulting Industry; North and Central America

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

Keywords: Sales; Consulting Industry; Massachusetts

14 Sep 2017
News

How to fix US politics? Maybe start by seeing it as an ‘industrial complex.’

May 2004 (Revised December 2004)
Case

Slingshot Technology, Inc. (B)

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Elizabeth Collins

Slingshot Technology Inc. (STI) is a privately held software start-up founded in 1995 focused on identifying emerging spaces in the IT services industry and partnering with vendors selling promising but unproven technologies in those spaces. The vendors used STI to... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Private Ownership; Opportunities; Partners and Partnerships; Information Technology; Entrepreneurship; Applications and Software; Intellectual Property; Business Startups; Information Technology Industry

May 2004
Supplement

Slingshot Technology, Inc. Supplement: Partnership Agreements

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Elizabeth Collins

Slingshot Technology Inc. (STI) is a privately held software start-up founded in 1995 focused on identifying emerging spaces in the IT services industry and partnering with vendors selling promising but unproven technologies in those spaces. The vendors used STI to... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Emerging Markets; Partners and Partnerships; Intellectual Property; Information Technology Industry; Information Technology Industry

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

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Strategic Planning; Profit; Consulting Industry

April 2003 (Revised April 2006)
Case

Developing Professionals-The BCG Way (A)

By: Ashish Nanda

This case provides a brief history of Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and the firm's approach to development and mentorship of its consultants. It also discusses the challenges facing three consultants who are nearing the two-year mark of working at BCG. View Details

Keywords: Personal Development and Career; Consulting Industry

Career Coach

Michelle Antonio

Wharton School, both as Director of MBA Career Management and the industry advisor covering the Consulting and Public Interest sectors, 4 years as an MBA Recruiting Director at Deloitte Consulting, and time... View Details

Keywords: Consulting; Consulting; Consulting; Consulting

Derrick Bransby

Derrick studies how teams accomplish complex work in novel contexts. His dissertation advances the idea of disciplined flexibility: a strategy teams use to navigate uncertainty... View Details

October 1995 (Revised March 1996)
Case

Booz.Allen & Hamilton: Vision 2000

In 1993, Booz.Allen & Hamilton forsook its previous, highly local organizational structure. It was motivated by a desire to serve multinational clients more effectively and to provide greater value to clients with more localized business by collecting best practices... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Service Operations; Service Delivery; Organizational Structure; Global Strategy; Service Industry

Career Coach

Pav Guraya

Pav is a social impact/nonprofit industry veteran (consulting/advisory) and career-switcher (strategy consulting). He enjoys assisting students interested in making career changes, particularly into View Details

Career Coach

Sarah Guezmir

in 3 areas: 1) breaking down the payer/provider healthcare industry to help students identify target opportunities, 2) consulting recruiting - she succeeded in case interviews to gain a role as an... View Details

Stuart C. Gilson

Professor Stuart Gilson is the Steven R. Fenster Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, and former chairman of the Finance Unit. His research, teaching, and consulting focuses on the financial, business, and legal strategies that companies... View Details

Keywords: investment banking industry; investment banking industry

December 1997 (Revised August 1998)
Case

Shanghai Real Estate (A)

By: Lynn S. Paine and Harold F. Hogan Jr

An independent consultant from the United States must decide what to do when faced with his client's apparent violation of an agreement with a third party. The consultant is American, the client is a Chinese real estate developer, and the third party is a French... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Contracts; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Law; Agreements and Arrangements; Alliances; Corporate Accountability; Consulting Industry; Consulting Industry; China; United States; France

May 2004 (Revised December 2004)
Case

Slingshot Technology, Inc. (A)

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Elizabeth Collins

Slingshot Technology Inc. (STI) is a privately held software start-up founded in 1995 focused on identifying emerging spaces in the IT services industry and partnering with vendors selling promising but unproven technologies in those spaces. The vendors used STI to... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Private Ownership; Opportunities; Partners and Partnerships; Entrepreneurship; Applications and Software; Intellectual Property; Business Startups; Information Technology Industry