Professional services

Many felt pressure to lie about their personal lives.

"Please don't tell me that I need to have a baby to have this time off." Those words were still ringing in the ears of Jessica Gonon an hour after a tense...

The information technology explosion was set off by visionaries who thrive on uncertainty. Today that innovation-fueling uncertainty is in danger, a victim of its own success and excess. IT producers have historically built platforms that are useless standing alone, inviting others to parlay them into a variety of useful applications. The first PC makers shipped […]

Three ways to minimize risk.

Susan’s client made a pass at her. If she speaks out, will it destroy her career?

The short answer is: not much. And that’s a good thing.

They can play a valuable role at first, but then quickly bow to the desires of ruling elites.

Uncorking superior performance.

To the trained eye, even a quick plant tour can reveal a lot about a company. Here’s how to tell if a factory is truly lean—in as little as 30 minutes.

The most dubious business plan can look solid—even smart—if it’s cast as a virtuous circle. “See, we invest our profits in innovation to create delightful products that customers buy—which generate profits that we invest in innovation!” Who could argue with that? Indeed, the merit of self-reinforcing systems seems so obvious that businesspeople instinctively describe their […]

Ideas come and go, but a few truly important ones take hold and change how we think and work. HBR’s editors identify five provocative concepts that are shaping management now.

Photography: Ben Baker/Redux The Idea: Executives at DuPont worked for six months on the $7 billion acquisition of Denmark’s Danisco. Ellen Kullman details the challenges and opportunities that arose—and offers lessons for others involved in M&A. Two days before Thanksgiving 2010, my phone rang. Tom Knutzen, the CEO of Danisco, was on the line. His […]

The hardest part of being an entrepreneur can be learning to turn down business. It is also the only way to survive—and grow.

Advice for growing firms.

What happens when a management group turns its attention to strategic planning? Is such planning worth the unusual demands it places on management? Why does it perplex some executive teams which are otherwise effective in running their businesses? These related questions are explored by Mr. Mainer in his description of a case which synthesizes the […]

When Roger Brown and Linda Mason decided to start a child care and early-education company 15 years ago, they knew about the challenges inherent in the...

In recent years, there has been a marked increase in the buying of professional services by management. This is true for a broad range of advisory activities, such as financial, economic, public relations, advertising, legal, personnel, research, and many others. By the same token, there has been a marked growth in the firms selling these […]

Rewarding individual performance is the way of the business world, but there are rare exceptions. At executive search firm Egon Zehnder International, seniority and companywide results determine pay. The company’s founder explains how this unconventional compensation system works—and why.

You don't have to be different to make money.