The One-Firm Firm: What Makes It Successful
In an effort to discover the principles of "good management" of the professional service sector, this author examines the inner workings of a few outstanding companies whose philosophy and management orientation make them what they are today -- successful, profitable, and, above all, well-managed. In the course of identifying the many organizational characteristics common to these firms, he also discovers that these firms share a common management approach, which he labels the "one-firm firm" system. The critical elements of this approach are management's emphasis on loyalty to the firm and group cooperation. By exploring how these elements interact to form a successful management system, the author proposes a model of professional firm success that he believes can be adopted by a variety of professions.