Operational Excellence - Publications - Faculty & Research

Awards

Deming Cup for Operational Excellence

Awarded the Deming Cup for Operational Excellence in 2019. View Details

November 2016
Supplement

Irregular Operations

By: Ryan W. Buell, Willy C. Shih and Michael W. Toffel

This video shows a dispatcher responding to an irregular operations situation caused by weather at an East Coast airport. View Details

Keywords: Service; Service Excellence; Service Quality; Operating Systems; Operational Complexity; Operational Disruptions; Operational Efficiency; Operational Focus; Air Transportation; Service Operations; Service Delivery; Air Transportation Industry

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01 Sep 2003
News

Incentives and Operational Excellence

Operational problems can be the cause of an organization’s demise. Often they can be traced to poor controls in interorganizational settings, according to HBS associate professor V.G. Narayanan, a specialist in measurement systems and... View Details

Keywords: Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services; Retail Trade

09 Jun 2003
Research & Ideas

Incentives and Operational Excellence

Whether you're running a major medical supply company or a hole-in-the-wall video store, chances are you know how common operational problems are. If you are the medical supplier, for instance, you probably deal with a hospital group that... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

22 Oct 2019
News

2019 Deming Cup for Operational Excellence

13 May 2013
HBS Conference

Consortium For Operational Excellence in Retailing (COER) 2013

08 May 2017
HBS Conference

Consortium For Operational Excellence in Retailing (COER) 2017

09 May 2011
HBS Conference

Consortium For Operational Excellence in Retailing (COER) 2011

21 Jun 2022
HBS Conference

Consortium For Operational Excellence in Retailing (COER) 2022

06 May 2019
HBS Conference

Consortium For Operational Excellence in Retailing (COER) 2019

19 Jun 2018
HBS Conference

Consortium For Operational Excellence in Retailing (COER) 2018

15 Jun 2015
HBS Conference

Consortium For Operational Excellence in Retailing (COER) 2015

17 Jun 2024
HBS Conference

Consortium For Operational Excellence in Retailing (COER) 2024

TeachingInterests

Managing Service Operations

By: Frances X. Frei

Managing Service Operations (MSO) focuses on how firms can deliver excellent service while achieving business success. This involves a deep understanding of customers, competitors, and the firm's internal mechanisms.

Career Focus

Managing Service... View Details

September–October 2017
Article

Why Do We Undervalue Competent Management?: Neither Great Leadership Nor Brilliant Strategy Matters Without Operational Excellence

By: Raffaella Sadun, Nicholas Bloom and John Van Reenen

A recurring message in business education is that you can’t compete on the basis of management processes because they’re easily copied. Operational effectiveness is table stakes in the competitive universe, it is often assumed, and thus cannot serve as a sustainable... View Details

Keywords: Management; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Management Practices and Processes; Performance Effectiveness

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March 2020 (Revised March 2022)
Case

Wachtell Lipton: Focused Excellence

By: Ashish Nanda and Margaret Cross

For years, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz—a small, New York City law firm—has consistently boasted the highest profits per partner and one of the highest “prestige” ratings among U.S.-based law firms. The firm has remained loyal to a distinctive strategy ever since its... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Law; Mergers and Acquisitions; Legal Services Industry; New York (city, NY)

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September 2016 (Revised August 2018)
Supplement

United Airlines: More Out-and-Back Flying?: Case Supplement #1

By: Ryan W. Buell, Willy C. Shih and Michael W. Toffel

This spreadsheet supplement accompanies 617-010 United Airlines: More Out-and-Back Flying? and is intended to provide students with an opportunity to apply analysis concepts with real operational data. View Details

Keywords: Service; Service Excellence; Service Management; Operating Systems; Operational Complexity; Operational Disruptions; Operational Efficiency; Operational Focus; Air Transportation; Operations; Service Operations; Service Delivery; Air Transportation Industry; United States

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12 Apr 2004
Research & Ideas

Operations and the Competitive Edge

operational improvement programs that have been so popular in the past. Why not? A: That's not true! We often have recommended in our writing and consulting both TQM and reengineering, as well as other types of improvement programs. And... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

May 06 2021
Tout

Earn a Certificate of Management Excellence

March 2017
Case

A. Lange & Söhne

By: Stefan Thomke and Daniela Beyersdorfer

The case describes how A. Lange & Söhne became one of world's leading watch companies. Its obsession with quality and innovation were behind its initial rise in the 19th century and, after a 40-year involuntary hiatus under the East German regime, again at the end of... View Details