Publications
Publications
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- All HBS Web
(120,151)
- Faculty Publications (169)
- February 2021
- Case
Emma Dench: Leadership and Ancient Rome
By: Francesca Gino and Frances X. Frei
In this multimedia case, classics scholar Emma Dench guides us in understanding leadership insights that can be captured from historical figures and works dating back to Ancient Rome. We learn the language, ideas, and patterns of behavior that are relevant to... View Details
- Article
Trust: The Foundation of Leadership
By: Frances Frei and Anne Morriss
The authors contend that if leadership is about empowering others, in your presence and your absence, then trust is the emotional framework that allows that service to be freely exchanged. Based on their experiences advising individuals and organizations, their basic... View Details
Keywords: Trustworthiness; Authenticity; Empathy; Trust; Leadership; Competency and Skills; Behavior
- 2020
- Book
Unleashed: The Unapologetic Leader's Guide to Empowering Everyone Around You
By: Frances X. Frei and Anne Morriss
When leaders and aspiring leaders seek out advice, they're often told to try harder. Dig deeper. Look in the mirror and own your natural-born strengths and fix any real or perceived career-limiting deficiencies.
We offer a different worldview. We argue... View Details
We offer a different worldview. We argue... View Details
Keywords: Leadership Skills; Belonging; Leadership; Management Skills; Trust; Organizational Culture
- June 2018 (Revised January 2018)
- Supplement
Membership Rewards® from American Express
By: Shelle Santana, Frances X. Frei and Lauren G. Pickle
This spreadsheet is intended as a supplement for the case study "Membership Rewards® from American Express." View Details
- June 2018 (Revised January 2019)
- Case
Membership Rewards® from American Express
By: Shelle Santana, Frances X. Frei and Lauren G. Pickle
Credit and charge card issuer American Express (Amex) had developed a strong reputation among consumers due in part to its Membership Rewards (MR) loyalty program, first established in 1991. Through MR, all Amex cardholders could accumulate and redeem “points” based on... View Details
- 2017
- Other Unpublished Work
Better, Simpler Strategy
By: Frances X. Frei and Felix Oberholzer-Gee
Strategy, at its core, describes how a company attains superior performance. In industry after industry, there is a wide range in company performance resulting from the various strategies adopted by individual firms. Underneath all of this variation, however, are... View Details
- Fall 2016
- Article
How Do Customers Respond to Increased Service Quality Competition?
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
- 2019
- Working Paper
The Customer May Not Always Be Right: Customer Compatibility and Service Performance
This paper investigates the impact of customer compatibility – the degree of fit between the needs of customers and the capabilities of the operations serving them – on customer experiences and firm performance. We use a variance decomposition analysis to quantify the... View Details
- August 2013
- Teaching Plan
Zappos.com 2009: Clothing, Customer Service and Company Culture
By: Frances X. Frei and Annelena Lobb
- January 2013
- Case
Zappos.com 2009: Clothing, Customer Service, and Company Culture (MM)
By: Frances X. Frei and Robin J. Ely
On July 17, 2009, Zappos.com, a privately-held online retailer of shoes, clothing, and other soft-line retail categories, learned that Amazon.com, a $19 billion multinational online retailer, had won its Board of Directors' approval to offer to merge the two companies.... View Details
- April 2012
- Case
Pret A Manger
By: Frances X. Frei, Rick Goldberg and Stephanie van Sice
Pret A Manger, a London-based chain of sandwich shops, was known for its fast, genuine service and pre-packaged sandwiches prepared on-site daily. Instructed by its board to grow at 15 percent per year, Pret considered opening "twin" shops in locations too small to... View Details
Keywords: Customer Service Excellence; Growth Planning And Management; Employee Performance Management; Information Management; Production Planning; Employee Attitude Development And Empowerment; Employee Retention; Leadership Development And Career Planning; Service Delivery; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Model; Innovation and Invention; Employees; Performance; London
- 2012
- Book
Uncommon Service: How to Win by Putting Customers at the Core of Your Business
By: Frances Frei and Anne Morriss
Most companies treat service as a low-priority business operation, keeping it out of the spotlight until a customer complains. Then service gets to make a brief appearance—for as long as it takes to calm the customer down and fix whatever foul-up jeopardized the... View Details
- Article
Market Heterogeneity and Local Capacity Decisions in Services
By: Dennis Campbell and Frances X. Frei
We empirically document factors that influence how local operating managers use discretion to balance the tradeoff between service capacity costs and customer sensitivity to service time. Our findings, using data from one of the largest financial services providers in... View Details
- January – February 2011
- Article
Stop Holding Yourself Back
By: Anne Morriss, Robin J. Ely and Frances X. Frei
After working with hundreds of leaders in a wide variety of organizations and in countries all over the globe, the authors found one very clear pattern: when it comes to meeting their leadership potential, many people unintentionally get in their own way. Five barriers... View Details
- 2010
- Chapter
Cost Structure Patterns in the Asset Management Industry
By: Dennis Campbell and Frances X. Frei
This chapter examines patterns in the cost structure of asset management firms and establishes two important trends in cost behavior. First, when revenues are growing, "indirect" costs related to sales, distribution, marketing, personnel, technology, and occupancy are... View Details
- Article
Are Self-service Customers Satisfied or Stuck?
This paper investigates the impact of self-service technology (SST) usage on customer satisfaction and retention. Specifically, we disentangle the distinct effects of satisfaction and switching costs as drivers of retention among self-service customers. Our empirical... 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
- November 2009 (Revised September 2010)
- Case
Discovering Hidden Gems: The Story of Daryl Morey, Shane Battier, and the Houston Rockets (A)
By: Frances X. Frei and Matthew Todd Perlberg
As NBA Commissioner David Stern approached the podium, silent anticipation gripped the 4,000 Houston Rockets fans gathered at the Rockets Draft Party. "With the 8th pick in the 2006 NBA draft," Stern began, "the Houston Rockets select Rudy Gay from the University of... View Details
- November 2009 (Revised September 2010)
- Supplement
Discovering Hidden Gems: The Story of Daryl Morey, Shane Battier, and the Houston Rockets (B)
By: Frances X. Frei and Matthew Todd Perlberg
Supplement to the (A) case. View Details
- October 2009 (Revised June 2011)
- Case
Zappos.com 2009: Clothing, Customer Service, and Company Culture
By: Frances X. Frei, Robin J. Ely and Laura Winig
On July 17, 2009, Zappos.com, a privately held online retailer of shoes, clothing, and other soft line retail categories, learned that Amazon.com, a $19 billion multinational online retailer, had won its board of directors' approval to offer to merge the two companies.... View Details