Beyond the Big Firm


Book Description

This succinct paperback will fill a major information void for students and recent graduates who are interested in a legal career outside the typical large, corporate law firm. Beyond the Big Firm offers more than 30 compelling profiles of lawyers who have chosen to follow nontraditional legal careers, in a wide range of subject areas, practice settings, and types of work. This distinctive book explores the many possibilities open to law school graduates interested in "alternative" career choices. the editors of this engaging compilation are long-time public interest lawyers; the actual authors of the profiles are primarily students who capture the personalities of the subjects in a way that is sure to resonate with the audience because they share the same questions about career choices the subjects of the profiles have been out of law school 10-15 years, they represent 18 law schools, and they work in 15 states the lawyers profiled have jobs in governments, nonprofits, and small private firms; both civil and criminal law practice are covered, including prosecutors and defense counsel some of the fields that the lawyers work in include civil rights, civil liberties, immigration, personal injury, and human rights In addition to the fascinating profiles, special features include: a special resources chapter to help students determine and follow their career choice a final chapter with mini-profiles of 3 lawyers who are not practicing law, but for whom their legal training is vital to their work short essays by current and former Stanford Law School deans Larry Kramer and Kathleen Sullivan




Beyond Performance


Book Description

The secret of achieving and sustaining organizational excellence revealed In an ever-changing world where only a third of excellent organizations stay that way over the long term, and where even fewer are able to implement successful change programs, leaders are in need of big ideas and new tools to thrive. In Beyond Performance, McKinsey & Company's Scott Keller and Colin Price give you everything you need to build an organization that can execute in the short run and has the vitality to prosper over the long term. Drawing on the most exhaustive research effort of its kind on organizational effectiveness and change management, Keller and Price put hard science behind their big idea: that the health of an organization is equally as important as its performance. In the book's foreword, management guru Gary Hamel refers to this notion as "a new manifesto for thinking about organizations." The authors illustrate why copying management best practices from other companies is more dangerous than helpful Clearly explains how to determine the mutually reinforcing combination of management practices that best fits your organization's context Provides practical tools to achieve superior levels of performance and health through a staged change process: aspire, assess, architect, act, and advance. Among these are new techniques for dealing with those aspects of human behavior that are seemingly irrational (and therefore confound even the smartest leaders), yet entirely predictable Ultimately, building a healthy organization is an intangible asset that competitors copy at their peril and that enables you to skillfully adapt to and shape your environment faster than others—giving you the ultimate competitive advantage.




Beyond Great


Book Description

Great is no longer good enough. Beyond Great delivers a powerful new playbook of 9 core strategies to thrive in a post-COVID world where all the rules of the game are being re-written. Beyond Great answers to two fundamental questions which face business leaders today in a world shaped by daunting and disruptive technological, economic, and social change. First, what is outstanding performance in this new volatile era? Second, how do we build competitive advantage in a world with new and often uncertain rules? Supported by years of research and hands-on consulting practice, this book presents a comprehensive framework for building a high performing, resilient, adaptive, and socially responsible global company. The book begins by taking an incisive look at these disruptive forces transforming globalization, including economic nationalism; the boom in data flows and digital commerce; the rise of China; heightened public concerns about capitalism and the environment; and the emergence of borderless communities of digitally connected consumers. Distilled from the study of hundreds of companies and interviews with dozens of business leaders, the authors have distilled nine core strategies – the new winning playbook of the 21st century. Beyond Great argues that business leaders today must lead with a new kind of openness, flexibility and light-footedness, constantly layering in new strategies and operational norms atop existing ones to allow for "always-on" transformation. Leaders must master a whole new set of rules about what it takes to be "global," becoming shapeshifters adept at handling contradiction, multiplicity, and nuance. This book will show them how.




