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Show Results For
- All HBS Web
(3,919)
- People (11)
- News (1,203)
- Research (2,182)
- Events (3)
- Multimedia (5)
- Faculty Publications (1,419)
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- 10 Aug 2017
- Cold Call Podcast
Pal's Sudden Service: Taking Fast Food to the Next Level
- 25 May 2011
- HBS Case
QuikTrip’s Investment in Retail Employees Pays Off
Ton says the key is making the right operating decisions. "You can invest in your people and offer low prices," she says. "And guess what? You'll have a service advantage too." For... View Details
- 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
Soltes, Eugene, and Aldo Sesia. "Aman Resorts." Harvard Business School Case 111-012, November 2010. (Revised April 2011.) (request a courtesy copy.)
- May 2002 (Revised February 2004)
- Case
Innovation at Progressive (A): Pay-As-You-Go Insurance
By: Frances X. Frei and Hanna Rodriguez-Farrar
Consumer auto insurance is a price-sensitive industry in which customers rarely pay a premium to a provider even for additional service features. Progressive spends more on additional service features than its competitors do; consumers don't pay extra for these... View Details
Frei, Frances X., and Hanna Rodriguez-Farrar. "Innovation at Progressive (A): Pay-As-You-Go Insurance." Harvard Business School Case 602-175, February 2004. (Revised from original May 2002 version.)
- May 2002 (Revised September 2002)
- Teaching Note
Creating New Services, Module Overview Note TN
By: Frances X. Frei
Taught in Managing Service Operations, an elective course in the Harvard Business School MBA program. Appropriate for any service course or service module within an operations or new product development course that targets MBA or executive education students.... View Details
- November 2016 (Revised February 2017)
- Case
BrightStar Care: The Evolution of a Leadership Team
By: Boris Groysberg, Colleen Ammerman and John D. Vaughan
BrightStar Care was a rapidly growing franchise of home health care agencies. Founded by husband and wife team JD and Shelly Sun as a single agency near Chicago in 2002, BrightStar had opened nearly 300 franchises across the United States by 2016, generating over $300... View Details
Keywords: Health Care Services; Entrepreneurs; Board Of Directors; Boards Of Directors; Health Care Industry; Growth Strategy; Organizational Change; Brand Positioning; Entrepreneurial Organizations; Entrepreneurial Management; Franchising; Family-owned Business; Home Health Care; Managing Growth; Management Styles; Organizational Development; Talent Management; Women Executives; Women And Leadership; Business Startups; Family Business; Small Business; Talent and Talent Management; Governing and Advisory Boards; Health Care and Treatment; Human Capital; Leadership Development; Leadership Style; Business or Company Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Management Skills; Management Style; Management Succession; Management Systems; Management Teams; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Strategy
Groysberg, Boris, Colleen Ammerman, and John D. Vaughan. "BrightStar Care: The Evolution of a Leadership Team." Harvard Business School Case 417-020, November 2016. (Revised February 2017.)
- March 2020 (Revised March 2022)
- Case
Wachtell Lipton: Focused Excellence
By: Ashish Nanda and Margaret Cross
For years, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz—a small, New York City law firm—has consistently boasted the highest profits per partner and one of the highest “prestige” ratings among U.S.-based law firms. The firm has remained loyal to a distinctive strategy ever since its... View Details
Nanda, Ashish, and Margaret Cross. "Wachtell Lipton: Focused Excellence." Harvard Business School Case 720-396, March 2020. (Revised March 2022.)
- October 1992 (Revised September 1996)
- Case
McDonald's Corporation
By: David M. Upton and Joshua D. Margolis
McDonald's has over many years built an operating strategy based on consistency and quality through a limited product range. Competitive forces have drawn the company into a much wider variety of foods and services in order to maintain growth. Now, new competitors... View Details
Keywords: Corporate Strategy; Diversification; Problems and Challenges; Environmental Sustainability; Quality; Competitive Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Operations; Integration; Food and Beverage Industry; United States
Upton, David M., and Joshua D. Margolis. "McDonald's Corporation." Harvard Business School Case 693-028, October 1992. (Revised September 1996.)
