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What Professional Service Firms Must Do to Thrive
Organizational Development Magazine ArticleDuring economic slowdowns, consulting, law, and accounting firms often start offering services and taking on clients they really shouldn't, just to keep... -
Preparing for a Pandemic
Leadership & Managing People Magazine ArticleThis month, all of Harvard Business Review's Forethought contributions address avian influenza, its potential to become a pandemic, and the red flags... -
The Rise of the Supertemp
Organizational Development Magazine ArticleFull-time, permanent jobs with large organizations are quite possibly an artifact of a particular moment in economic history--about 60 or 70 years ago.... -
How to Lead Your Fellow Rainmakers
Leadership & Managing People Magazine ArticleIn most corporate settings, leaders are expected to inspire and direct employees--leading is something they do to followers. But in professional service... -
When Consultants and Clients Clash (HBR Case Study)
Leadership & Managing People Magazine ArticleThis fictitious case study by Idalene F. Kesner, the Frank P. Popoff Professor at Indiana University, and Sally Fowler, assistant professor at Victoria... -
Firing Back: How Great Leaders Rebound After Career Disasters
Leadership & Managing People Magazine ArticleAmong the tests of a leader, few are more challenging--and more painful--than recovering from a career catastrophe. Most fallen leaders, in fact, don't... -
It's Time to Retire Retirement
Organizational Development Magazine ArticleCompanies have focused so much on downsizing to contain costs that they've largely neglected a looming threat to their competitiveness: a severe shortage... -
Is Your Next Great CEO a Management Consultant?
Organizational Development Digital ArticleCompanies shouldn't overlook this unorthodox path to the C-suite. -
When Consultants and Clients Clash (Commentary for HBR Case Study)
Leadership & Managing People Magazine ArticleThis fictitious case study by Idalene F. Kesner, the Frank P. Popoff Professor at Indiana University, and Sally Fowler, assistant professor at Victoria... -
How to Become Ubiquitous
Sales & Marketing Digital ArticleThis post is part of the HBR Insight Center Marketing That Works. It was 8 a.m. on a Tuesday, and I stumbled into my local coffee shop. Laptop in tow... -
Case of the Stymied Strategist
Strategy & Execution Magazine ArticleWhat happens when a management group turns its attention to strategic planning? Is such planning worth the unusual demands it places on management? Why... -
How Consultants Project Expertise and Learn at the Same Time
Strategy & Execution Digital ArticleThey actively embrace impostor syndrome. -
Leading Change from the Top Line: The HBR Interview
Organizational Development Magazine ArticleMost CEOs who specialize in turning around struggling companies focus on costs. But for Fred Hassan, chairman and CEO of Schering-Plough, the primary... -
Life's Work: An Interview with Marie Kondo
Leadership & Managing People Magazine ArticleKondo, the head of a successful consulting business and the author of several best-selling books about tidying, talks about her motto--"Keep only what... -
When Professionals Have to Manage
Technology & Operations Magazine ArticleA professional firm cannot exist without its specialists - accountants, lawyers, consultants, bankers, and so on - who generate client services. But how... -
Just Trying to Help (HBR Case Study and Commentary)
Organizational Development Magazine ArticleEvery year, at the annual summit of Ralston Crane's marketing group, Chief Marketing Officer Ruth McViney homes in on an important organizational objective.... -
Will She Fit In? (Commentary on HBR Case Study)
Leadership & Managing People Magazine ArticleSusan Carter, a partner at a prestigious strategy consulting firm, is caught in a dilemma she never expected: her firm's most important client has made... -
How Executive Recruiters Maintain Secrecy
Leadership & Managing People Digital ArticleWhen someone's about to lose their job, discretion is a must. -
Rate Yourself as a Client
Technology & Operations Magazine ArticleThe talent for making good use of professional advisors ranks as one of the most necessary skills for an executive. Certain types of client attitude and... -
In Praise of Uncertainty
Technology & Operations Magazine ArticleThe tech industry has a really good grasp of what works and how its products will be used--and that's killing innovation, says the Berkman Center's Jonathan...
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Appshop, Inc.
Strategy & Execution Case Study8.95View Details A regional director of a consulting firm must decide how to compete for a major consulting contract. Appshop can take a level payment contract, a lower... -
Carver Consulting Co.
