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(3,436)
- People (3)
- News (748)
- Research (2,174)
- Events (10)
- Multimedia (9)
- Faculty Publications (1,105)
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- February 2016 (Revised February 2020)
- Teaching Note
Oberoi Hotels: Train Whistle in the Tiger Reserve
By: Ryan W. Buell and Ananth Raman
Celebrated as one of the world's premiere luxury hotel brands, Oberoi Hotels attracts and serves some of the most quality sensitive guests in the world. The case considers the challenge of how an organization with a standardized service model can repeatedly delight... View Details
Keywords: Service Quality; Service Management; Service Quality Competition; Customer Management; Customer Service Excellence; Employee Empowerment; Employee Engagement; Employee Training; Hospitality; Hotel Industry; Service Delivery; Service Operations; Customer Satisfaction; Employees; Training; Quality; Accommodations Industry; India
- 2013
- Working Paper
The Impact of Conformance and Experiential Quality on Healthcare Cost and Clinical Performance
By: Claire Senot, Aravind Chandrasekaran, Peter T. Ward and Anita L. Tucker
The quality of operational processes is an important driver of performance in hospitals. In particular, processes that reliably deliver both evidence-based and patient-centered care, which we call conformance and experiential quality, respectively, have been argued to... View Details
Keywords: Healthcare; Experiential Quality; Conformance Quality; Clinical Outcomes; Cost Efficiency; Quality; Service Operations; Health Care and Treatment; Performance; Outcome or Result; Health Industry
Senot, Claire, Aravind Chandrasekaran, Peter T. Ward, and Anita L. Tucker. "The Impact of Conformance and Experiential Quality on Healthcare Cost and Clinical Performance." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 14-024, September 2013.
- Summer 2025
- Article
Dynamic Competition for Customer Memberships
By: Cristian Chica, Julian Jimenez-Cardenas and Jorge Tamayo
A competitive two-period membership (subscription) market is analyzed. Two symmetric firms charge a “membership” fee that allows consumers to buy products or services at a given unit price for both periods. Firms can choose between long- or short-term memberships. When... View Details
Keywords: Competitive Price Discrimination; Membership; Dynamic Competition; Competition; Price; Consumer Behavior; Business Model
Chica, Cristian, Julian Jimenez-Cardenas, and Jorge Tamayo. "Dynamic Competition for Customer Memberships." Journal of Economics & Management Strategy 34, no. 2 (Summer 2025): 525–556.
- September 1997 (Revised January 1998)
- Teaching Note
Indianapolis: Implementing Competition in City Services TN
By: William J. Bruns Jr.
Teaching Note for (9-196-099). View Details
- September 2013 (Revised February 2016)
- Case
GlaxoSmithKline: Sourcing Complex Professional Services
By: Heidi K. Gardner and Silvia Hodges Silverstein
Pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) uses an innovative new approach to procuring outside legal counsel: it replaces relationship-based selection and law firms' traditional time-based billing with data-driven decision making and an online reverse auction. In... View Details
Keywords: Legal Industry; Procurement; Professional Service Firms; Pricing; Competition; Change Management; Supply Chain Management; Legal Liability; Business Processes; Legal Services Industry; Legal Services Industry
Gardner, Heidi K., and Silvia Hodges Silverstein. "GlaxoSmithKline: Sourcing Complex Professional Services." Harvard Business School Case 414-003, September 2013. (Revised February 2016.)
- January 2015 (Revised March 2015)
- Case
Oberoi Hotels: Train Whistle in the Tiger Reserve
By: Ryan W. Buell, Ananth Raman and Vidhya Muthuram
Celebrated as one of the world's premiere luxury hotel brands, Oberoi Hotels attracts and serves some of the most quality-sensitive guests in the world. The case considers the challenge of how an organization, with a standardized service model, can repeatedly delight... View Details
Keywords: Service Quality; Service Management; Service Quality Competition; Customer Management; Customer Service Excellence; Employee Empowerment; Employee Engagement; Employee Training; India; Hospitality; Hotel Industry; Service Delivery; Service Operations; Customer Satisfaction; Employees; Quality; Accommodations Industry; India
Buell, Ryan W., Ananth Raman, and Vidhya Muthuram. "Oberoi Hotels: Train Whistle in the Tiger Reserve." Harvard Business School Case 615-043, January 2015. (Revised March 2015.)
