Ownership Structure in Professional Service Firms: Partnership versus Public Corporation

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Background Note | HBS Case Collection | October 2004 (Revised July 2006)

Ownership Structure in Professional Service Firms: Partnership versus Public Corporation

Abstract

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 the leadership challenges associated with making conversions from partnership to public structure successful.

Keywords: Private Ownership; Transition; Partners and Partnerships; Public Ownership; Service Industry;

Format: Print

9 pages

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Citation:

Nanda, Ashish, and Lauren Prusiner. "Ownership Structure in Professional Service Firms: Partnership versus Public Corporation." Harvard Business School Background Note 905-038, October 2004. (Revised July 2006.)

About the Author

Ashish Nanda

Senior Lecturer of Business Administration, C. Roland Christensen Distinguished Management Educator

Strategy

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Module Note | March 2020 (Revised May 2020)

Corporate Strategy

Ashish Nanda

As a strategist, you must decide for your firm what products to produce, what customers to serve, what geographies to operate in, and what activities to perform. This note on Corporate Strategy, which introduces the fifth module of the RC Strategy course, offers a perspective for thinking about how these questions can be addressed so that you can determine the scope of your firm across three dimensions (horizontal, vertical, and geographic), and, given the scope, manage it in the most effective manner.

Keywords: scope; Corporate Strategy;

Citation:
Nanda, Ashish. "Corporate Strategy." Harvard Business School Module Note 720-448, March 2020. (Revised May 2020.) View Details

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Module Note | March 2019 (Revised May 2020)

Strategic Interactions

Ashish Nanda

This note provides a perspective and some tools to predict and shape interactions with other players when making strategic decisions. As a strategist, you must consider that your firm’s actions evoke reactions from other players in the market and that, reciprocally, you may need to respond to their actions. The note on Strategic Interactions introduces students to the fourth module of the RC Strategy course. We look at strategic interactions in three contexts: between players along the supply chain, between symmetrically placed rivals, and between asymmetrically placed rivals. Common themes run through the three circumstances, but there are important distinctions as well.

Keywords: strategic interaction; Value Capture; Strategy; Value Creation; Competition; Competitive Strategy; Education Industry;

Citation:
Nanda, Ashish. "Strategic Interactions." Harvard Business School Module Note 719-501, March 2019. (Revised May 2020.) View Details

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Case | HBS Case Collection | March 2020 (Revised April 2020)

Wachtell Lipton: Focused Excellence

Ashish Nanda and Margaret Cross

For years, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz—a small, New York City law firm—has consistently boasted the highest profits per partner and one of the highest “prestige” ratings among U.S.-based law firms. The firm has remained loyal to a distinctive strategy ever since its founding in 1965. Whereas most law firms have multiple offices, seek long-term retainer relationships with clients, operate across multiple services, and bill by the hour, Wachtell Lipton operates from a single location, offers legal services on a matter-by-matter basis, focuses on transactional work (primarily M&A advisory), and value bills for its services. Despite its extraordinary success, as the legal services market evolves and the firm’s name partners, 87-year-old Herbert Wachtell and 88-year-old Marty Lipton, approach retirement, questions arise about whether Wachtell Lipton’s magic formula will continue to yield extraordinary results in coming years.

Keywords: Strategy; Law; Mergers and Acquisitions; Legal Services Industry; New York (city, NY);

Citation:
Nanda, Ashish, and Margaret Cross. "Wachtell Lipton: Focused Excellence." Harvard Business School Case 720-396, March 2020. (Revised April 2020.) View Details

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Ownership Structure in Professional Service Firms: Partnership versus Public Corporation

Abstract

Citation:

About the Author

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