- August 2000
- Case
Project ACHIEVE - January 2000
By: H. Kent Bowen and Elizabeth Kind
Education services target public schools to assist the school with technology and services that will improve their communication with students, parents, and the community. There is also the goal of increasing scores of measured learning. How does a small company do... View Details
Keywords: Information Technology; Service Delivery; Learning; Interactive Communication; Measurement and Metrics; Performance Consistency; Business and Community Relations; Expansion; Technology Adoption; Education Industry
Bowen, H. Kent, and Elizabeth Kind. "Project ACHIEVE - January 2000." Harvard Business School Case 601-044, August 2000.
- January 2015
- Case
Monte-Carlo Weddings
By: Anat Keinan and Sandrine Crener
Monte-Carlo Weddings, established by Frank Damgaard in 2005, is the most respectable and exclusive wedding planning business in the South of France. Frank has organized the largest, most expensive and luxurious weddings in Europe, serving celebrities, CEOs, and other... View Details
Keywords: Luxury Brand; Luxury Service; Luxury Consumers; Exceeding Consumer Expectations; Wedding Planner; Destination Wedding; Event Planner; Event Management; Entrepreneurship; Growth Strategy; Monaco; Monte-Carlo; Brand Building; Reputation Management; Word Of Mouth; Customer Satisfaction; Client Acquisition; Diversification; Wealth; Marketing Strategy; Business Growth and Maturation; Service Delivery; Luxury; Brands and Branding; Growth and Development Strategy; Service Industry; France
Keinan, Anat, and Sandrine Crener. "Monte-Carlo Weddings." Harvard Business School Case 515-071, January 2015.
- April 2019 (Revised August 2020)
- Case
Raksul
By: Scott Duke Kominers, Masahiro Kotosaka, Nobuo Sato and Akiko Kanno
Raksul, 2018 Forbes Japan "Startup of the Year," ran an e-commerce platform drawing upon thousands of individual suppliers. Launched as a business-to-business printing services marketplace, Raksul had recently expanded to operate both a logistics/delivery marketplace... View Details
- September 1991 (Revised January 1997)
- Case
Manzana Insurance: Fruitvale Branch (Abridged)
Deals with performance assessment and improvement of a service operation in the insurance industry, a market that is highly sensitive to response time. Two branch offices in direct competition are described, and the impact of response time on performance is suggested.... View Details
Keywords: Business Offices; Decision Choices and Conditions; Time Management; Service Operations; Performance Evaluation; Competition; Insurance Industry
Wheelwright, Steven C. "Manzana Insurance: Fruitvale Branch (Abridged)." Harvard Business School Case 692-015, September 1991. (Revised January 1997.)
- April 2008
- Module Note
Improvement with Customer-Operators
By: Frances X. Frei and Dennis Campbell
Taught as the third module in a Harvard Business School course on Managing Service Operations: Understanding the Customer Operating Role (606-092). Explores how firms can systematically leverage their customer-operators in the organizational improvement process is... View Details
Keywords: Service Operations; Performance Improvement; Customer Focus and Relationships; Framework; Employees; Business Model; Management Practices and Processes; Organizational Design
Frei, Frances X., and Dennis Campbell. "Improvement with Customer-Operators." Harvard Business School Module Note 608-135, April 2008.
- November 1978 (Revised June 1982)
- Case
Federal Express (B)
Federal Express is a small-package airline operating throughout the United States. After initial heavy losses, it is now profitable. Management is examining the services offered by the firm and believes that there is great potential for "Courier Pak," an overnight... View Details
Lovelock, Christopher H. "Federal Express (B)." Harvard Business School Case 579-040, November 1978. (Revised June 1982.)
- 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
Frei, Frances, and Anne Morriss. Uncommon Service: How to Win by Putting Customers at the Core of Your Business. Cambridge: Harvard Business Review Press, 2012.
- January 2019 (Revised October 2019)
- Case
Rural Taobao: Alibaba's Expansion into Rural E-Commerce
By: Tarun Khanna, Ryan Allen, Adam Frost and Wesley Koo
Alibaba's Rural Taobao initiative had been launched in 2014 as a public service initiative to increase e-commerce adoption in China’s remote rural areas. In the first two iterations of the initiative, dubbed “1.0” and “2.0,” Alibaba had partnered with local businesses... View Details
Keywords: Strategy; Business Growth; Ecommerce; Corporate Social Responsibility; Business And Government; Emerging Market; Digital Platforms; Internet and the Web; Emerging Markets; Rural Scope; Growth and Development Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Business and Government Relations; Decision Making; E-commerce; China
Khanna, Tarun, Ryan Allen, Adam Frost, and Wesley Koo. "Rural Taobao: Alibaba's Expansion into Rural E-Commerce." Harvard Business School Case 719-433, January 2019. (Revised October 2019.)
