Heidrick & Struggle International Inc

Running head: Heidrick & Struggle International Inc.

Heidrick & Struggles International Inc.: Case Analysis

Heather Conley

Kaplan University

Introduction

Heidrick & Struggles International, Inc. is one of the largest U.S. recruiting firms. The company has approximately 380 headhunters filling Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Chief Financial Officer (CFO), director, and other high-level positions for companies. It is organized into specialized search groups by industry, and operates in more than 25 countries. Heidrick & Struggles International, Inc. also provides temporary placement, management assessment, and professional development services. The company’s revenue in 2007 was at an all-time high and all measures of productivity were up. Despite the rosy picture, there lays a simmering problem of massive upheaval on the basis of demographic opportunities, shifting customer needs, and the challenges posed by technology-driven alternatives. This paper will attempt to identify the problems of Heidrick & Struggles International, Inc. and provide a recommended approach to resolve its problem.

History and Issues

The executive search business emerged in the 1940s as an offshoot of management consulting. By the late 1940s, six of the eight leading firms in the world were founded. Until the 1990s, the industry was relatively small and controlled by private partnerships with high fixed cost. In 2008, the fragmented industry was dominated at the high end by five global firms. A variety of regional and small players competed in certain domains with these industry leaders, followed by thousands of smaller search firms. The five market leaders differentiated themselves from smaller firms primarily on the basis of their ability to serve multi-national clients on a global basis, and by their focus on executive and specialist positions (Eccles and Lane, 2009).

Heidrick & Struggles International, Inc. was founded in 1953 by Gardner Heidrick and John Struggles. It quickly grew to serve national clients in 1957 and international clients in 1968. In the 1980s, all 11 of Heidrick & Struggles offices were in the U.S. and Europe. Its search consultants had never met as a single group; consultants saw the firm as a franchise business, not as a global firm. All Heidrick & Struggles consultants were considered generalists: they have no specialization by practice. In 1983, Heidrick & Struggles International was set up as a separate entity to manage the European operations, but it was later merged with the domestic operations, Heidrick & Struggles, Inc. In 1999, the company made an initial public offering (IPO), by listing itself on the