Publications

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24 Apr 2014
News

Improving the service experience requires excellence—but not in everything

Everyone knows what bad service feels like—and that’s something Frances Frei, Professor at HBS, wants to fix. Making the service experience better for everyone, from customers... View Details

December 2017
Case

Molino Cañuelas: Serving Customers from Seed Development to the Kitchen Table

By: Jose B. Alvarez, Maria Fernanda Miguel and Mariana Cal

Molino Cañuelas was a vertically integrated food company with a management system that allowed it to innovate and grow systematically. With sales of $2 billion in 2016, the firm not only produced flour, vegetable oil, and packaged food products, it also owned a port... View Details

Keywords: Quality Management System; Food Industry; Molino Cañuelas; Argentina; Vertical Integration; Quality; Management Systems; Expansion; Global Range; Growth and Development Strategy; Agribusiness; Food and Beverage Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Argentina

Article

Build It, Buy It, or Both? Rethinking the Sourcing of Advertising Services

By: Alvin J. Silk and Marta M. Stiglin

This paper provides an update on the current state of in-house agencies. Whereas traditional consideration of internalizing advertising services was framed as a binary choice of build or buy, today's advertisers frequently pursue hybrid policies of build and buy to... View Details

Keywords: Operations; Advertising; Advertising Industry

Read Now

The ongoing fragmentation of work has resulted in a narrowing of tasks into smaller pieces that can be sent outside the organization and, in many instances, around the world. This trend is shifting the boundaries of organizations and leading to increased... View Details

April 2002 (Revised March 2008)
Teaching Note

eBay: The Customer Marketplace (A) and Combating Fraud (B) (TN)

By: Frances X. Frei

Teaching Note for (9-602-071) and (9-602-152). View Details

Keywords: Web Services Industry

Web

Running a Program/Submitting a Job - Research Computing Services

HBSGrid. The easiest is using wrapper (default submission) scripts via NoMachine and pre-defined commands. The other method is custom submission scripts , which offers maximum flexibility but involves writing one-line unix commands or... View Details

January–February 2024
Article

Shared Service Delivery Can Increase Client Engagement: A Study of Shared Medical Appointments

By: Ryan W. Buell, Kamalini Ramdas, Nazlı Sönmez, Kavitha Srinivasan and Rengaraj Venkatesh

Problem Definition: Clients and service providers alike often consider one-on-one service delivery to be ideal, assuming – perhaps unquestioningly – that devoting individualized attention best improves client outcomes. In contrast, in shared service delivery, clients... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Customer Satisfaction; Outcome or Result; Performance Improvement

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Web

Workshops & Technical Talks - Research Computing Services

Databases (RCS) Intermediate SQL Topics (RCS) Custom Databases for Data Management (Datafest) Multiple Approaches to Combining Data (Datafest) Introduction to SQL (DataCamp) SQL Essential Training (LinkedIn Learning) Programming with... View Details

November 2015 (Revised January 2017)
Case

Uber: Changing the Way the World Moves

By: Youngme Moon

In 2015, Uber is building what may be the largest point-to-point transportation network of its kind; it is literally changing the way the world moves. But unlike traditional transportation logistics companies like FedEx, Uber has an incredibly lightweight... View Details

Keywords: Service; Innovation; Pricing; Customer Loyalty; Uber; Taxi; Sharing Economy; On-demand Economy; Marketing; Operations; Strategy; Disruption; Customer Satisfaction; Transportation; Consumer Behavior

01 Oct 1996
News

"Service-Profit Chain" Links Members of Service Management Unit

costs of employee turnover? What are the benefits of a loyal customer base? These are questions that intrigue members of the Service Management unit. Judging from the popularity of the View Details

Keywords: Susan Young

Web

Software Environments via Conda - Research Computing Services

person modules/packages, we recommend instead using the standard Python / R installation methods, as outlined on our R and Python page. This page is intended for those working on multiple projects and would like to create separate environments with View Details

April 2003
Teaching Note

Achieving Customer Satisfaction at Pizza Hut (TN) (A) and (B)

By: V.G. Narayanan

Teaching Note for (2-101-006) and (2-101-042). View Details

Keywords: Service Industry; Service Industry

Web

Change Your Unix Command Prompt - Research Computing Services

Shell , there's plenty of explanation. So let's present one customization to make this always visible line a productive tool that shines! Show Me Where I Am! You can see that with the default prompt, we're presented with the current user... View Details

March 1996 (Revised January 1997)
Case

America Online: Using Information Technology to Better Serve the Customer

By: James I. Cash Jr. and Judy E. Stahl

Mike Connors, president of AOL Technologies, examines several efforts to correct operational problems inhibiting the company's growth. What will need to be done to support growth and counter competition from Prodigy, Compuserv, and Internet-related services? View Details

Keywords: Customer Focus and Relationships; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Service Operations; Problems and Challenges; Competitive Strategy; Information Technology; Technology Industry

September 2020 (Revised February 2021)
Case

Zameer Kassam Fine Jewelry: Engaging Clients

By: Ryan W. Buell and Amy Klopfenstein

Zameer Kassam Fine Jewelry (ZKFJ) designs custom engagement rings that tell the story of a couple’s relationship. The case describes the company’s process for engaging clients, which has historically been a relatively offline, high-touch experience. Obliged by... View Details

Keywords: Customer Engagement; Service Delivery; Health Pandemics; Internet and the Web; Customer Satisfaction; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Growth and Development; Retail Industry