Finance & Accounting Case Study8.95View Details The managing partner of a relatively new consulting firm is concerned because training costs at the firm's new training center are higher than expected.... -
Consulting by Auditors (A): Levitt's Campaign
Strategy & Execution Case Study8.95View Details This case highlights the debate between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and several of the large accounting firms over whether the same firms... -
Hewlett-Packard (A)
Sales & Marketing Case Study8.95View Details Since its controversial merger with Compaq, Hewlett-Packard had been under pressure by analysts and some stockholders to divest itself of its low-margin... -
Saatchi & Saatchi Co. PLC: Corporate Strategy
Strategy & Execution Case Study8.95View Details Saatchi & Saatchi, founded in 1970, became the world's largest advertising agency in 1986. It then diversified into consulting and other managerial areas... -
J.C. Penney's "Fair and Square" Strategy (Abridged)
Sales & Marketing Case Study8.95View Details As he gets ready to release 2nd quarter 2012 results, Ron Johnson, the new CEO of department store J.C. Penney, is reconsidering the dramatic changes... -
HP: Imprinting the Global Health Sector
Leadership & Managing People Case Study8.95View Details Hewlett-Packard (HP) had a long history of engaging in corporate citizenship, dating back to its founding. By 2009, however, under the leadership of its... -
PadFone vs. FonePad
Technology & Operations Case Study12.00View Details To Jonney Shih, Chairman of ASUSTek Computer, the introduction of Apple's iPad made clear the need to transition his company to a new cloud-computing... -
Kunshan, Incorporated: The Making of China's Richest Town
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Case Study8.95View Details In 1980, the city of Kunshan was mere countryside, registering neither on the Chinese government's nor the international business community's radar. By... -
MJINI: Understanding the Urban Youth Market
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Case Study8.95View Details MJINI--Urban Youth Experts was founded by two recent college graduates as a research consulting firm, focusing on the buying patterns and lifestyle preferences... -
Eden McCallum: A Network-Based Consulting Firm (B)
Organizational Development Case Study5.00View Details To weather the 2009 financial crisis, Eden McCallum's cofounders must renegotiate partners' compensation, attract independent consultants to meet different... -
Marco Marketing Consultants: Re-evaluation of the Competitive Strategy
Strategy & Execution Case Study8.95View Details Marco Marketing Consultants was a company based in Argentina with activities in several Latin American countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia,... -
Schuberg Philis: From Success to Significance
Management Case Study15.05View Details The founders of Dutch professional services firm Schuberg Philis, and the new leadership team entrusted with the day-to-day management, must set the path... -
Alliances That Build Alliances: McKinsey-Ashoka and the Fundacion Compromiso
Strategy & Execution Case Study8.95View Details McKinsey is an international consulting company that operates in 43 countries. Fundacion Compromiso is an nonprofit entity that provides training, counseling,... -
Strategic Services at Andersen Consulting
Technology & Operations Case Study8.95View Details Bill Copacino, Andersen Consulting's managing partner of Strategic Services Americas, needed to submit his recommendation to Peter Fuchs, Strategic Services... -
HCL's Digital Open Innovation: Enhancing Business Model Effectiveness through Talent and Customer Acquisition, Development, and Retention
Technology & Operations Case Study8.95View Details This case study provides an illustration of how the intersection of new digital technologies--mobile devices, cloud computing, and online collaboration--is... -
Team and Concepts Ltd.: Managing the Growth of a Small Business
Strategy & Execution Case Study8.95View Details Team and Concepts Ltd. (TnC), an IT company founded by David Lee and his partners in 2003, was not a typical small business. Its owners were innovative,... -
Egon Zehnder International: Implementing Practice Groups
Strategy & Execution Case Study8.95View Details Since its creation in 1964, executive search firm Egon Zehnder International (EZI) marketed its consultants as "generalists." As searches became more... -
GlaxoSmithKline in Brazil: Public-Private Vaccine Partnerships
Leadership & Managing People Case Study8.95View Details Three years into a major public-private partnership between GlaxoSmithKline and Fiocuz, Brazil's principal health institute, the company assesses technology... -
Brightcove, Inc. in 2007
Strategy & Execution Case Study8.95View Details Brightcove, a technology and services provider to content owners in the Internet television field, aimed to become a media distribution company in its...
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Career Crush: Is Consulting the Right Career for You?
Career planning Career CrushNo, it’s not all about PowerPoints. -
What Professional Service Firms Must Do to Thrive
Organizational Development Magazine ArticleDuring economic slowdowns, consulting, law, and accounting firms often start offering services and taking on clients they really shouldn't, just to keep... -
Appshop, Inc.
Strategy & Execution Case Study8.95View Details A regional director of a consulting firm must decide how to compete for a major consulting contract. Appshop can take a level payment contract, a lower... -
Carver Consulting Co.
Finance & Accounting Case Study8.95View Details The managing partner of a relatively new consulting firm is concerned because training costs at the firm's new training center are higher than expected.... -
Consulting by Auditors (A): Levitt's Campaign
Strategy & Execution Case Study8.95View Details This case highlights the debate between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and several of the large accounting firms over whether the same firms... -
Hewlett-Packard (A)
Sales & Marketing Case Study8.95View Details Since its controversial merger with Compaq, Hewlett-Packard had been under pressure by analysts and some stockholders to divest itself of its low-margin... -
Saatchi & Saatchi Co. PLC: Corporate Strategy
Strategy & Execution Case Study8.95View Details Saatchi & Saatchi, founded in 1970, became the world's largest advertising agency in 1986. It then diversified into consulting and other managerial areas... -
Bon Star Hotel, Teaching Note
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Digital ArticleTeaching Note for 909M72. -
J.C. Penney's "Fair and Square" Strategy (Abridged)
Sales & Marketing Case Study8.95View Details As he gets ready to release 2nd quarter 2012 results, Ron Johnson, the new CEO of department store J.C. Penney, is reconsidering the dramatic changes... -
HP: Imprinting the Global Health Sector
Leadership & Managing People Case Study8.95View Details Hewlett-Packard (HP) had a long history of engaging in corporate citizenship, dating back to its founding. By 2009, however, under the leadership of its...
