Publications

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

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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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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Stata and Maintaining Version Stability - Research Computing Services

Software Tools Stata and Maintaining Version Stability 2ms Every two years we update Stata in our research computing environment (both desktops and on the HBSGrid). While this is an excellent opportunity to stay abreast of the new... View Details

Web

IT Strategy: Improving Service to Support Innovation | Information Technology

launching the Service Delivery Improvement Plan initiative, TSS, in partnership with the IT Service Delivery Team (ITSD), began to generate solutions that would greatly improve overall 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

December 2018 (Revised June 2021)
Case

Bulb 2015: Foundation

By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock

In late August 2015, Amit Gudka and Hayden Wood, co-founders of Bulb, Ltd (Bulb), were ready to offer affordable renewable energy to the United Kingdom’s 27 million households. They hoped to capitalize on the hundreds of thousands of customers switching their energy... 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

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

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02 Feb 2015
Research & Ideas

Disruptors Sell What Customers Want and Let Competitors Sell What They Don’t

customers. By having each company specialize in one activity, the companies together do everything more efficiently for the customer. Of course, managing all of these different suppliers of services can be a hassle for consumers. View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

March 2016 (Revised February 2020)
Teaching Note

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; Customer Focus and Relationships; Service Industry; Service Industry; United States