Enrollment: Limited to 45 students per section

EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES

Professionals employ judgment to offer valued services to their clients. Professional Service Firms (PSFs) include strategy consulting, investment banking, asset management, legal services, IT consulting, and communications firms, as well as architectural practices, academic institutions, and public service organizations.

This course focuses on drivers of long-term success for PSFs and the professionals working in them. Owing to PSFs’ distinguishing characteristics—their outputs are valued services, and their strategic assets are their professionals and their clients—their success drivers differ from those in typical commercial and industrial firms.

Through studying the elements essential for organizational and personal success, the course will help you understand what it takes to be an effective professional and a member of a thriving PSF. It is meant to be useful whether you work in an established PSF, set up a PSF as an entrepreneur, or work as a professional in a commercial firm.

COURSE CONTENT AND ORGANIZATION

Course Structure
The course is organized in seven modules: (1) service market strategy; (2) capital market strategy; (3) corporate and organizational strategy; (4) talent strategy; (5) strategy implementation, leadership, and culture; (6) professionalism; and (7) strategy for professional and personal success.

In the first module on service market strategy, we discuss the segmentation of professional practices, the drivers of economic success in a professional practice, and the importance of aligning the organization with its position on the practice spectrum. We focus on the importance of an excellent reputation and high client loyalty for PSFs and discuss ways to achieve these goals. We also study the prospects and challenges of establishing an entrepreneurial PSF—identifying and leveraging market opportunity, building momentum, leveraging technology, and managing growth. Representative cases: entrepreneurial start-up Moksha; global edtech firm Emeritus; consulting firm International Profit Associates; and professional talent network Axiom Law.

In the second module on capital market strategy, we discuss the importance of aligning ownership goals with service market objectives. We discuss the pros and cons of private versus public ownership, how to value targets when considering acquisitions, post-merger considerations, and transactions that can potentially unlock value—all within the context of PSFs. Representative cases: Goldman Sachs IPO; Cap Gemini’s acquisition of EY Consulting; and the Finsbury Glover Hering merger transaction.

In the third module on corporate and organizational strategy, we first discuss expanding the scope of a PSF, geographically or in service lines, and the challenge of managing a multi-practice PSF. We next focus on three key elements of organizational strategy in PSFs: structure, particularly the challenge of managing a matrix organization effectively; systems, particularly compensation system in a professional partnership; and processes, particularly client service process in a PSF. Representative cases: Egon Zehnder’s expansion beyond executive search; Ernst & Young’s bolstering of its China practice; and partner compensation in Brainard Bennis Farrell.

The fourth module on talent strategy emphasizes the centrality of aligning a PSF’s talent strategy with its service market strategy. In this module, we discuss the topics of recruitment and retention of star professionals, motivating and developing professionals, and nurturing robust, high-performance teams in PSFs. Representative cases: partner promotion at Bain & Company; leveraging stars in Ecolab; video case on a friendly fire incident in the U.S. military; and Lehman Brothers Equity Research.

The fifth module on strategy implementation emphasizes the role of leadership and culture in ensuring that a PSF effects its desired strategy. The module focuses on leading change in a PSF, as well as ensuring organizational resilience in the face of external challenges. Representative cases: New York Police Department’s transformation under Bill Bratton; Linklater’s Clear Blue Water initiative; video case on terror attack at the Taj Mahal Hotel; and video case on Shackleton’s journey to the Antarctic.

The sixth module on professionalism identifies the distinguishing characteristics of professional service, and the consequent responsibilities and rights of professionals and PSFs. We discuss why professionals are held to specific standards of conduct, and the implications of these standards on competition and industry structure in the professions, as well as the role of professional associations. Representative cases: KPMG’s dispute with Prince Jefri of Brunei; quandary faced by consultant Sherif Mityas at A.T. Kearney; and challenges confronting the International Chamber of Commerce Court of Arbitration.

The seventh module on strategy for professional and personal success takes the individual as the unit of analysis. We focus on the arc of professional careers and discuss considerations that can lead professionals to productive careers and a sense of personal fulfilment. Representative cases: panel discussion with professionals; demands faced by the consultant Bob Anderson; and success from the perspectives of professional William Fox.

The course follows an outside-in and broad-to-narrow learning trajectory. We begin by studying how a PSF can succeed within the context of its service environment. Next, we focus on capital market considerations of ownership and governance. Thereafter, we study the scope of the firm and its internal organization. We proceed to study how to develop and leverage professionals effectively. We investigate the sources of societal expectations of professionals and how professionals and their firms and associations can meet those expectations. Finally, we ask how individuals can succeed as professionals.

Approach of the Course
The course employs a combination of inductive learning through case studies, compare and contrast across multiple cases, reflections of case protagonists and experts, and discussions of research findings and concepts related to professional services.

Our primary learning tool is the case study method. We will discuss a mix of cases—some examining the current challenges facing PSFs, others focusing on landmark events that have influenced particular professions significantly, and yet others that look at classic themes that have stood the test of time. Many of the case studies take a longitudinal perspective, following professionals and their enterprises over extended periods of time. Thus, we have the opportunity not only to determine the sources of performance at any given time, but also to identify the capabilities and processes that sustain success over time and to learn how PSFs respond to change.

The cases are situated in different professional service settings: management consulting, financial services, accounting, law, medicine, academics, and government. We will study established industry leaders as well as entrepreneurial PSFs. Case protagonists or external experts will attend some of the class sessions and engage in the discussion and reflection process.

We will also utilize other learning tools besides printed cases. In one of the sessions, we will have a panel discussion in which alumni will share their experiences and perspectives. Some sessions will include lectures on concepts of relevance to PSFs and professionals. In some sessions, we will employ video cases to discuss topics of relevance and importance.

Our class size affords us the opportunity to conduct the sessions more as seminars and workshops than as traditional large case-based classes. Thus, we will discuss salient aspects of case studies, but we will also go beyond the specifics of the focal cases to discuss concepts as well as similarities and counterpoints with other examples.

Course Administration
Course grades are determined by two elements: class participation (50%) and a final paper (50%). The paper also offers you an opportunity to contribute meaningfully to course development.

Copyright © 2021 President & Fellows of Harvard College. All Rights Reserved.