Beyond Digital


Book Description

Two world-renowned strategists detail the seven leadership imperatives for transforming companies in the new digital era. Digital transformation is critical. But winning in today's world requires more than digitization. It requires understanding that the nature of competitive advantage has shifted—and that being digital is not enough. In Beyond Digital, Paul Leinwand and Matt Mani from Strategy&, PwC's global strategy consulting business, take readers inside twelve companies and how they have navigated through this monumental shift: from Philips's reinvention from a broad conglomerate to a focused health technology player, to Cleveland Clinic's engagement with its broader ecosystem to improve and expand its leading patient care to more locations around the world, to Microsoft's overhaul of its global commercial business to drive customer outcomes. Other case studies include Adobe, Citigroup, Eli Lilly, Hitachi, Honeywell, Inditex, Komatsu, STC Pay, and Titan. Building on a major new body of research, the authors identify the seven imperatives that leaders must follow as the digital age continues to evolve: Reimagine your company's place in the world Embrace and create value via ecosystems Build a system of privileged insights with your customers Make your organization outcome-oriented Invert the focus of your leadership team Reinvent the social contract with your people Disrupt your own leadership approach Together, these seven imperatives comprise a playbook for how leaders can define a bolder purpose and transform their organizations.




The Big Four


Book Description

"Messrs. Gow and Kells have made an invaluable contribution, writing in an amused tone that nevertheless acknowledges the firms' immense power and the seriousness of their neglect of traditional responsibilities. 'The Big Four' will appeal to all those interested in the future of the profession--and of capitalism itself." —Jane Gleeson-White, Wall Street Journal With staffs that are collectively larger than the Russian army and combined revenues of over $130 billion a year, the Big Four accounting firms—Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Ernst & Young, and KPMG—are a keystone of global commerce. But leading scholar Ian Gow and award-winning author Stuart Kells warn that a house of cards may be about to fall. Stretching back to the Medicis in Renaissance Florence, this book is a fascinating story of wealth, power, and luck. The founders of the Big Four lived surprisingly colorful lives. Samuel Price, for example, married his own niece. Between the world wars, Nicholas Waterhouse collected postage stamps while also hosting decadent parties in his fashionable London home. All four firms have endured major calamities in recent decades. There have been hundreds of court cases and legal prosecutions for failed audits, tax scandals, and breaches of independence. The firms have come so close to “extinction level events” that regulators have required them to prepare “living wills.” And today, the Big Four face an uncertain future—thanks to their push into China, their vulnerability to digital disruption and competition, and the hazards of providing traditional services in a new era of transparency. This account of the past, present, and likely future of the Big Four is essential reading for anyone perplexed or fascinated by professional services, working or considering working in the industry, or simply curious about the fate of the global economy.




Tomorrowland


Book Description

Tomorrowland lays out possible future scenarios for law firms, ranging from "nothing changes," to profound dislocations brought about by developments such as lawyer psychology blocking essential reforms, a dramatic escalation in the war for talent and "barbell" partner compensation models, the triumph of brand names (and the irrelevance of every other firm), the seemingly inexorable and deeply threatening rise of machine intelligence, new entrants including the Big Four grabbing market share, and more. It doesn't predict what will happen but explains what could, drawing widely from the history of other industries and broad experience with how markets evolve and change. "Must reading for every law firm managing partner, for every law firm partner, and for anyone interested in the future of Big Law. Extraordinarily well done and insightful; audacious and courageous. A tour de force."-Brad Karp, Chair of the Firm, Paul Weiss "No self-respecting law firm leader should be prepared to run the risk of leaving it unread."-Charles Martin, Senior Partner, Macfarlanes




Beyond Performance 2.0


Book Description

Double your odds of leading successful, sustainable change Leaders aren’t short on access to change management advice, but the jury has long been out as to which approach is the best one to follow. With the publication of Beyond Performance 2.0, the verdict is well and truly in. By applying the approach detailed by authors, Scott Keller and Bill Schaninger, the evidence shows that leaders can more than double their odds of success—from thirty percent to almost eighty. Whereas the first edition of Beyond Performance introduced the authors’ “Five Frames of Performance and Health” approach to change management, the fully revised and updated Beyond Performance 2.0 has been transformed into a truly practical “how to” guide for leaders. Every aspect of how to lead change at scale is covered in a step-by-step manner, always accompanied by practical tools and real-life examples. Keller and Schaninger’s work is distinguished in many ways, one of which is the rigor behind the recommendations. The underpinning research is the most comprehensive of its kind—based on over 5 million data points drawn from 2,000 companies globally over a 15-year period. This data is overlaid with the authors’ combined more than 40 years of experience in helping companies successfully achieve large-scale change. As senior partners in McKinsey & Company, consistently named the world’s most prestigious management consulting firm, Keller and Schaninger also draw on the shared experience of their colleagues from offices in over 60 countries with unrivaled access to CEOs and senior teams. Beyond Performance 2.0 also dares to go against the grain—eschewing the notion of copying best practices and instead guiding leaders to make choices specific to their unique context and organization. It does this with meticulously balance of focus on short- and long-term considerations, and on fully addressing the hard technical and oft cultural elements of making change happen. Further, the approach doesn’t just focus on delivering change; it builds an organization’s muscle to continuously change, making it healthier so that it can act with increased speed and agility to stay perpetually ahead of its competition. Leaders looking for a proven approach to leading large-scale change from a trusted source have found what they are looking for in Beyond Performance 2.0.




