The characteristics of the one-firm firm system are institutional loyalty and group effort. In contrast to many of their (often successful) competitors who emphasize individual entrepreneurialism, autonomous profit centers, internal competition, and/or highly decentralized, independent activities, one-firm firms place great emphasis on firm-wide coordination of decision making, group identity, cooperative teamwork, and institutional commitment.

Hewitt Associates (described along with Goldman Sachs in a recent popular book as one of “The 100 Best Companies in America to Work For” says that, in its recruiting, it looks for “SWANs”: people who are Smart, Work hard, are Ambitious, and Nice. While emphasis on the first three attributes is common in all professional service firms, it is the emphasis on the last one that differentiates the one-firm firm from all the others. “If an individual has ego needs that are too high,” notes Peter Friedes, Hewitt’s managing partner, “they can be a very disruptive influence. Our work depends on internal cooperation and teamwork.”

Excerpted from ‘Managing the Professional Service Firm’ by David Maister, page 305