Publications

August 2023
Teaching Note

Vanderbilt: Transforming an Academic Health Care Delivery System, 2020

By: Michael E. Porter, Robert S. Kaplan, Mary L. Witkowski and David N. Bernstein

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 724-373. View Details

Keywords: Health Care; Health Care Industry; Academic Medicine; Value-based Health Care; Value-based Healthcare; Health Care Delivery; Service Delivery; Transformation; Health Care and Treatment; Corporate Strategy; Leadership; Health Industry; Tennessee; United States

June 2006 (Revised June 2007)
Background Note

The Challenge Facing the U.S. Healthcare Delivery System

By: Richard M.J. Bohmer and Carin-Isabel Knoop

Discusses the challenges currently facing the U.S. health care delivery system. These challenges frame the problems managers of delivery organizations are currently facing. They include a burgeoning gap between demand and supply. Demand for health care services is... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry; United States

July 3, 2020
Article

Delivery Apps Need to Start Treating Suppliers As Partners

By: Scott Duke Kominers and Ian Macomber

Home delivery has shifted from a luxury service aimed at young urban professionals to a core part of many businesses, which is used by almost everyone. That upheaval has strained capacity of many delivery services and changed how they relate to the suppliers that they... View Details

Keywords: Service Delivery; Supply Chain; Performance Capacity; Performance Efficiency; Entrepreneurship

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March 1994 (Revised September 1995)
Case

Enron Gas Services

By: Peter Tufano

The CEO of Enron Gas Services (EGS), a subsidiary of the largest U.S. integrated natural gas firm, considers the risks and opportunities of selling a variety of natural gas derivatives, both embedded in gas delivery contracts and as free-standing financial contracts.... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Energy Sources; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry

Research Summary

Quality in Service Operations

Rogelio Oliva is interested in understanding how the operational characteristics of service delivery processes interact with human resource and marketing policies to determine the long term productivity, quality, and profitability of a service operation. Specifically,... View Details

Article

Cooks Make Tastier Food When They Can See Their Customers

By: Ryan W. Buell, Tami Kim and Chia-Jung Tsay

While existing theory suggests that increased contact between customers and employees diminishes efficiency, recent research demonstrates that when employees can see their customers, the beneficiaries of their efforts, the quality and efficiency of the service they... View Details

Keywords: Operational Transparency; Service Delivery; Service Operations; Service Management; Service Industry

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11 Apr 2000
Research & Ideas

Financial Services 24/7

routine part of most people's lives, there is no doubt that technology—especially Internet technology—is having a huge impact on the financial services industry. With much hype and headlines, Web trading has revolutionized the securities... View Details

Keywords: by Susan Young

2008
Working Paper

Contracting for Servicizing

By: Michael W. Toffel

Servicizing, a novel business practice that sells product functionality rather than products, has been touted as an environmentally beneficial business practice. This paper describes how servicizing transactions mitigate some problems associated with sales... View Details

Keywords: Customer Focus and Relationships; Contracts; Market Transactions; Service Delivery; Service Operations; Sales

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January 2010
Case

Ledina Lushko: Navigating Health Care Delivery

By: Sachin H Jain, Michael E. Porter, Fatima Akrouh and Carolyn Daly

Ledina Lushko was diagnosed with Adrenal Cortical Carcinoma in 2008 and sought care at a highly regarded medical institution in the United States. This case lays out her journey through the health care system in detail and all of the effort involved in finding... View Details

Keywords: Health; Health Care and Treatment; Health Disorders; Service Delivery; Health Industry; United States

Research Summary

Managing Marketspace Service Interfaces

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport

Jeffrey F. Rayport is focusing on the strategic challenges that face businesses selling information-intensive products and services. A key strategic issue in such businesses is the dematerialization of information-intensive products and services as a consequence of... View Details

2005
Book

Best Face Forward: Why Companies Must Improve Their Service Interfaces With Customers

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport and Bernard J. Jaworski