- Article
Can You Cut 'Turn Times' Without Adding Staff?
By: Ethan Bernstein and Ryan W. Buell
The president of RSA Ground, the subsidiary of Rising Sun Airlines responsible for servicing its planes at airports across Japan, goes undercover as a service crew member to discover how and whether his employees can speed up cleaning, checking, restocking, and... View Details
Keywords: Employee Empowerment; Employee Motivation; Turnaround; Service Operations; Employees; Motivation and Incentives; Leadership; Air Transportation Industry; Japan
Bernstein, Ethan, and Ryan W. Buell. "Can You Cut 'Turn Times' Without Adding Staff?" R1604K. Harvard Business Review 94, no. 4 (April 2016): 113–117.
- December 1982 (Revised September 2015)
- Case
Halloran Metals
By: Roy Shapiro
Two competitors in the Northeast steel service center industry have made very different choices with regards to logistics and operating strategy. One distributes from a large central location; the other operates seven widely scattered warehouses. Students can diagnose... View Details
Keywords: Logistics; Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Business Cycles; Decision Choices and Conditions; Metals and Minerals; Supply Chain; Steel Industry; United States
Shapiro, Roy. "Halloran Metals." Harvard Business School Case 683-062, December 1982. (Revised September 2015.)
- January 2021 (Revised April 2022)
- Case
Best Buy's Corie Barry: Confronting the COVID-19 Pandemic
By: William W. George and Amram Migdal
This case examines the leadership of Corie Barry, the new CEO of Best Buy, with a focus on actions the company took in 2020 to adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic. The case includes a history of Best Buy’s strategy and leadership, including the transitions between the... View Details
Keywords: COVID-19 Pandemic; Change; Disruption; Volatility; Communication; Competency and Skills; Customers; Decision Making; Ethics; Fairness; Moral Sensibility; Values and Beliefs; Finance; Cash Flow; Financial Condition; Financial Liquidity; Goods and Commodities; Corporate Governance; Health Pandemics; Human Resources; Executive Compensation; Employees; Employee Relationship Management; Resignation and Termination; Retention; Selection and Staffing; Innovation and Invention; Jobs and Positions; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Job Design and Levels; Job Interviews; Job Offer; Labor; Employment; Human Capital; Working Conditions; Law; Leadership; Leadership Development; Leadership Style; Management; Business or Company Management; Crisis Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Management Practices and Processes; Management Style; Management Succession; Management Systems; Management Teams; Risk Management; Operations; Distribution; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Logistics; Service Delivery; Service Operations; Supply Chain; Organizations; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Outcome or Result; Personal Development and Career; Retirement; Work-Life Balance; Planning; Strategic Planning; Problems and Challenges; Relationships; Business and Community Relations; Labor and Management Relations; Risk and Uncertainty; Safety; Science; Strategy; Retail Industry; North and Central America; United States; Minnesota
George, William W., and Amram Migdal. "Best Buy's Corie Barry: Confronting the COVID-19 Pandemic." Harvard Business School Case 321-073, January 2021. (Revised April 2022.)
- September 2024
- Case
Cathay Cargo: Turnaround Short Haul, or Double Crew Long Haul?
By: Willy Shih and Billy Chan
Tom Owen, Director Cargo at Cathay Pacific Airways, had a problem. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the grounding of passenger flights meant the sudden loss of 50% of the airline's cargo carrying capacity. But the bigger challenge was that the Hong Kong government imposed... View Details
Keywords: Operations; Resource Allocation; Cash Flow; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Health Pandemics; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Decision Choices and Conditions; Air Transportation Industry; Hong Kong
Shih, Willy, and Billy Chan. "Cathay Cargo: Turnaround Short Haul, or Double Crew Long Haul?" Harvard Business School Case 625-019, September 2024.