Beyond Price


Book Description

Commoditisation is the gravitational force pulling competing products and services down to the same level, until price determines which company wins and loses customers. "Beyond Price" will teach readers how to innovate their business models to escape the gravity of commoditisation and price-driven competition. Business leaders will find immediate value in this systematic guide to transforming a company from one-of-many to one-of-a-kind, a company whose offerings competitors will find hard to copy and customers will feel excited to discover. A strategically differentiated business model, executed effectively, will create: Customers willing to pay a premium for a product; Long-term relationships with customers and suppliers; A collaborative environment focused on shared goals of where and how to win business; Faster decisions about how and when to pursue opportunities; Better resource leveraging through clear direction and focus. A well-defined roadmap to building a thriving business, "Beyond Price" identifies and integrates all the areas of change, beyond strategy, leaders must address to break out of and stay out of commodity competition.




BRICs and Beyond


Book Description

BRICs and Beyond is an international business executive text written especially for executive and MBA students. It is based on extensive consulting in emerging economies and several years of experience teaching executive MBA courses around the globe. The author has continually faced the problem that the available textbooks for teaching international business focused almost exclusively on examples of Western multinationals for case illustrations. In the process of preparing cases nearer to the emerging market she worked in, the author realized that the often fascinating, frequently insightful and always different approach to business illustrated by these cases should be required reading for MBA students in typical Western environments too. With its wide range of current case illustrations and concise summaries this is a new-generation text that will welcome today's MBA student to the wider world of 21st century international business. ". . . this book is needed not only because it looks at business from the BRICs points of view; it also looks at business from the point of view of tomorrow's business leaders and the challenges that they will have to cope with." --Professor Jonathan Gosling, Centre for Leadership Studies, and co-founder, The One-Planet MBA, the University of Exeter, UK ". . . Stephanie Jones advises Western businesses on doing business in emerging economies in a refreshingly straightforward manner, integrating in a novel way her three decades of global, practical experience with the daily barrage of reporting on the BRICs--distilling from these many lessons and principles. . ." --Extracted from the Foreword, by Professor Wim Naudé, Director of Research, Maastricht School of Management




Strategy Beyond the Hockey Stick


Book Description

Beat the odds with a bold strategy from McKinsey & Company "Every once in a while, a genuinely fresh approach to business strategy appears" —legendary business professor Richard Rumelt, UCLA McKinsey & Company's newest, most definitive, and most irreverent book on strategy—which thousands of executives are already using—is a must-read for all C-suite executives looking to create winning corporate strategies. Strategy Beyond the Hockey Stick is spearheading an empirical revolution in the field of strategy. Based on an extensive analysis of the key factors that drove the long-term performance of thousands of global companies, the book offers a ground-breaking formula that enables you to objectively assess your strategy's real odds of future success. "This book is fundamental. The principles laid out here, with compelling data, are a great way around the social pitfalls in strategy development." —Frans Van Houten, CEO, Royal Philips N.V. The authors have discovered that over a 10-year period, just 1 in 12 companies manage to jump from the middle tier of corporate performance—where 60% of companies reside, making very little economic profit—to the top quintile where 90% of global economic profit is made. This movement does not happen by magic—it depends on your company's current position, the trends it faces, and the big moves you make to give it the strongest chance of vaulting over the competition. This is not another strategy framework. Rather, Strategy Beyond the Hockey Stick shows, through empirical analysis and the experiences of dozens of companies that have successfully made multiple big moves, that to dramatically improve performance, you have to overcome incrementalism and corporate inertia. "A different kind of book—I couldn't put it down. Inspiring new insights on the facts of what it takes to move a company's performance, combined with practical advice on how to deal with real-life dynamics in management teams." —Jane Fraser, CEO, Citigroup Latin America