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Case | HBS Case Collection | September 2009 (Revised February 2011)

Eden McCallum: A Network-Based Consulting Firm (A)

by Heidi K. Gardner and Robert G. Eccles

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Abstract

Eden McCallum pioneered the network-based ("virtual") consulting firm model in the U.K. Contracting freelance consultants on a per-project basis keeps overheads lean so that Eden McCallum's fees are a fraction of the big firms' rates. Their flexible, low-cost model has attracted top-notch corporate clients, resulting in steady double-digit annual growth in its first nine years. In January 2009, however, the global economic crisis has dramatically reshaped the competitive landscape and the founders must decide between pursuing their high-growth strategy versus retrenching—including cutting costs and pulling out of their first international expansion that they had launched the prior year. This case explores how the elements of a firm's innovative model reinforce each other and what happens when the environment changes.

Keywords: Business Model; Decision Choices and Conditions; Financial Crisis; Growth and Development Strategy; Expansion; Consulting Industry; United Kingdom;

Format: Print 15 pages EducatorsPurchase

Citation:

Gardner, Heidi K., and Robert G. Eccles. "Eden McCallum: A Network-Based Consulting Firm (A)." Harvard Business School Case 410-056, September 2009. (Revised February 2011.)

More from these Authors

  • Working Paper | HBS Working Paper Series | 2016

    The Climate Custodians

    Can custody banks become key players in climate change? Custody banks joining the battle against climate change will signal a significant shift in governance ideology for this highly regulated industry so critical to the global financial system. While global custody banks provide the unseen but essential support system that ensures the proper functioning of the capital markets, they have great untapped potential to become change-makers in climate change. This paper expands on our idea of the "Climate Custodians" first presented in the MIT Sloan Management Review within the governance context of the "Statement of Significant Audiences and Materiality (The Statement)" for these subsidiaries of large bank holding companies. By focusing on the Big Three global custody banks—State Street, BNY Mellon, and JPMorgan Chase—we make the case for large custody banks assuming the role of climate custodians. In this role, these banks would report, among other things, a measure of carbon embedded within their institutional clients’ assets under custody to help clients understand the climate risk in their portfolios.

    Keywords: Pollution and Pollutants; Weather and Climate Change; Capital Markets; Investment Banking; Institutional Investing; Policy;

    Citation:

    Eccles, Robert G., and Tim Youmans. "The Climate Custodians." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 16-138, June 2016.  View Details
    CiteView DetailsSSRN Read Now Related
  • Case | HBS Case Collection | September 2013 (Revised February 2016)

    GlaxoSmithKline: Sourcing Complex Professional Services

    Pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) uses an innovative new approach to procuring outside legal counsel: it replaces relationship-based selection and law firms' traditional time-based billing with data-driven decision making and an online reverse auction. In the case, GSK is hit with a potentially devastating suit and must hire a firm in time to respond. The recently hired managing attorney, Sophia Keating, grapples with GSK's approach. The GSK veterans assure her that the approach drives down costs and improves the quality of work by systematically increasing the rigor in the procurement process. Still skeptical, Sophia runs the process of systematically analyzing and comparing the competing firms' bids. This case also describes the process by which these tools were created and adopted. Beyond the implications for law firms and other service providers, lessons from this case are applicable for teaching about institutional change, procurement processes relevant to many fields, and how to increase rigor in typically informal business processes.

    Keywords: legal industry; procurement; change management; professional service firms; pricing; competition; Competition; Change Management; Supply Chain Management; Legal Liability; Business Processes; Legal Services Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry;

    Citation:

    Gardner, Heidi K., and Silvia Hodges Silverstein. "GlaxoSmithKline: Sourcing Complex Professional Services." Harvard Business School Case 414-003, September 2013. (Revised February 2016.)  View Details
    CiteView DetailsEducatorsPurchase Related
  • Supplement | HBS Case Collection | September 2013 (Revised February 2016)

    GlaxoSmithKline: Sourcing Complex Professional Services, Supplementary Materials

    Citation:

    Gardner, Heidi K., and Silvia Hodges Silverstein. "GlaxoSmithKline: Sourcing Complex Professional Services, Supplementary Materials." Harvard Business School Supplement 414-034, September 2013. (Revised February 2016.)  View Details
    CiteView DetailsPurchase Related
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