Abstract
The context within which higher education will be delivered in the next decade will be considerably different to that which has characterised the past 10 years. The increasing customer and market oriented approach which already exists will take on an even greater emphasis. The boundaries which are already blurred between the ‘public’ and ‘private’ funding of higher education will become increasingly more complex and the existing commercial partnerships between higher education institutions and other service providers seem likely to expand. All of these trends place a greater reliance on higher education leaders to be even more familiar and knowledgeable about the nature of ‘business’ and ‘commercial’ leadership to complement their skills and experience of ‘academic’ and ‘managerial’ leadership.
As a means of scoping this new and increasingly important domain the authors believe there is much to be gained from a comparative review of this field in another ‘intellect rich’ sector, that of professional services. The professional service firm (PSF) sector is a major part of the UK economy (over 20% of all business activity) and encompasses organisations ranging from the large global accountancy and consultancy firms (e.g. PWC, KPMG etc.) to their counterparts in the legal, property and specialist fields (e.g. HR, Search & Selection etc.) to smaller consultancies focused on public policy work and operating as non-for-profit organisations.