- 22 Jan 2008
- Research & Ideas
New Challenges in Leading Professional Services
Professional service firms are being challenged as never before—by clients, associates, and the competition, just for starters. But old-style PSF leaders are not equipped to respond, says Harvard Business School professor Thomas J. DeLong. He discusses his new book When Professionals Have to Lead. Plus: Book excerpt. Key concepts include: Today's leaders of professional service firms are being overwhelmed by demanding clients, human capital challenges, lack of organizing strategies, and perhaps most of all, unrealistic expectations of the task itself. There is also on ongoing trend to focus on the development of only the highfliers and ignore a vast number of very competent professionals who are the heart and soul of the firm. The integrated leadership model is built on 4 specific dimensions: setting direction, gaining commitment to the direction, executing on the direction, and setting a personal example. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 05 Jul 2006
- Working Paper Summaries
What’s Law Got to Do with It: A Systems Approach to Management
Mainstream management theory often ignores the influence of law on the competitive environment and on the resources of the firm. The author attempts to spark greater academic interest in the legal aspects of management by proposing a systems approach to law and management "that explains how law affects the competitive environment, the firm's resources, and the activities in the value chain." Key concepts include: There is a variety of legal tools that managers can use as part of their market strategy to increase realizable value and manage risk. Firms operate within a broader social context, which can affect both how existing laws are interpreted and applied and how laws are changed in the future. The use of law to create competitive advantage is a wide-open area for academic study. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 05 Jul 2006
- Working Paper Summaries
Deep Links: Business School Students’ Perceptions of the Role of Law and Ethics in Business
The researchers spent more than a year eliciting twelve MBA students' thoughts and feelings about the role of law in starting and running a U.S. business. This research offers new insights into the ongoing debate about how best to educate the business leaders of tomorrow. More than a standalone course in business law or ethics, it would be wise for educators to use an approach that treats the role of law and business in the broader context of societal needs and norms. Key concepts include: Business school curricula that ignore the role law plays in making markets possible may undermine students' appreciation of how law undergirds the capitalist system. Business students need to learn both more ethics and law. Teaching materials should highlight the positive associations or linkages between law, business, and societal welfare. The systems approach to management is one way to link law, business, and ethics to create an integrated mental model. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 12 Dec 2005
- Research & Ideas
Using the Law to Strategic Advantage
Used proactively, corporate legal departments can give you a strategic advantage, argues HBS professor Constance Bagley. It's time for a new relationship between managers and legal. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
Do Legal Origins Have Persistent Effects Over Time? A Look at Law and Finance around the World c. 1900
A significant number of recent papers find legal origins to be strongly correlated with current indices of rule of law, financial development, the regulation of entry and labor, and the concentration of ownership, among other things. Few studies, however, have explored whether correlations between institutions and economic and financial outcomes hold in the past. For this reason, we cannot be certain that the alleged persistence of the effects of these institutions passes the scrutiny of history. This paper examines specifically the relationship between legal origins and financial development by analyzing countries' legal traditions and the extent of investor protections and financial development over time. Key concepts include: Circa 1910, the protection of shareholders did not rely strongly on government or court enforcement of shareholder rights. In many countries, companies reliant on outside financing had to win investor trust by either building good reputations or writing strong protections for small shareholders into their company bylaws. The findings of this paper do not imply that legal origin cannot be a significant explanatory variable of the differences observed in financial development today. Instead, they suggest a need for more research into how shocks of the 20th century triggered a political process that led to state intervention and regulation, which ended up making legal origin matter more. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.