Publications

September 2004 (Revised January 2005)
Case

IBM: Ordering Midrange Computers in Europe

IBM Europe is trying to expand business-to-business (B2B) efforts with its large distributors of midrange systems. These efforts aim to automate many transactions and business processes, removing the need for human involvement. IBM has completed an initial project with... View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Information Technology; Information Infrastructure; Marketing Channels; Distribution Channels; Information Technology Industry; Computer Industry; Germany; United States

May 2007
Case

Westin Hotels and Resorts: Operations of a Lifestyle Experience

By: Frances X. Frei, Chekitan S. Dev and Laure Mougeot Stroock

Westin Hotels and Resorts adopted a new "lifestyle" brand strategy which provided guests with a new service experience. The dilemma Westin faced was how to operationally build a brand that delivered consistent service on intangible values. View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Decision Choices and Conditions; Growth Management; Brands and Branding; Service Operations; Value Creation; Tourism Industry

February 2000 (Revised March 2004)
Case

Venture Law Group (A)

By: Thomas J. DeLong, Ashish Nanda and Scott D Landry

Craig Johnson, Venture Law Group's (VLG) chairman, founded VLG in 1993 with a goal of "zero voluntary turnover." In late 1998, Johnson faces the departure of three important partners, prompting himself to ask what VLG can do in the midst of an "economic hurricane" that... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Customer Relationship Management; Partners and Partnerships; Retention; Legal Services Industry

01 Apr 2002
News

HBS Press Books in Brief

customer service. Harvard Business Review on Managing Diversity. From managing diversity to exploring alternative workplaces to debunking myths about compensation, the topics... View Details

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

01 Jun 1997
News

New Releases

demand, and on pleasing the best customers - can ultimately weaken a strong firm. In The Innovator's Dilemma, Christensen shows how significant breakthroughs in products and services are often initially rejected by mainstream View Details

01 Apr 2002
News

Siebel Addresses HBS Northern California Club

large part to its founder's emphasis on customer relations over shareholder value. Today, Siebel has over eight thousand employees in more than 34 countries. Fortune magazine ranked the company second in its 2001 listing of the "100... View Details

Keywords: Business Schools & Computer & Management Training; Business Schools & Computer & Management Training

January 2008 (Revised July 2009)
Case

Microfinance International Corporation: No, Not Another Microfinance Case

CEO and founder Atsumasa Tochisako (52) sat in his Washington D.C. headquarters, looking with pride at the copy of a press release that would announce the latest in a broadening line of financial services that Washington D.C.-based Microfinance International... View Details

Keywords: Customer Focus and Relationships; Social Entrepreneurship; Microfinance; Globalized Firms and Management; Financial Services Industry

22 Feb 2010
Op-Ed

Tragedy at Toyota: How Not to Lead in Crisis

plans for resolution have been Toyota's substitute for crisis response. As accounts pour in about declining quality, the company parades out relatively unknown mid-level managers to quell the firestorm. It won't work. "You live by... View Details

Keywords: by William George; Auto

August 2002 (Revised June 2006)
Case

Great Dakota Bank: Online Banking

By: Frances X. Frei, Youngme E. Moon and Hanna Rodriguez-Farrar

In 2002, Great Dakota Bank's retail division is considering how heavily it should be promoting the company's online banking service. A recent promotional campaign appears to have significantly increased enrollments in online banking, but it is unclear whether the bank... View Details

Keywords: Banks and Banking; Internet and the Web; Customer Relationship Management; Consumer Behavior; Demand and Consumers; Technological Innovation; Customer Value and Value Chain; Customer Satisfaction; Management; Service Operations; Banking Industry

February 2003
Teaching Note

Bush Boake Allen (TN)

By: Stefan H. Thomke

Teaching Note for (9-601-061). View Details

Keywords: Integration; Marketing Reference Programs; Disruptive Innovation; Management Teams; Internet and the Web; Business Model; Customer Relationship Management; Management Practices and Processes; Consumer Products Industry

19 Feb 2018
Sharpening Your Skills

Amazoned: Is Any Industry Safe?

Made-up Holiday The company is throwing itself a party where all its Prime customers get the gifts. How Independent Bookstores Have Thrived in Spite of Amazon.com Independent bookstores managed to survive... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Retail

21 Nov 2016
Research & Ideas

It Matters That Your CEO Doesn't Know Much About Sales

senior executives specializing in everything except sales. “The number of executives reporting to the CEO in the average S&P 500 company has doubled in the last 20 years,” says Frank V. Cespedes, a senior lecturer in the Entrepreneurial View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

March 2011 (Revised March 2021)
Teaching Note

Terror at the Taj Bombay: Customer-Centric Leadership

By: Rohit Deshpande

Teaching Note for 511703. View Details

Keywords: Safety; Organizations; Crisis Management; Customer Focus and Relationships; Brands and Branding

01 Jun 2015
News

Alumni and Faculty Books for June 2015

expectations; create and implement an effective customer-access strategy; capture and leverage the customer’s voice to set priorities and improve products, services, and marketing; and use customer-relationship- management systems,... View Details

2002
Chapter

Use the Balanced Scorecard to Partner with Strategic Constituents: Employees, Customers, Suppliers, and Communities

By: Robert S. Kaplan and David P. Norton

Keywords: Balanced Scorecard; Employee Relationship Management; Customer Relationship Management; Business and Community Relations; Business and Stakeholder Relations