Publications

September 2017 (Revised March 2018)
Case

Great Lakes Banking Group: Data Management

By: Shane Greenstein and Christine Snively

In May 2016, Michael Rechtin, an expert in international data center law, advised global financial services firm Great Lakes Banking Group (GLBG) on its plans to upgrade its data centers. The bank’s data processing and storage systems were in need of an update, and... View Details

Keywords: Information Infrastructure; Infrastructure; Operations; Information Management

26 Apr 2017
News

How Banks Can Compete Against an Army of Fintech Startups

05 May 2020
Research & Ideas

China Tariffs and Coronavirus a Double Hit to American Retailers

The double-whammy of increased tariffs imposed by the United States on China and fallout from the coronavirus could make it even more difficult for American retailers to weather the storm in the coming months—or increase pressure on them... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

October 2021 (Revised December 2021)
Case

Customer-Centric Design with Artificial Intelligence: Commonwealth Bank

By: Karim R. Lakhani, Yael Grushka-Cockayne, Jin Hyun Paik and Steven Randazzo

As Commonwealth Bank (CommBank) CEO Matt Comyn delivered the full financial year results in August 2021 over videoconference, it took less than two minutes for him to make his first mention of the organization's Customer Engagement Engine (CEE), the AI-driven customer... View Details

Keywords: Artificial Intelligence; Customer-centricity; Banks and Banking; Customer Focus and Relationships; Technological Innovation; Transformation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Performance; AI and Machine Learning; Financial Services Industry; Australia

November 2000
Case

Wit Capital: Evolution of the Online Investment Bank (B)

Describes the evolution of Wit Capital from its origins as a small brewery to an online investment bank advising both small technology-based companies seeking to raise capital and large companies seeking to acquire Internet companies, as well as offering retail... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Disruptive Innovation; Service Delivery; Investment Banking; Entrepreneurship

Fall 2016
Article

How Do Customers Respond to Increased Service Quality Competition?

By: Ryan W. Buell, Dennis Campbell and Frances X. Frei

When does increased service quality competition lead to customer defection, and which customers are most likely to defect? Our empirical analysis of 82,235 customers exploits the varying competitive dynamics in 644 geographically isolated markets in which a nationwide... View Details

Keywords: Service Quality Competition; Retail Banks; Empirical Operations; Retention; Service Operations; Quality; Competition; Banking Industry; United States

Find at Harvard

17 May 2011
News

From Banking to Baubles

Keywords: jewelry; Retail Trade; Retail Trade

Dollar Funding and the Lending Behavior of Global Banks

A large share of dollar-denominated lending is done by non-U.S. banks, particularly European banks. We present a model in which such banks cut dollar lending more than euro lending in response to a shock to their credit quality. Because these banks rely on wholesale... View Details

22 Sep 2014
Op-Ed

Online Banks Fill Funding Needs for Small Business

(Editor's note: This is the last in a series of four articles based on a Harvard Business School working paper by Karen Mills that analyzes the current state of availability of bank capital for small business.) View Details

Keywords: by Karen Mills; Banking; Banking

01 Jun 2012
News

Plan B: The Brick Bank

“Brick Bank” in partnership with a building supply retailer that would enable local residents to invest their savings in inflation-proof building materials, thus accumulating the necessary materials over time. “We take some things for... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna

05 May 2003
Research & Ideas

How Bank of America Turned Branches into Service-Development Laboratories

Companies often use rigorous R&D processes to guide new product development, but are much less scientific when it comes to creating services. Not Bank of America, which has turned Atlanta-area branches into consumer laboratories.... View Details

Keywords: by Stefan Thomke; Banking; Banking

November 2022 (Revised October 2024)
Case

'A Marshall Plan for Africa': James Mwangi and Equity Group Holdings

By: Caroline M. Elkins, Debora L. Spar, Zeke Gillman and Julia M. Comeau

Financial Inclusion. Dignity. Trust. These were the core principles driving James Mwangi’s transformation of Equity Building Society, insolvent in 1991, into what is, today, Equity Group Holdings, East and Central Africa’s largest retail banking institution. Raised in... View Details

Keywords: Bank; Income Inequality; Banking; Micro Finance; Microcredit; Africa; Kenya

17 Jun 2015
News

High Yield On Main Street: Investors Earn 12% Lending To Small Business, When Banks Won't

Research Summary

Overview

By: Mark L. Egan

When considering how households make investment decisions, Professor Egan became intrigued by the question, “What makes a bank ‘special’ when compared to other lending institutions?” Focusing on empirical industrial organization with applications to finance and... View Details

18 Jun 2024
Research & Ideas

Central Banks Missed Inflation Red Flags. This Pricing Model Could Help.

doctoral student at the University of Chicago. The ‘state’ of the price gap matters Economists generally use two main data models to detect inflation and predict the pace at which retailers raise prices: time dependent and state... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Banking; Banking

August 2018
Supplement

Garanti Payment Systems: Digital Transformation Strategy (B)

By: Shelle M. Santana and Esel Çekin

Supplements the (A) case. Işıl Akdemir Evlioğlu, executive vice president of marketing at Garanti Payment Systems (GPS), a subsidiary of Garanti Bank, is grappling with three questions. First, should GPS create its own mobile app for credit card customers or leverage... View Details

Article

The Cost Structure, Customer Profitability, and Retention Implications of Self-Service Distribution Channels: Evidence from Customer Behavior in an Online Banking Channel

By: Dennis Campbell and Frances X. Frei

This paper uses the context of online banking to investigate the consequences of employing self-service distribution channels to alter customer interactions with the firm. Using a sample of retail banking customers observed over a 30-month period at a large U.S. bank,... View Details

Keywords: Cost; Service Operations; Distribution Channels; Consumer Behavior; Internet and the Web; Banks and Banking; Technology Adoption; Service Delivery; Market Transactions; Market Participation; Profit; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; United States