Rotterdam School of Management – Erasmus University, in conjunction with the Parma Group, has launched an invitational programme on the Leadership of Professional Service Firms. This course was first held in the Netherlands in 2010 for a select group of seniors at top-level professional services organisations operating in the areas of law, accounting, management consulting, engineering, and executive recruitment.

While a course for leadership of professional firms has been offered for many years at Harvard, this RSM /Parma Group initiative is the first programme on the European continent at an equivalent level that is tailored to the current needs of leaders in professional firms. And we feel that there is an urgent need for such a programme.

First because professional services are so different in nature from other economic activities, conventional strategic models and frameworks are often of limited use to the professional sector. This programme offers dedicated methods and tools to help address strategic leadership issues in professional firms.

Secondly, market circumstances for professional firms are rapidly changing. Managers of professional firms are confronted with a number of challenges, including globalisation of both their client base and their own profession, economic discontinuity and the need to accommodate an increasingly diverse, critical and mobile staff. The RSM programme addresses and explores these challenges. The focus is therefore on strategic thinking, not on operational management of a firm.

Thirdly, the culture of professionalism and the circumstances for professional firms are in Europe very different from the US. This programme is European in content, faculty, participants and fees for participation. While we believe that professional firms do have many commonalities, it is also true that each professional firm is unique. Our programme acknowledges that there are no recipes that work for every professional firm nor ‘cookie-cutter’ designs and tools that can be applied in every situation. The programme thus builds on robust conceptual models that help participants to critically examine and re-think their firm’s strategies on various levels.

This programme will help senior professional services leaders secure ongoing success for their firm even in times of economic turmoil. They will learn how to meet the challenges of the changing environment by developing and executing strategies that carefully balance their vision, resources and organisation.

• Based on models for positioning and adapting professional organisations
• Focus on management tools rather than interpersonal skills
• Immediate linkage to today’s business needs.

Clear take-home value
Four themes:

• Strategic positioning of the firm
• Symmetric change
• Running the business
• ‘Monday morning’ - next steps for the participants and their firms

Leadership of Professional Services Firms is a certificate programme and there is no grading applicable.