whether those areas manifest themselves through complaints from clients about billing errors, a competitor charging higher rates with no trouble attracting business, or a certain department in the firm isnt pulling its weight in billable hours. Pick just one of those bothersome areas and begin benchmarking.

You will find it easier than you could have imagined. Implement the changes that seem appropriate. Then tackle the next area. Youll wonder why you didnt use this cost-effective tool earlier.

resources

Practitioners and students who are interested in further reading and research surrounding the topic of benchmarking are encouraged to consult the following web sites:

www.abanet.org www.ama-assn.org www.metricnet.com www.globalbestpractices.com

www.shrm.org

www.hackettbenchmarking.com

American Bar Association American Medical Association Metricnet

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP-Global Best Practices

Society for Human Resource Management

The Hackett Group

notes

1. Norman Vincent Peale, Words I Have Lived By (Peggy Pinson, 1993).

2. Robert J. Kennedy, Benchmarking and Its Myths, Competitive Intelligence Magazine (April 2000).

3. Jeff Stimpson, The Benchmarking Engagement, Practical Accountant (February 2003), p. 26.

4. Susan Leandri, Managing Director, PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP, Global Best Practices, telephone interview by author, New York, March 8, 2004.

5Mark Tibergien and Philip Palaveev, Advisors Are Better at Client Service than at Practice Management, Journal of Financial Planning (October 2002), pp. 5052.

6. National Interpretation Project: Definition of Project Terms, American Association of Museums [accessed July 2004]. Available from http: www.aam-us .org/initiatives/other NIPglossary.cfm.

7. PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, http: www.globalbestpractices.com.

8. Catherine Lennon and Andrew Tank, eds., Benchmarking in the Finance Function, The Conference Board (1994).

9. Charles B. Green, Benchmarking the Information Technology Function, The Conference Board (1993).

10. Altman Weil Inc., 2001 Managing Partner & Executive Director Survey (Newtown Square, PA: Altman Weil Publications, 2001).

11. Kennedy Information, Inc., Partner Billable/Nonbillable Hours by Firm Size (Peterbourough, NH: Kennedy Information, 2002).

12. Altman Weil Inc, 2003 Survey of Law Firm Economics (Newtown Square, PA: Altman Weil Publications, 2003).

13. Altman Weil Inc, 2002 Survey of Law Firm Economics (Newtown Square, PA: Altman Weil Publications, 2002).

14. Kennedy Information, Inc., Quartile Analysis of Billing Rates by Position (Pe-terbourough, NH: Kennedy Information, 2002).

15. Kennedy Information, Inc., Billable/Nonbillable Hours by Employment Level (Peterbourough, NH: Kennedy Information, 2002).

16. See note 12.

17. See note 10.

18. See note 12.

19. See note 13.

20. PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, Finance and Accounting Global Best Practices (New York: PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP, 2004).

21. See note 20.

22. See note 20.

23. See note 4.

24. Barbara Gomolski, Mid-Size Company Summit (Stanford, CT: Cartner Measurement Services, 2002).

25. James Pickford, ed., Mastering People Management (London: Prentice-Hall, 2003).

26. Kennedy Information, Inc., Partner Leverage (Peterbourough, NH: Kennedy Information Inc., 2002).

27. See note 12.

28. Anne Evans, Avoid These 10 Benchmarking Mistakes (Melbourne, Australia: Benchmarking PLUS, 1999).

29. The Hackett Group, http: www.thehackettgroup.com.

30. Michelle Porter, Group Manager, PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP, Global Best Practices, telephone interview by the author, New York, March 8, 2004.

31. Christopher E. Bogan, Benchmarking for Best Practices: Winning Through Innovation Adaptations (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1994).

32. Ivy McLemore, Just Do It! Part One of a Series, Business Finance Magazine (March 1999).

Partnership and Governance Structures

John J. Reddish

What do we live for; if it is not to make life less difficult to each other?

-George Eliot, Middlemarch, 1871

This chapter identifies and clarifies the key issues governing the leadership and governance structure of the firm: legal protections; allocation of equity, compensation, perks, and benefits; and procedures for making and communicating both policy and operational decisions. Each profession has its historical way of organizing, and within each profession, individual firms adopt unique forms, yet the basic tenets of good management apply. Like any other business, the professional services firm is engaged in two businesses-the business of the profession and the business of managing-and both present distinct challenges.

Traditional top-down management structures are the exception rather than the rule, because firm performance encompasses the sum total of the contributions of many peer professionals, professionals with other specialties, as well as other support personnel within its ranks. Most professional services firms operate in project-based environments where individuals with specialized knowledge come together in ad-hoc teams to handle an assortment of individual and multiple projects and/or complex cases on a more col-legial basis.

Outside business development or rainmaking activities, firm performance is seldom attributable to a single individuals contributions. And, while individual performance is always important, a better understanding of overall