Publications

SSRN

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January 2015 (Revised March 2015)
Case

Oberoi Hotels: Train Whistle in the Tiger Reserve

By: Ryan W. Buell, Ananth Raman and Vidhya Muthuram

Celebrated as one of the world's premiere luxury hotel brands, Oberoi Hotels attracts and serves some of the most quality-sensitive guests in the world. The case considers the challenge of how an organization, with a standardized service model, can repeatedly delight... View Details

Keywords: Service Quality; Service Management; Service Quality Competition; Customer Management; Customer Service Excellence; Employee Empowerment; Employee Engagement; Employee Training; India; Hospitality; Hotel Industry; Service Delivery; Service Operations; Customer Satisfaction; Employees; Quality; Accommodations Industry; India

06 Apr 2015
Research & Ideas

After Germanwings, More Attention Needed on Employee Mental Health

approach is through Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs), a resource that enables employees to reach out confidentially for assistance on any number of issues—stress management, finances, or life changes,... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Health; Air Transportation

January 2015 (Revised October 2015)
Case

Trouble at Tessei

By: Ethan Bernstein and Ryan W. Buell

In 2005, Teruo Yabe is asked to revive Tessei, the 669-person JR-East subsidiary responsible for cleaning its Shinkansen ("bullet") trains. Operational mistakes, customer complaints, safety issues, and employee turnover are at or near all-time highs, even as the... View Details

Keywords: Service Management; Employee Engagement; Employee Motivation; Leadership And Managing People; Quality Improvement; Efficiency; Japan; Operational Transparency; Employee Coordination; Transparency; Leadership; Service Delivery; Service Operations; Employees; Quality; Transportation Industry; Japan

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

News

Collaborate with a Loved One Without Ruining Your Relationship

March 8, 2023
Article

How to Help Superstar Employees Fulfill Their Potential

By: Anthony J. Mayo

To better understand the leadership challenges and development opportunities facing high-potential employees, researchers analyzed more than 3,000 applications to Harvard Business School’s High Potentials Leadership Program over a nearly 20-year period. The... View Details

Keywords: Personal Characteristics; Leadership Development; Personal Development and Career; Management Skills; Business Education

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18 Aug 2022
Op-Ed

Your Best Employees Are Burning Out: A Framework for Retaining Talent

While gains were focused at the executive and investor levels, these cuts fostered a transactional relationship between businesses and their workers. So, it should be a shock to no one that in recent years, the power dynamic has switched... View Details

Keywords: by Hise Gibson and MaShon Wilson

May 2012
Course Overview Note

Managing Stakeholders with Corporate Social Responsibility

By: Christopher Marquis and Laura Velez Villa

This note articulates the ways in which strong stakeholder-company relationships developed through corporate social responsibility initiatives and other types of social strategies deliver bottom line benefits. The analysis follows stakeholder logic models connecting... View Details

Keywords: Business And Society; Social Responsibility; Stakeholder Management; Government And Business; Philanthropy; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Revenue

21 Feb 2023
Research & Ideas

Are Your Employees Passing Up Incentives? Try Promoting the Programs More

Motivating employees takes more than carrots and sticks—it hangs on making them aware of those incentives and deterrents, according to new research. Companies, governments, and institutions across the globe spend countless billions on... View Details

Keywords: by Scott Van Voorhis

13 Jan 2012
News

Crowdsourcing Management Reviews for Better Management

2019
Report

The Caring Company: How Employers Can Help Employees Manage their Caregiving Responsibilities—While Reducing Costs and Increasing Productivity

By: Joseph B. Fuller and Manjari Raman

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16 Jan 2019
News

Caregiving Demands Are Affecting Employee Productivity and Company Profitability

October 2014
Case

Teckentrup: A Door to Managing Difference

By: Clayton Rose, Jerome Lenhardt and Daniela Beyersdorfer

For Kai Teckentrup, the owner and co-CEO of the German "Mittelstand" door manufacturer Teckentrup, balancing competitive pressures, demographic realities and values were at the heart of the diversity program that he had started and championed at the company. Beyond... View Details

31 May 2021
News

What Your Future Employees Want Most

April 2014
Article

The Cost of High-Powered Incentives: Employee Gaming in Enterprise Software Sales

By: Ian Larkin

This paper investigates the pricing distortions that arise from the use of a common non-linear incentive scheme at a leading enterprise software vendor. The empirical results demonstrate that salespeople are adept at gaming the timing of deal closure to take advantage... View Details

Keywords: Incentives; Motivation; Compensation; Gaming; Sales Force Management; Motivation and Incentives; Salesforce Management; Software; Compensation and Benefits; Information Technology Industry

May 2017
Teaching Note

Hilti Fleet Management (A) and (B)

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Oliver Gassmann and Roman Sauer

These notes are meant to accompany Hilti Fleet Management (A): Turning a Successful Business Model on Its Head (717-427) and Hilti Fleet Management (B): Towards a New Business Model (717-465).
This case explores the introduction of fleet management in the... View Details