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Unit 3 - Heidrick & Struggles Case Study
GB520 Strategic Human Resources Management
Professor Andrew Klein
Introduction
Heidrick & Struggles International, Inc. is one of the largest U.S. recruiting firms. The company has approximately 380 headhunters’ fillings positions such as Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Chief Financial Officer (CFO), director, and other high level positions for companies. It is organized into search groups specialized by industry and operates in more than 25 countries in North America, Latin America, Asia Pacific and Europe. Temporary placement, management assessments and professional development services are also provided by Heidrick & Struggles International, Inc. In 2007, the company’s revenue 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 because of the demographic opportunities, shifting of customer needs and challenges posed by technology driven alternatives.
History and Issues
This executive search business emerged as a result of management consulting in the 1940s. By the late 1940s, six of the eight leading firms in the world were founded. In the 1990s the industry was fairly small and private partnerships were controlled with high fixed costs. The broken industry was dominated at the high end by five global firms in 2008. A variety of regional and boutique players competed in certain areas with these industry leaders and then were followed by thousands of smaller search firms. The five market leaders separated themselves from the smaller firms on the basis that their ability to serve multinational clients on a global basis and by their focus on specialist and executive positions (Eccles and Lane, 2009).
Gardner Heidrick and John Struggles founded Heidrick & Struggles International, Inc in 1953 and quickly grew the business to serve national clients in 1957 and international clients in 1968. By the...