Publications

21 Aug 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, August 21, 2018

it is no longer enough for firms to be better or cheaper to gain competitive advantage. These new rules make it essential for companies to reexamine four fundamental aspects of their business to thrive in the digital era—their strategy, value chain, View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

02 Apr 2024
What Do You Think?

What's Enough to Make Us Happy?

The result is measured in terms of outcomes that may be more or less than we expected, just as customer satisfaction is measured in terms of whether our expectations were met or exceeded. But how many of us... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

September 24, 2024
Article

4 Steps That Can Optimize Your Sales Process

By: Frank V. Cespedes, Scott Peterson and Daniel Weinfurter

Sales is a performance art where outcomes matter, so most advice here focuses on closing the sale. But a close is the result of actions and choices that occur earlier in the process: how much time and effort to spend on customer discovery (understanding what and to... View Details

Keywords: Sales; Customer Satisfaction; Growth and Development Strategy; Competitive Advantage

Read Now

08 Apr 2014
First Look

First Look: April 8

August 2013 MIT Sloan Management Review The High Price of Customer Satisfaction By: Keiningham, Timothy, Sunil Gupta, Lerzan Aksoy, and Alexander Buoye Abstract—Managers often assume that improving View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

May 1997 (Revised October 2007)
Case

Teradyne: The Aurora Project

By: Joseph L. Bower

Three cases deal with the introduction of a new product to Teradyne's line of semiconductor test equipment. Teradyne: Managing Strategic Change provides historic and administrative background for the other two cases. This case deals with the problems facing the head of... View Details

Keywords: Business Divisions; Business Startups; Customer Satisfaction; Product Launch; Product Development; Corporate Strategy; Semiconductor Industry

29 Nov 2010
HBS Case

United Breaks Guitars

object lesson in what that means for big, recognizable companies and their brands. "United Breaks Guitars" documents the incredible viral power of social media, analyzing the reach and impact of a clever customer complaint music... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna

March 2010 (Revised November 2010)
Case

Pandora Radio: Fire Unprofitable Customers?

By: Willy C. Shih and Halle Alicia Tecco

Pandora Radio is at a crossroads. Founder Tim Westergren has just been told by a well known VC to get rid of his unprofitable customers in order to get his costs down, but Westergren is not sure that such actions are consistent with his company's business model.... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Customer Satisfaction; Music Entertainment; Venture Capital; Profit; Growth and Development Strategy; Consumer Behavior; Internet; Media and Broadcasting Industry

August 2010 (Revised November 2020)
Module Note

Integrating Around the Job to Be Done

By: Clayton Christensen, Rory McDonald, Laura E Day and Shaye Roseman

Unlike traditional market segmentations that are based on a correlation of product sales or service with the attributes of the purchaser (such as age, gender, income level, and education level), jobs-based segmentation seeks to understand the causal roots of... View Details

Keywords: Integration Planning; Jobs; Market Segmentation; Customer Satisfaction; Marketing; Jobs and Positions; Marketing Strategy; Segmentation; Integration; Planning

07 Jul 2021
Book

Good News for Disgraced Companies: You Can Regain Trust

smarts—“competence alone is never enough” to ensure trust, Sucher says. The other three elements need to be considered. Motive: Customers are intent on understanding a company’s motive: why they do what they do, and whose interests they... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert

09 Sep 2008
First Look

First Look: September 9, 2008

With a combination of rock-bottom prices, simplicity, and a focus on customer satisfaction backed by a unique low-cost infrastructure, Telmore's business model, with its powerful virtuous cycles, proved to... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

28 Jan 2019
Research & Ideas

Forget Cash. Here Are Better Ways to Motivate Employees

on how best to reward their workers in ways that will bring them greater job satisfaction and motivate them to work harder. When recruiting, emphasize benefits Talking up a job’s perks, such as flexible work schedules and skill training,... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

30 Jan 2020
Research & Ideas

The Upside of Highlighting a Product's Downsides

When booking an international flight, the choice often comes down to “expensive but direct” or “cheap with connections.” But what if an airline warned customers that the direct flight was frequently delayed? Would View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost

June 2009
Case

Plaza, the Logistics Park of Zaragoza

In the year 2000, the Government of the Autonomous Community of Aragón, Spain, made public a project for the development of a large-scale logistics park in the outskirts of the city of Zaragoza. With an area of nearly 13 square kilometers, PLAZA (an acronym for... View Details

Keywords: Customer Satisfaction; Geographic Location; Growth and Development Strategy; Infrastructure; Logistics; Supply Chain; Transportation; Distribution Industry; Zaragoza

10 Apr 2012
First Look

First Look: April 10

he began to share his insights more widely with family, friends, and students. In this groundbreaking book, Christensen puts forth a series of questions: How can I be sure that I'll find satisfaction in my career? How can I be sure that... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

2014
Other Teaching and Training Material

Marketing Reading: Brand Positioning

By: Jill Avery and Sunil Gupta

This Reading addresses the principles of brand positioning and demonstrates how companies can strategically craft powerful, resonant, and unique brand positions to help products stand out amidst the cacophony of the marketplace. Strategic brand positioning provides... View Details

Keywords: Brand Positioning; Branding; Consumer Research; Defensive Strategies; Market Positioning; Marketing; Product Differentiation; Product Positioning; Strategic Positioning; Value Proposition; Customer Relationship Management; Organizational Structure; Customer Satisfaction; Brands and Branding

08 Sep 2022
Book

Gen Xers and Millennials, It’s Time To Lead. Are You Ready?

will lead to an integrated life. In 2008, as the financial crash worsened, Sally Krawcheck was fired at Citibank for urging the firm to repay customers for defective investments. She stuck to her values and now leads her own online... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert

September 2017 (Revised November 2018)
Case

Marriott International: The Next 90 Years

By: Chiara Farronato and Gary Pisano

The case examines how Marriott should respond to the potential threats from new home-sharing platforms and the rise of online travel agencies. In 2017 Marriott was the largest hotel chain, with more than one million rooms and 7% of worldwide room supply. In the... View Details

September 2011
Article

The Labor Illusion: How Operational Transparency Increases Perceived Value

By: Ryan W. Buell and Michael I. Norton

A ubiquitous feature of even the fastest self-service technology transactions is the wait. Conventional wisdom and operations theory suggests that the longer people wait, the less satisfied they become; we demonstrate that due to what we term the labor illusion, when... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Perception; Valuation; Service Delivery; Consumer Behavior; Performance Effectiveness; Customer Satisfaction; Service Industry

November 2010 (Revised April 2011)
Case

Aman Resorts

By: Eugene Soltes and Aldo Sesia

This case describes the operating model and philosophy of this high-end set of global properties. Aman relies on employees taking considerable initiative to deliver the highest quality personalized service in the hospitality industry. The case also highlights Aman's... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Satisfaction; Globalized Firms and Management; Employees; Service Delivery; Business Strategy; Accommodations Industry