Strategic Management of Professional Service Firms -- Contents -- Preface to the third edition -- I. Professionalsand professional service firms -- Introduction -- Why are professional service firms interesting? -- Professional services - a pragmatic definition -- What is the role of professions? -- II. What's unique aboutprofessional service firms? -- Why are they so special... or are they? -- Introduction -- Are professional service firms different? -- Challenges resulting from characteristics of the output: Intangible, idiosyncratic, innovative -- Challenges resulting from the interaction: Simultaneity, information asymmetry, double moral hazard -- Challenges resulting from characteristics of the inputs: invisible assets and individual professionals -- Why professional service firms are not like manufacturing firms -- III. Managerial Challenges -- Why don't strict procedures and hierarchy work? -- Introduction -- Managing "resources" that make their own decisions -- The role of management in professional service firms -- Why waste a good professional in management? -- Part time management -- The underdelegation problem -- The danger of being too successful -- Management as "herding cats" -- The pros and cons of a cohesive culture -- The tyranny of tangibles -- Managing development spirals -- Conclusions -- IV. Strategic management -- Why bother with strategy when opportunities arise anyway? -- Introduction -- Why strategy has been underemphasized -- Resource based strategic management: Background -- Resource based strategic management: Main principles -- Resource based strategic management: Categories of resources -- Intangible resources in professional service firms -- Resource ownership and control -- Resource Leverage, Accumulation, and Vulnerability -- Resource development through daily operations.

What is strategy in professional service firms? -- Structuring the professional service firm -- Conclusions -- V. Three generic typesof professional firms -- Why is the dream of a wealthy owner inappropriate in so many cases? -- Introduction -- Professional services are not all the same -- The maturity and size of the firm -- Two fundamental dimensions of firm heterogeneity -- Value creation and firm evolution -- Three generic strategies for professional service firms -- A Comparison of the Three Strategic Modes -- The inherent tensions of the three modes -- Dynamics and challenges of changing modes -- Strategy as consistency and "informed choice" -- Some afterthoughts for the 3rd edition -- VI. Firm development and growth -- Why isn't bigger and global always better? -- Introduction -- Questioning traditional assumptions -- Core competence in professional services -- Measuring success -- Acquisitions in professional services -- beware of buying "an empty INC" -- Why internationalize? Or why not? -- VII. Globalization -- - Fad or genuine source of competitive advantage? -- Introduction -- Why do firms globalize? -- How does a professional service firm create value? -- Why do professional service firms globalize? -- Global clients -- Local clients with global "problems" -- Local clients with local "problems" -- Conclusions and implications -- VIII. Summary and implications -- Competence and creativity in complex organizations -- Introduction -- The uniqueness of professional service firms -- The multiple types of professional service firms -- The multidimensional nature of success -- The importance of strategy in profesional service firms -- The importance of management in professional service firms -- The importance of studying professional service firms -- Future research directions -- Conclusions -- Appendix 1.

Current research on professional service firms and related topics -- Appendix 2 -- Index of key terms -- Bibliography.