Publications

Find at Harvard

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

Find at Harvard

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

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

Web

Stata Temporary Files and Stata Tmp - Research Computing Services

usage. 2. Prefix all Stata job submissions (default wrapper submissions or custom submissions) with the Bash directive that changes the Stata temporary file location for that one job / application launch . Here are a few examples:... 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

12 Feb 2018
Research & Ideas

Customers at the Back of the Line Are Anxious—Can You Keep Them from Leaving?

operational standpoint when customers are waiting for a service they find valuable and then decide to quit. “Showing customers the work that’s being done to serve them can... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Service; Service

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

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

Learning from Customers: Individual and Organizational Effects in Outsourced Radiological Services

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

01 Apr 2000
News

Rethinking Call Centers: Effective Delivery of Service is Key

services industry, where call centers have moved beyond their most obvious function -- as low-cost channels for resolving a myriad of customer concerns -- to become a powerful means of View Details

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

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

01 Jun 1998
News

Long-Term Interest: Bill Crozier, a Banker Pegged to the Customer

about how the current business scene is heavily skewed toward the shareholder. "Certainly the shareholder is important," he notes. "However, the shareholder role has gotten out of balance with the other important players - customers and... View Details

Keywords: Eileen K. McCluskey

June 2016
Teaching Note

Relating to Peapod

By: Jill Avery and Susan Fournier

This case concerns the topics of relationship marketing, customer acquisition and retention, brand loyalty, service failure and recovery, new product introduction, and the use of consumer ethnography to study consumer behavior. Specifically, the case explores the... View Details

Keywords: Brand Management; Customer Relationship Management; CRM; Customer Behavior; Consumer Behavior; Retailing; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Brands and Branding; Marketing Channels; E-commerce; Retail Industry; United States

06 Nov 2014
News

App Allows Customers to Pay Restaurant Bills Through Their Smartphones

Keywords: SplitNGo; i-Lab; Food Services and Drinking Places; Food Services and Drinking Places

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

July – August 2011
Article

Deliberate Learning to Improve Performance in Dynamic Service Settings: Evidence from Hospital Intensive Care Units

By: I. M. Nembhard and A. L. Tucker

Dynamic service settings-characterized by workers who interact with customers to deliver services in a rapidly changing, uncertain, and complex environment (e.g., hospitals)-play an important role in the economy. Organizational learning studies in these settings have... View Details

Keywords: Experience and Expertise; Customer Focus and Relationships; Learning; Health Care and Treatment; Service Delivery; Performance Improvement; Quality; Groups and Teams; Cooperation; Health Industry

Find at Harvard

Web

IT Strategy: Improving Service to Support Innovation | Information Technology

TSS, in partnership with the IT Service Delivery Team (ITSD), began to generate solutions that would greatly improve overall service delivery and customer satisfaction. Among... View Details

December 2014 (Revised February 2020)
Case

Compass Group: The Ascension Health Decision

By: Ryan W. Buell

In 2012, Compass Group (Compass) was on the verge of closing a $2 billion deal with Ascension Health (Ascension), one of the largest healthcare systems in the United States. Under the deal, Compass would provide foodservice management and cleaning services for 86 of... View Details

Keywords: Operations Strategy; Sectorization; Operational Focus; Customer Compatibility; Service Operations; Service Delivery; Operations; Strategy; Customer Focus and Relationships; Service Industry; Service Industry; United States