Any company operating in the developing world must view Aids as a threat and have response mechanisms in place (Rosen, Simon, Vincent, MacLeod, Fox and Thea, 2003). The objective of this research was to discover how South African professional services companies are responding to HIV/Aids. The research further sought to confirm whether the response of the professional services sector can be considered ‘rational’ or ‘reasonable.’ Twenty interviews were undertaken across professional services companies to understand how the sector is responding to HIV/Aids from the perspective of their employee base, client base and surrounding communities. The findings showed that most professional services companies have neither felt nor measured the impact of HIV/Aids on their business. Most companies have implemented some sort of measure to respond to HIV/Aids internally, even if only a policy to safeguard them. Some companies view HIV/Aids as an opportunity, in that it enables the provision of additional products and services to clients. More than half of the companies interviewed are contributing to HIV/Aids causes outside of their workplace. As a result of this study, a model has been developed to classify companies according to their response to HIV/Aids. Based on the classification, companies surveyed fell into one of 4 types: shrew, responsible, uninformed or saviour. Twelve companies fell within the ‘shrew’ category, indicating a primarily rational response to HIV/Aids. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

In the professional services industry, it is no secret that people are the greatest assets. The investment in human capital is the core of the business, the dividends of which can never be under-estimated. The continued success of the professional services firm therefore lies in being able to retain that investment within the organisation. The current high rate of turnover within the firm, and in the professional services industry, is indeed a big challenge for management. One that necessitates a review into a variety of ways of keeping the talent within the firm. This research study was commissioned to look into one of the proposed initiatives for retaining employees; that of wealth creation. The aim was to source the views of employees on wealth creation as a way of increasing the rate of retention or otherwise as well as identify the preferred structure of such a scheme. The results of the research showed that employees deem financial remuneration to be highly important and would stay with the firm longer if provided with a wealth initiative. There was preference for a short to medium term scheme rather than a long term one, with some particular suggested schemes coming out as preferred favourites than others. Respondents also went further to highlight other factors that were contributing to loss of talent within the firm. The responses from the survey have been comprehensively analysed and recommendations made on the implementation of the wealth creation scheme. / Graduate School for Business Leadership / (M.B.A.)

In the professional services industry, it is no secret that people are the greatest assets. The investment in human capital is the core of the business, the dividends of which can never be under-estimated. The continued success of the professional services firm therefore lies in being able to retain that investment within the organisation. The current high rate of turnover within the firm, and in the professional services industry, is indeed a big challenge for management. One that necessitates a review into a variety of ways of keeping the talent within the firm. This research study was commissioned to look into one of the proposed initiatives for retaining employees; that of wealth creation. The aim was to source the views of employees on wealth creation as a way of increasing the rate of retention or otherwise as well as identify the preferred structure of such a scheme. The results of the research showed that employees deem financial remuneration to be highly important and would stay with the firm longer if provided with a wealth initiative. There was preference for a short to medium term scheme rather than a long term one, with some particular suggested schemes coming out as preferred favourites than others. Respondents also went further to highlight other factors that were contributing to loss of talent within the firm. The responses from the survey have been comprehensively analysed and recommendations made on the implementation of the wealth creation scheme. / Graduate School for Business Leadership / (M.B.A.)

This report is investigating the subject of foreign market entry for service companies. Service firms differ from manufacturing firms since they have a low degree of tangible assets and resources and therefore service firms have to manage and develop their intangible assets to be competitive. Foreign market entry for service firms are a quite unexplored area, and forces that is connected to the subject has to be explored. The purpose of this paper is to identify motives for foreign market entry decision, and central issues a service company should consider before entering a foreign market.   The theoretical framework in the research reports is provided in the literature review chapter. The literature review contains different authors’ opinions about the subject. The theoretical framework is divided into four different sub-headings that are connected with foreign market entry. The authors did a qualitative single case study with an IT-service firm competing on the Swedish market. The empirical data was collected from five respondents at the chosen company. The primary data from the respondents was gained from in-depth interviews and the secondary data was collected from annual reports and internal documents. One conclusion in the study is that there can be a lot of different motives for an entry on a foreign market. The different motives that is stated in the study has a common denominator which is that they can all lead to increased profit in the long run. Other findings are that a service firm has to consider certain external and internal forces in the foreign market entry decision process. The external and internal forces are also linked to the choice of entry mode. The authors provide a model in the conclusion chapter which explains the foreign market entry process and the connection between the different forces.

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This study examined how to best transfer social capital during professional service firm acquisitions. Using a qualitative, multiple case-based approach the study makes two important contributions. First, all four cases were successful in client retention and professional staff retention, yet only two cases were successful in retaining partners. This finding contradicts previous studies that found when partners leave the firm after acquisition clients follow. This research study found that clients stayed with an acquiring firm as long as their on-site project team remained more or less intact. This finding implies that social capital can be transferred between individuals and organizations. Second, a framework of organizational factors that contribute to the successful retention of social and human capital was developed. Successful retention of clients was primarily dependent on the retention of the project team (professional staff), but the robustness of the contract, the nature of the project work and sufficient communication were factors as well. Successful retention of professional staff relied upon the integration process, of which sufficient communication; goodness of organizational fit and goodness of strategic fit were factors. Successful retention of partners was based on timely communication and the importance of leadership roles for some of the acquired partners. / Organizational Analysis

