In September 2019, Zaoui & Co.'s close-knit team of professionals convened for their annual off-site. In its nine years of operation, the boutique investment bank founded by the brothers Michael (HBS '83) and Yoel Zaoui (Stanford GSB '88), had garnered a track record for advising on several significant transactions across Europe. At the retreat, the firm's leaders were debating whether to (a) continue as a small boutique focused on mergers and acquisitions (M&A) advisory services, (b) grow aggressively in M&A advisory, or (c) diversify into principal investing. Each alternative presented strategic and organizational challenges and opportunities. Whichever path they elected to pursue would significantly influence what kind of firm Zaoui & Co. would become.

In September 2019, founding partners Michael and Yoel Zaoui decided to add principal investing to Zaoui & Co.'s offerings. The case outlines how, over the next two years, Zaoui & Co. pursued the formation of a SPAC, Odyssey Acquisitions, followed by the identification of a target company, BenevolentAI, and the subsequent de-SPACing process that led to the execution of the transaction in April 2022. Although their initial foray into principal investing was a success, the process proved more arduous and time-consuming than anticipated, diverting considerable attention and resources from Zaoui & Co.'s core M&A advisory business. The brothers were wondering whether Zaoui & Co should (a) continue to aggressively seek principal investing opportunities, or (b) scale back its principal investing efforts, or (c) focus solely on M&A advisory. The choice would have important strategic and organizational implications for the firm. Although their initial foray into principal investment was a success, the process proved more arduous and time-consuming than anticipated, diverting considerable attention and resources from Zaoui & Co.'s core M&A advisory business. The brothers were wondering whether Zaoui & Co should (a) continue to aggressively seek principal investing opportunities, or (b) scale back its principal investing efforts, or (c) focus solely on M&A advisory. The choice would have important strategic and organizational implications for the firm.

In June 2019, Emeritus cofounders Ashwin Damera (HBS MBA 2005) and Chaitanya Kalipatnapu were thrilled with the rapid growth of Emeritus. Damera and Kalipatnapu believed that Emeritus, established in July 2015 to offer online executive education, was only in the early stage of an exciting journey. The opportunity for further growth and success was immense. Yet, the co-founders were conscious that "what got us here will not get us there." Among the strategic choices they faced was a decision on whether to grow its university-branded offerings aggressively or to promote the Emeritus brand more assiduously.

Moksha Data, a boutique consulting firm specializing in public sector work, started in January 2017 with a handshake between friends and a shared commitment to the principles of egalitarianism, ownership, and collaboration. The Houston-based firm had built momentum since its inception, despite the obstacles posed by the pandemic. By October 2021, it had become a go-to consulting firm for non-profits and local government agencies in and around Houston. Yet, Moksha managing partner Neeraj Tandon was acutely aware that the firm faced internal and external challenges. How it responded to those challenges would determine whether the firm would sustain its momentum and what kind of a firm it would grow into.

Excited yet apprehensive after being named CEO of P.F. Chang's beginning July 1st, 2020, Damola Adamolekun was well aware of the extraordinary challenges facing the firm. The closure of businesses deemed "nonessential" owing to the COVID-19 pandemic had devastated the restaurant industry in the United States and abroad. The shock had been particularly unwelcome to P.F. Chang's, an upscale-casual restaurant chain known for serving made-from-scratch, wok-cooked Asian cuisine in contemporary bistros. In recent years, P.F. Chang's had shown weak results in restaurant sales and financial performance. Investment management firm Paulson & Co. had joined hands with TriArtisan Capital Advisors to acquire the firm in 2019, determined to turn it around. However, the new leadership team had not anticipated the havoc a pandemic would soon wreak on the economy and the industry. Adamolekun felt that the opportunity to lead the firm at age 31 was extraordinary, but the future was extremely uncertain in this turbulent environment. He was acutely aware that the future of the company, the returns investors hoped for, and perhaps the trajectory of his own career were all riding on the strategic plan he was developing for P.F. Chang's.

During economic slowdowns, consulting, law, and accounting firms often start offering services and taking on clients they really shouldn't, just to keep the lights on. This path is perilous. If a firm's practices have a diffuse mix of clients and unclear strategic positioning, it will weaken the firm's market profile and lead to internal conflicts, especially about the organization's future direction. This article presents two tools that professional service firms can use to manage their client mix and optimize their strategic position. The first is the practice spectrum. All practices fall on a continuum of sophistication that ranges from "commodity" to "rocket science." Any position on this spectrum can be profitable, though the forces driving profits change as you move along it--as do the capabilities and skills required. Successful practices understand their true position on the spectrum and know which performance levers to pull. The second tool is the client portfolio matrix, which separates clients into four categories on the basis of cost to serve and willingness to pay. Rather than spreading clients across all four, firms should target their acquisition efforts and follow different relationship strategies for each type of client.

In 2019, Egon Zehnder chair Jill Ader and CEO Edilson Camara faced a critical question: how should the global executive search firm approach its burgeoning advisory service offering? Since 2003, the firm's advisory practice had grown as a conglomeration of grassroots experiments driven by the enthusiasm of some partners and the needs of some markets. Yet, in 2019, partners' attitudes toward the practice varied greatly, with some viewing advisory as a natural extension of search that would position Egon Zehnder for future growth, and others perceiving it as a risky distraction from the firm's core business. Ader and Camara believed the time was ripe for EZ partners to develop a shared perspective on the future of the practice within the firm.

