The Firm

A behind-the-scenes, revelatory history of the controversial consulting firm traces its decades-long influence in both business and political arenas, citing its role in the establishment of mainstream practices and modern understandings about capitalism while evaluating the failures that have compromised its reputation. 60,000 first printing.

Originally published: [New York]: Doubleday, 1991.

Table of contents

A look at the field of strategic management, exploring the theories of the running of the firm.

In this book we open our insights in the Theory of the Firm, obtained through the application of Optimal Control Theory, to a public of scholars and advanced students in economics and applied mathematics. We walk on the micro economic side of the street that is bordered by Theory of the Firm on one side and by Optimal Control Theory on the other, keeping the reader away from all the dead end roads we turned down during our 10 years lasting research. We focus attention on the expressiveness and variety of insights that are obtained through studying only simple models of the firm. In this book mathematics is our tool, insight in optimal corporate policy our goal. Therefore most of the mathematics and calculations is put into appendices and in the main text all attention is on modelling corporate behaviour and on analysing the results of the calculations. So, the main text focusses on micro economics, even more specific: on Theory of the Firm. In that way this book is contrasted from such famous text books in applied Optimal Control with a much broader portfolio of applications, like Feichtinger & Hartl (1986) or with a more rigorous introduction into theory, like Seierstad & Sydsaeter (1987).

The cost of capital concept has myriad applications in business decision-making. The standard methodology for deriving cost of capital estimates is based on the seminal Modigliani-Miller analyses. This book generalizes this framework to include non-debt tax shields (e.g., depreciation), interactions between the borrowing rate and tax shields, and default considerations. It develops several new results and shows how better cost of capital and marginal tax rate estimates can be generated. The book's unified cost of capital theory is discussed with comprehensive numerical examples and graphical illustrations.This book will be of interest to corporate managers, academics, investment bankers, governmental agencies, and private companies that generate cost of capital estimates for public consumption.

'Bill Pollard speaks with a voice of experience. His book deals with the practice of leadership- over time, under pressure, living with reality, getting the desired results. The Soul of the Firm tells how ServiceMaster has successfully grapple with the key issues of leadership. That is why it is so worthwhile.' -Max De Pree 'Bill Pollard demonstrates in great detail ServiceMaster's value system, a system that emphasizes the importance of the dignity of the individual. Readers will benefit greatly from Bill's wisdom. This is an important book that should be widely read.' -W. Earl Sasser, James L. Heskett, and Leonard A. Schlesinger 'Rarely are we given an open and generous look inside the corporate leader who is the embodiment of the mission and values of the enterprise. . . A powerful book.' -Frances Hesselbein 'A fascinating story about servant leadership and an extraordinary culture at ServiceMaster.' -Richard L. Thomas 'A remarkable book. . . . ServiceMaster invented 'lea production' for the service sector by listening to and empowering its employees on the front line. This book is the moving story of the wellspring of that culture and philosophy, told by a reflective, modest corporate leader.' -Elmer Johnson

In the 21st century, even small firms can reach customers located in different, often remote, parts of the world. In fact, internationalisation has become a common phenomenon that affects the majority of companies worldwide. Recent research emphasises that there are numerous determinants of a company’s competitive advantage in the international business environment, including product quality, price, and market knowledge. Much less attention, however, has been paid to the role of business relationships. The task of determining the impact of business relationships on performance poses a considerable challenge. In the book, business relationships are operationalised by a set of characteristics and determinants which influence a company’s competitive advantage. The contributors here refer to these characteristics and determinants as components of the company’s internationalisation maturity. It is argued that a higher level of internationalisation maturity increases the firm’s performance. The book includes both conceptual discussions on the role of firms’ business relationships in the internationalisation process and results of extensive empirical studies. In order to verify the concept of a firm’s internationalisation maturity, a mixed methodology was used, combining quantitative (almost 300 companies) and qualitative (40 case studies) research. As such, the book provides useful insights for academics, students of management and international business, and business practitioners.

The Second European Edition of Services Marketing: Integrating Customer Focus Across the Firm by Wilson, Zeithaml, Bitner and Gremler uniquely focuses on the development of customer relationships through quality service. Reflecting the increasing importance of the service economy, Services Marketing is the only text that put the customer's experience of services at the centre of its approach. The core theories, concepts and frameworks are retained, and specifically the gaps model, a popular feature of the book. The text moves from the foundations of services marketing before introducing the gaps model and demonstrating its application to services marketing. In the second edition, the book takes on more European and International contexts to reflect the needs of courses, lecturers and students. The second edition builds on the wealth of European and International examples, cases, and research in the first edition, offering more integration of European content. It has also be fully updated with the latest research to ensure that it continues to be seen as the text covering the very latest services marketing thinking. In addition, the cases section has been thoroughly examined and revised to offer a range of new case studies with a European and global focus. The online resources have also been fully revised and updated providing an excellent package of support for lecturers and students.

"[This] is a book of great richness, beauty and power and thus very difficult to do justice to in a brief review...The violence is sometimes unbearable, the language rarely less than superb. Dillard's description of the moth's death makes Virginia Woolf's go dim and Edwardian. Nature seen so clear and hard that the eyes tear...A rare and precious book." — Freferick Buechner, New York Times Book Review From Pulitzer Prize-winning Annie Dillard, a book about the grace, beauty, and terror of the natural world. In the mid 1970s, Annie Dillard spent two years on an island in Puget Sound in a room with a solitary window, a cat, and a spider for company, asking herself questions about memory, time, sacrifice, reality, death, and God. Holy the Firm, the diary-like collection of her thoughts, feelings, and ruminations during this time, is a lyrical gift to any reader who have ever wondered how best to live with grace and wonder in the natural world.

Businesses around the world face increasing turbulence in their economic and social environments. The pace of change in market economies seems to be ever accelerating. In this book, the authors consider some of the implications for management of different views of the firm. They point to the need, in these days of global markets and increased uncertainty, for firms to be flexible and responsive to market-place requirements.

This book explores the different stages in the life cycle of the small firm, and ways to solve entrepreneurial dilemmas that the entrepreneur faces during and in-between these different stages of development.

This guide is a practical resource for those firms that want to provide better client service and at the same time, improve the working environment for both lawyers and staff. It provides strategies to change the climate of the law firm, boost morale, and effectively and efficiently manage the firm. Issues discussed range from leadership and partnership issues to the basics of running the office. Includes a companion CD-ROM with more than 25 model forms, agreements, worksheets, questionnaires, policy forms, and more.