Professional Service Firm
"This is a terrific book
and the best I have read on the subject. Scott covers the economics and management issues
in professional services with great authority and insight." Peter Doyle, Professor of
Marketing, Warwick Business School
"What I find generally
so praiseworthy is the balance of theory and practical application that runs throughout
the book. Clearly, Mark Scott is someone well versed in the whole range of management
sciences, yet able to ground this perspective in the world of real experience. This book
accomplishes this in a natural, coherent and very readable way." John Zweig, CEO
Specialist Communications Businesses, WPP Group USA Inc.
Spanning a diverse range of
activities from accountancy to marketing communications, the professional services
industry now accounts for up to 17% of employment in the Western economies and had
worldwide revenues in 1999 of around $800 billion. It is continuing to experience one of
the most spectacular growth rates of any Western-dominated industry and is progressively
cornering an ever larger share of industrial value added.
Yet, it remains one of the
most unanalysed and undocumented areas of business activity. It has been subjected to
little scrutiny and received minimal attention from the capital markets. This book aims to
change all that!
The Professional Services
Firm is intended for three key audiences: managers and owners of professional services
firms who want to understand the strategic options they face and how to improve their
financial performance. investors who want to understand how they can exploit the
largely untapped and misunderstood opportunity the industry holds. managers in industrial
and service sectors who want to understand how to emulate the two critical skills mastered
by PSFs - hiring, developing and retaining the best intellectual talent available and
exploiting collective knowledge to achieve differentiation and to-die-for margins.
This seminal book provides
not only the first real insight into the structure, strategy and economics of this huge
and prosperous industry but also an excellent guide to understanding the challenges and
opportunities it faces. Mark C. Scott's analysis of the professional services industry is
an indispensable guide for anyone involved in these types of companies wishing to maximize
performance and profitability.
185 pages