"WHAT IS IT? The one-firm firm approach is not simply a loose term to describe a "culture." It refers to a set of concrete management practices consciously chosen to maximize the trust and loyalty that members of the firm feel both to the institution and to each other. In 1985, the elements of the one-firm firm approach were given as: *Highly selective recruitment *A "grow your own" people strategy as opposed to heavy use of laterals, growing only as fast as people could be devel-1 oped and assimilated *Intensive use of training as a socialization process *Rejection of a "star system" and related individualistic behavior *Avoidance of mergers, in order to sustain the collaborative culture A set of concrete management practices consciously chosen to maximize the trust and loyalty that members of the firm feel both to the institution and to each other. * Selective choice of services and markets, so as to win through significant investments in focused areas rather than many small initiatives *Active outplacement and alumni management, so that those who leave remain loyal to the firm *Compensation based mostly on group performance, not individual performance *High investments in research and development *Extensive intra-firm communication, with broad use of consensus-building approaches The one-firm firm approach is similar in many ways to the U. S. Marine Corps (in which Jack Walker served). Both are designed to achieve the highest levels of internal collaboration and encourage mutual commitment to pursuing ambitious goals." --