Managing the professional service firm / David H. Maister.
Publisher: London : Simon & Schuster, 2003Description: xvi, 376 p. ill.; 25cm001: 14880ISBN: 0743231562; 9780743231565Subject(s): Professional corporations -- ManagementDDC classification: 658 LOC classification: HD62.65 | .M35 2003Item type | Current library | Collection | Call number | Copy number | Status | Date due | Barcode | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Book | MAIN LIBRARY Book | 658 MAI (Browse shelf(Opens below)) | 1 | Available | 089398 |
Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:
Professional service firms differ from other business enterprises in two distinct ways: first they provide highly customised services thus cannot apply many of the management principles developed for product-based industries. Second, professional services are highly personalised, involving the skills of individuals. Such firms must therefore compete not only for clients but also for talented professionals. Drawing on more than ten years of research and consulting to these unique and creative companies, David Maister explores issues ranging from marketing and business development to multinational strategies, human resources policies to profit improvement, strategic planning to effective leadership. While these issues can be complex, Maister simplifies them by recognising that 'every professional service firm in the world, regardless of size, specific profession, or country of operation, has the same mission statement: outstanding service to clients, satisfying careers for its people and financial success for its owners.'
First published: New York : Free Press, c1993.
Originally published: 1997.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 365-366) and index.
Table of contents provided by Syndetics
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Part 1 Basic Matters
- 1 A Question of Balance
- 2 The Professional Firm Life Cycle
- 3 Profitability: Health and Hygiene
- 4 Solving the Underdelegation Problem
- Part 2 Client Matters
- 5 The Practice Development Package
- 6 Listening to Clients
- 7 Quality Work Doesn't Mean Quality Service
- 8 A Service Quality Program
- 9 Marketing to Existing Clients
- 10 How Clients Choose
- 11 Attracting New Clients
- 12 Managing the Marketing Effort
- Part 3 People Matters
- 13 How's Your Asset?
- 14 How to Build Human Capital
- 15 The Motivation Crisis
- 16 On the Importance of Scheduling
- 17 On the Meaning of Partnership
- 18 Surviving the People Crisis
- Part 4 Management Matters
- 19 How Practice Leaders Add Value
- 20 How to Create a Strategy
- 21 Fast-Track Strategy
- Part 5 Partnership Matters
- 22 Partner Performance Counseling
- 23 The Art of Partner Compensation
- 24 Patterns in Partner Compensation
- 25 Pie-Splitting
- 26 Partnership Governance
- Part 6 Multisite Matters
- 27 The One-Firm Firm
- 28 Hunters and Farmers
- 29 Making the Network Work
- 30 Creating the Collaborative Firm
- 31 Coordinating Industry Specialty Groups
- Part 7 Final Thoughts
- 32 Asset Management
- References and Sources
- Index
Excerpt provided by Syndetics
Reviews provided by Syndetics
Publishers Weekly Review
In this admirable study, Maister argues that professional businesses (those of attorneys, doctors, architects, etc.) are, as he quotes a partner in a major law firm, ``managed in one of two ways: badly or not at all.'' Why? Such firms, he suggests, attract individuals who have a ``strong need for autonomy. . . . The professionals have more than their share of people with an aversion to taking directions.'' Maister, a consultant, outlines procedures for bringing solid business practices into the workplace of professionals. He discusses training, time management, delegation, unchecked growth, attracting new clients and keeping existing ones. His suggestions for the development of associates, overseeing ineffective partners and compensation systems are also superb. (Nov.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reservedThere are no comments on this title.