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Professional Services Microworld
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General information
.... experience the special strategic challenges of a professional services
organisation. In the process, gain valuable insight into important issues
common to many business situations, such as:
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driving growth in staff resources through several seniority levels, balancing
recruitment, promotion and attrition,
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matching growth in customers/clients to the firm’s capacity to serve them,
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managing the growth of critical intangible resources, such as 'knowledge',
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steering strategy when key drivers of performance include some intangible,
invisible and hard-to-manage issues, such as reputation and morale.
See how the power of the ‘dynamic resource-system view’ helps to understand and
manage growth and decay of strategic resources, and see how they combine
together to determine long-term performance. Managed well, this strategic
architecture can grow and thrive. Managed badly, it will lurch from crisis to
crisis, and ultimately into failure.
The
Professional Services Microworld allows you to tackle these issues from several
different starting situations, such as rapid growth, turn-round and maturity.
You can choose to pursue a variety of performance goals, such as building
the firm’s clients or staff, extending the firm’s knowledge base, or
growing the firm’s wealth to share with your colleagues.
This is a medium scale simulation, supported by a popular Harvard case study on
McKinsey & Co, but also usable with a variety of cases on professional
service organisations.
Authors: Kim Warren and Christina Spencer
© Global Strategy Dynamics Ltd 2000 |
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Professional Services Microworld Microworld - Versions available
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The Professional Services Microworld is a PC based simulation, running on
Windows 95 and above. It requires less than 5 Mb disk space and will run on PCs
with 32Mb RAM although performance is enhanced on higher specification
machines. The software is downloaded as a self-executing zip file (8Mb). Please
extract this to an empty temporary folder and then run Setup.exe. We have a
range of licensing options - for more information see our
licence information. In summary there are three types of licence:
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Demo Version |
The demo version consists of a link to the software for download and an
introductory user guide.
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Single User Licence |
The single user version is licensed for personal use only and may not be used
in training or consultancy. Purchase may be made online. The software is the
same as the demo version so there is no additional download to be made. You
will be provided with the link to the software, an unlock code and a learning
guide which includes management challenges. Note that the suggested case
study to accompany this microworld is not available in the electronic version.
This is a Harvard Business School case McKinsey & Company, Managing
Knowledge and Learning, by Professor Christopher A Bartlett. The case study is
included in the hard copy learner guide.
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Site Licence |
The software for the site pack is the same as for the single user version. Site
packs contain additional materials (slides, slide handouts, and annotations) to
enable front-of-class delivery. The cost of site packs includes copy
permissions for the materials as well as software usage fees. The suggested
case study to accompany this microworld is Harvard Business School
case; McKinsey & Company, Managing Knowledge and Learning, by
Professor Christopher A Bartlett. An inspection copy is provided in teacher
packs but copies for class use need to be purchased separately from HBSP or
your normal supplier of cases. If you would like further information on
site packs and prices please contact
our sales department stating which product(s) you have an interest in,
the type of organisation that the product would be licensed to (academic,
corporate, executive education) and the size of group with which it might be
used. |
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Professional Services Microworld … key learning points |
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Business performance over time (clients, reputation, financial surplus) depends
on the resources we have.
Resources are won and lost over time (clients today = sum of all clients ever
won, minus all ever lost).
Resources bring with them a characteristic contribution to the rest of the
system (staff carry with them an increasing level of experience, that
determines their contribution to client-service quality).
Robust growth depends on a continuing balance between resources.
Imbalances may damage critical intangible factors (reputation, pressure on
staff, knowledge-base)
… and …
Professional organisations may choose amongst several performance objectives -
growth, reputation, partner-wealth - each with its own implications for how the
organisation is managed through time.
Appropriate policy choices (hiring, promotion, client-development) will vary,
depending on the state of the business and the direction in which it is moving.
Choosing to devote effort to build and sustain a knowledge-base of codified
learning from experience with clients is time-consuming, demanding effort from
professionals who would otherwise be serving clients. However, this resource
drives better quality work, enhances reputation, and eases client-acquisition.
Professional staff are motivated by challenging work, promotion prospects and
likely future rewards (amongst other factors), and providing these benefits
depends on skilful development of staff and clients.
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Context |
Operating and/or building a professional service firm (specifically a strategic
consulting business).
Contexts where similar generic issues arise - any multi-level, skilled staff
situation, including internal support departments, such as IT services.
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Contexts where similar specific structures arise - all types of professional
service firm, e.g. in accounting, advertising, law, or public relations.
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Exclusions: |
This Microworld does not include explicit rivalry, although acquisition and
retention of both staff and clients implicitly reflect competitive performance. |
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Decision inputs: |
Hiring of junior staff.
Promotion to mid-level and partnership.
Firing ('up-or-out' policies can be successful in certain situations)
Client-acquisition rates
Extent of knowledge-base to build and sustain |
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Performance outputs: |
Reputation
Growth (of clients and/or staff)
Financial surplus and/or partner bonus |
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Challenges offered: |
Sustaining a sound, growing business. Injecting energy into a high-reputation,
but stagnant business.
Turning round a business that has been managed into difficulty through
over-aggressive pursuit of growth.
Rescuing a business that has been managed exclusively to maximise partner
bonuses. |
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