This note provides an introduction to crafting strategy following an options-led approach. It provides an overview of scenario planning, and it prepares students to describe firm strategy with succinct strategy statements. The note also briefly outlines other approaches to crafting strategy.

In 2003, mathematics professor Sergio Fajardo was elected mayor of Medellín, Colombia - one of the most violent cities in the world at that time. As mayor, Fajardo faced a host of daunting challenges. Rampant gang violence had raised Medellín's homicide rate dramatically, and a history of corruption had undermined the public's trust in the local government and law enforcement institutions. The under-resourced local police did not communicate clearly with the mayor, and the city was approaching bankruptcy. To address these concerns, Fajardo would need to not only develop a strategy, but also convince the majority of his 21-member city council - among whom he had only one ally - to support it. Fajardo needed to decide how to prioritize the many financial, legal, and cultural concerns in Medellín to bring the city closer to peace and prosperity.

As a strategist, you must decide for your firm what products to produce, what customers to serve, what geographies to operate in, and what activities to perform. This note on Corporate Strategy, which introduces the fifth module of the RC Strategy course, offers a perspective for thinking about how these questions can be addressed so that you can determine the scope of your firm across three dimensions (horizontal, vertical, and geographic), and, given the scope, manage it in the most effective manner.

For years, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz - a small, New York City law firm - has consistently boasted the highest profits per partner and one of the highest "prestige" ratings among U.S.-based law firms. The firm has remained loyal to a distinctive strategy ever since its founding in 1965. Whereas most law firms have multiple offices, seek long-term retainer relationships with clients, operate across multiple services, and bill by the hour, Wachtell Lipton operates from a single location, offers legal services on a matter-by-matter basis, focuses on transactional work (primarily M&A advisory), and value bills for its services. Despite its extraordinary success, as the legal services market evolves and the firm's name partners, 87-year-old Herbert Wachtell and 88-year-old Marty Lipton, approach retirement, questions arise about whether Wachtell Lipton's magic formula will continue to yield extraordinary results in coming years.

Elite Chinese law firm Fangda Partners has steered Alibaba and other Chinese and international clients through the complex legal, corporate, and regulatory challenges associated with executing international transactions. "Fangda has traveled a long distance in a short while," reflects senior partner Jonathan Zhou, "but we have a long distance to traverse further. We have lofty aspirations." Fangda Partners seeks to build on its growth and strong reputation to establish itself as a major, high-end law firm in the Chinese market. What needs to be accomplished and how should Zhou proceed?

This note provides a perspective and some tools to predict and shape interactions with other players when making strategic decisions. As a strategist, you must consider that your firm's actions evoke reactions from other players in the market and that, reciprocally, you may need to respond to their actions. The note on Strategic Interactions introduces students to the fourth module of the RC Strategy course. We look at strategic interactions in three contexts: between players along the supply chain, between symmetrically placed rivals, and between asymmetrically placed rivals. Common themes run through the three circumstances, but there are important distinctions as well.

As a strategist, you must understand and calibrate the environment in which your organization operates. How generous or challenging is the environment? What forces drive the munificence or sparseness of your environment? How are those forces changing, and what is their likely impact on your organization? Is this change slow or fast? Can you influence or mold those forces in ways that benefit your organization? This module note, Market Attractiveness, helps you address these questions. It offers a framework to understand the forces that influence the environment in which your enterprise operates, evaluate the attractiveness of the environment, plan how best to respond to these forces, and contemplate how your enterprise can shape the environment favorably.

Established in 2007, by early 2014 SoundCloud already boasted the second largest number of active music listeners among all streaming services and was recognized as the go-to platform for new artists. Yet, its founders Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss were questioning whether the firm should continue to focus on serving as a lab for emerging musical artists. They were wondering if the firm should instead enter the booming mainstream music-streaming market.

This note introduces the first module of the RC Strategy course, What Is Strategy? It helps students develop their perspective on what is a strategy, what is a good strategy, and how strategy development differs across contexts.

Jiang Yong founded Tiantong & Partners in 2002, seeking to radically improve the level of litigation-related services in China. By 2015, Tiantong was the premier Chinese litigation firm with the highest per lawyer revenues. The firm focused exclusively on high-stakes litigation, particularly Supreme Court appeals, and enjoyed a 90 percent win rate. Building off its success, Tiantong also began offering Internet apps. Yong was betting that the tiny 23-lawyer firm would transform litigation in China. In 2014, Tiantong developed an application called Tiantong Litigation Circle on the WeChat platform with the goal of connecting lawyers across the legal profession. Within the first year, the program recorded 150,000 followers, one million shares, and 10 million page visits. The firm figured that more than half of all practicing lawyers in China were followers. By the end of the year, Tiantong had also released the first professional reading app for lawyers. In May 2015, Tiantong released an Internet tool to support case research, accessible to anyone who needed to find precedents. The firm faced significant opportunities in both businesses. Yong needed to decide whether to continue making efforts in both directions, or whether to prioritize one over the other.

Soon after being named regional managing partner for Ernst & Young (EY) China in September 2009, Albert Ng reflects on the enormity of challenges facing EY China. Despite EY Global's commitment to the China practice, EY China's growth agenda has been reversed, post global financial crisis. The smallest of the Big Four global accounting firms in China, EY China's reputation has weakened in the market, morale of its professionals has plummeted, and it faces the threat of a major lawsuit. Ng is musing how to address all these challenges confronting EY China.