Keywords: Technology; Digital; Services; Strategy; Internet and the Web; Service Delivery; Marketing

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2012
Other Unpublished Work

The Instrumental Value of Medical Leadership: Engaging Doctors in Improving Services

By: Richard Bohmer

This paper was commissioned to contribute to The King's Fund's 2012 review of leadership and engagement. View Details

Keywords: Health Care; Service Quality; Quality; Leadership; Service Delivery; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry

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2015
Book

What Great Service Leaders Know and Do: Creating Breakthroughs in Service Firms

By: James L. Heskett, W. Earl Sasser and Leonard A. Schlesinger

Based on decades of collective field experiences, the authors present anecdotal evidence in support of eight things that great service leaders know and do. Great service leaders know that (1) leading a breakthrough service is different, and they take steps to ensure... View Details

Keywords: Management; Leadership; Service Operations; Service Delivery

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October 14, 2019
Article

How Artificial Intelligence Is Changing Health Care Delivery

By: Samantha F. Sanders, Mats Terwiesch, William J. Gordon and Ariel Dora Stern

The development of intelligent machines holds great promise for making health care delivery more accurate, efficient, and accessible, but challenges remain for incorporating AI into clinical and administrative settings. View Details

Keywords: Artificial Intelligence; Health Care and Treatment; Service Delivery; Technological Innovation; AI and Machine Learning

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February 2016 (Revised March 2022)
Case

Express Scripts: Promoting Prescription Drug Home Delivery (B)

By: John Beshears, Patrick Rooney and Jenny Sanford

The pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) sector processes prescription drug claims on behalf of companies that offer a prescription drug benefit to their employees. This case follows Bob Nease, Chief Scientist at Express Scripts, as he considers methods to promote home... View Details

Keywords: Pharmaceuticals; Prescription Drugs; Pharmacy Benefit Manager; PBM; Healthcare; Behavioral Economics; Choice Architecture; Active Choice; Health Care and Treatment; Service Delivery; Decision Choices and Conditions; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Compensation and Benefits

September 2009 (Revised April 2011)
Case

Integrated Project Delivery at Autodesk, Inc. (A)

By: Amy C. Edmondson and Faaiza Rashid

Describes Autodesk's engagement in Integrated Project Delivery—a new model of risk management, inter-firm teamwork, and multi-objective (aesthetic, cost, and sustainability) optimization in building projects. In 2008, Autodesk, Inc., the world's largest design software... View Details

Keywords: Buildings and Facilities; Business Headquarters; Design; Risk Management; Business Processes; Projects; Groups and Teams; Partners and Partnerships; Cooperation; Service Industry; Service Industry

March 2002 (Revised October 2002)
Background Note

Service on the Internet: The Effect of Physical Service on Scalability

Develops a framework for exploring the idea of, how service affects the economics of Internet organizations. Development of the framework requires an understanding of the different forms service takes in organizations that conduct business through the Internet. These... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Service Delivery; Service Industry

Teaching Interest

Transforming Customer Experiences - Executive Education

By: Ryan W. Buell

In today's fast-growing service sector, a new set of frameworks are required to build a robust and competitive service business. Transforming Customer Experiences draws upon the latest research and insights to equip senior managers with a new toolkit for leading... View Details

Keywords: Service Delivery; Customer Satisfaction; Customer Loyalty; Quality; Employees; Service Models; Service Industry

December 2023 (Revised February 2024)
Case

Transforming Healthcare Delivery at Karolinska University Hospital

By: Susanna Gallani, Mary Witkowski, Elena Corsi and Nikolina Jonsson

The case study examines the journey toward value-based healthcare at Karolinska University Hospital. The hospital's ambitious shift to a patient-centered care delivery model, accompanied by the construction of a new facility, encountered challenges such as high costs,... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Transformation; Transition; Business Organization; Communication Strategy; Information Infrastructure; Service Delivery; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Structure; Health Industry; Sweden; Europe