Research in the field of retention has been dominated by studies focused on retention of highly talented employees or A players. Organisations for many years have overlooked, misunderstood and to a large degree ignored the contributions of the steady and capable performers, the B players. Understanding the retention needs of B players has become critical in ensuring organisational success in the short and long term. The purpose of the research aimed to identify the key factors influencing the retention of B players across generations and ethnic groups, and thereby develop a retention framework that will contribute towards the improved retention of B players. The study adopted a dual approach, incorporating a qualitative and quantitative methodology. Interviews were conducted with key stakeholders to validate the questionnaire and gain insights regarding the key retention variables that influence B players. A questionnaire was then distributed to respondents to obtain their views. Data was gathered electronically and analysed against the research objectives defined. The key findings indicated that B players are most influenced by Financial Reward&Recognition, Independence&Freedom and Leadership& Management factors. A Factor Significance and Variable Importance Retention Framework was developed to assist organisations to develop dynamic multidimensional strategies. Copyright / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

The impact of knowledge on firm performance has been seen as one explanation of firm performance heterogeneity, which is a central question in the area of Strategic Management. However, there has been surprisingly limited research into the role of new knowledge internalization within firms. Further, the ubiquitous role of external knowledge providers, especially those that explicitly exist to provide knowledge to firms (Consulting Service Firms) has been negligibly studied. Specifically this dissertation looked at how firms first understand new knowledge and suggested that firms differ in their ability to discern the impact of this new knowledge based on the absorptive capacity that they already possess. I examine how firms internalize this new knowledge and suggest that they can either use existing internal resources or seek external assistance to achieve this internalization. This dissertation has empirically examined these linkages. A survey sent to the top management of 2015 Indian firms, yielded 277 usable responses, which have provided insights into the new knowledge internalization pathways in firms. I use structural equation modeling and hierarchical regressions to test my hypotheses. I find that firms do differ in their use of internal and external knowledge providers, while attempting to internalize new knowledge and that the quality of the relationship impacts the outcomes of any external engagement. I also find that firms with absorptive capacity benefit both by having better short term financial performance and also by being well situated to increase their stocks of knowledge assets, which can help long term performance. This dissertation contributes to several streams of literature in the field of strategic management. I add to the knowledge based view literature and more specifically to the absorptive capacity literature by partially opening the black box of organizational routines. This dissertation also contributes to the professional service literature by suggesting that consultants can help firms generate performance, although this is particularly beneficial to firms that already posses high absorptive capacity. Implications of the results from both practice and research perspectives are discussed and areas of future research are suggested.

The DuPont analysis is one of the most commonly used financial analysis tools for traditional businesses. It disaggregates return on equity (ROE) into profit margin (PM), asset turnover (ATO), and leverage (LEV) thereby providing value-relevant information relative to aggregated profitability. In this paper, I extend the use of the DuPont model to the professional service industry. The professional service industry has recently become one of the fastest growing segments driving the U.S. economy (USITC 2009, U.S. Census Bureau of Economic Analysis 2009). Unlike traditional businesses whose key business assets are their physical assets, professional service firms rely on human capital assets that are not recognized in the balance sheet. I introduce a profitability ratio analysis model that focuses on human capital. I validate the model by examining whether the disaggregated profitability ratios for professional service firms add relevant information over aggregated ratio in the same way as they do for traditional businesses. I use law firms as a representative segment of the professional service sector to empirically evaluate my model. I collect financial and human resource data for 81 of the 100 largest U.S. law firms from 2000 to 2007 then disaggregate profit per equity partner (PPP) into the three profitability ratios: profit margin (PM), revenue per lawyer (RPL), and leverage (LEV). I compare the absolute forecasting error (AFE) of the simple AR (1) model that uses only the current year profit per equity partner (PPP) to forecast one-year ahead profit per equity partner (PPP) and my model that uses the three profitability ratio model (PM, RPL, and LEV) of current year to forecast one-year ahead profit per equity partner (PPP). I find that using the disaggregated profitability ratios significantly improves forecasting of future profitability relative to using only profit per equity partner (PPP), analogous to similar results documented for the DuPont model in Fairfield and Yohn (2001) and Soliman (2004). I examine which firm characteristics are associated with the profitability ratios. I include four firm characteristics variables (STRUCTURE, SCOPE-INTL, SCOPE-RGNL, and SCALE) that are commonly used in economic analysis of industrial organizations. I find that the profitability ratios are systematically associated with firm characteristics that reveal information on the business models of individual firms. Leverage (LEV) is higher in law firms with non-equity partners (STRUCTURE), international focus (SCOPE-INTL), regional focus (SCOPE-RGNL), or large size (SCALE). Law firms that are large sized (SCALE) or regional focused (SCOPE-RGNL) command premium fee (high RPL) on average, but law firms with international focus or with non-equity partners do not. / Business Administration/Accounting

Yes / The leading frameworks of internationalization have contributed significantly to our knowledge of how firms internationalize, but do not fully explain how firms actually create and capture value from customers when internationalizing their activities. Understanding the value creation and capture activities defining their business model(s) is critical for firms moving into less familiar markets, and is particularly relevant for service firms where variability is an inherent feature of the firm/client experience. To address this gap, we take a business model perspective to analyze 144 internationalization events of 10 professional service firms. We find that the case firms adopted four different business models when internationalizing, and that single firms may utilize portfolios of business models. Our findings contribute to both the services internationalization and business model literatures by showing how variability in the internationalization process substantiates the need for business model portfolios.