- April 1984 (Revised November 1988)
- Background Note
Statistical Quality Control for Process Improvement
Describes systematic methods for process debugging and improvement, based on statistical quality control. Examples are from manufacturing settings, but techniques are also useful for services and sales, and to quantity improvement as well as quality improvement. View Details
Bohn, Roger E. "Statistical Quality Control for Process Improvement." Harvard Business School Background Note 684-068, April 1984. (Revised November 1988.)
- Research Summary
Ownership Qutotient: Putting the Service Profit Chain for Unbeatable Competitive Advantage
By: W. Earl Sasser
Professors Jim Heskett and Earl Sasser, in collaboration with Joe Wheeler have been examining cuatomer and employee ownership behaviors which have a profound impact on long term profit and growth. Their findings are published in Ownership Quotient:... View Details
- 2019
- Working Paper
Government Technology Policy, Social Value, and National Competitiveness
By: Frank Nagle
This study seeks to better understand the impact that government technology procurement regulations have on social value and national competitiveness. To do this, it examines the impact of a change in France’s technology procurement policy that required government... View Details
Keywords: Social Value; Competitiveness; Government Administration; Information Technology; Acquisition; Policy; Value
Nagle, Frank. "Government Technology Policy, Social Value, and National Competitiveness." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 19-103, March 2019.
- March 1994
- Supplement
Measure of Delight: The Pursuit of Quality at AT&T Universal Card Services (B)
By: Roy D. Shapiro and Michael D. Watkins
Supplements the (A) case. View Details
Keywords: Telecommunications Industry
Shapiro, Roy D., and Michael D. Watkins. "Measure of Delight: The Pursuit of Quality at AT&T Universal Card Services (B)." Harvard Business School Supplement 694-077, March 1994.
- October 2008 (Revised February 2012)
- Case
Amazon Web Services
By: Robert S. Huckman, Gary P. Pisano and Liz Kind
Considers the development of Amazon Web Services (AWS), a division of Amazon.com, Inc., specializing in the provision of web-based storage and computing services to web developers. The case focuses on the issues facing Andy Jassy, the head of AWS, in 2008 as AWS faces... View Details
Keywords: Price; Market Entry and Exit; Service Operations; Competition; Diversification; Web Services Industry; Web Services Industry
Huckman, Robert S., Gary P. Pisano, and Liz Kind. "Amazon Web Services." Harvard Business School Case 609-048, October 2008. (Revised February 2012.)
- March 1993 (Revised April 1995)
- Case
IBM After-Sales Service
IBM has established a service delivery system to provide service and maintenance parts for its installed base of computers. The case outlines the competitive pressures IBM faces from alternative providers of maintenance services (e.g. other OEMs, third-party... View Details
Keywords: Service Delivery; Service Operations; Supply Chain; Supply Chain Management; Logistics; Operations; Distribution; Customer Focus and Relationships; Competitive Strategy; Computer Industry
Hammond, Janice H. "IBM After-Sales Service." Harvard Business School Case 693-001, March 1993. (Revised April 1995.)
- October 1989 (Revised May 1996)
- Case
Xerox Corp.: Leadership Through Quality (A)
By: Todd D. Jick and Leonard A. Schlesinger
Describes the "Leadership Through Quality" effort undertaken by Xerox in the 1980s. Includes the history of Xerox in the 1970s and its need to make major changes in quality by the 1980s. Most of the remainder of the case details the step-by-step process by which Xerox... View Details
Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Strategic Planning; Quality; Leadership; Organizational Culture; Service Industry; Service Industry
Jick, Todd D., and Leonard A. Schlesinger. "Xerox Corp.: Leadership Through Quality (A)." Harvard Business School Case 490-008, October 1989. (Revised May 1996.)
- November 2011
- Case
Comfort Class Transport: Does Customer Service Need an Overhaul?
By: Michael J Roberts and Paul E. Morrison
The general manager of a chauffeured limousine transport company is concerned about underperformance at the company's customer service call center. The eight-person call center handles almost all customer interaction including discussing company services with... View Details
Keywords: Capacity Utilization; Supply ＆ Demand; Operations Management; Customer Service; Management; Demand and Consumers; Service Operations; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Performance Capacity; Customer Satisfaction; Transportation Industry
Roberts, Michael J., and Paul E. Morrison. "Comfort Class Transport: Does Customer Service Need an Overhaul?" Harvard Business School Brief Case 114-374, November 2011.
- 2025
- Working Paper
Blockchain Adoption and Audit Quality
By: Mei Luo, Daniel Rabetti and Shuangchen Yu
This study examines the impact of blockchain adoption in the corporate setting. Specifically, we provide comprehensive empirical support to recent theory (Cao, Cong, and Young, 2024) proposing that blockchain adoption positively affects endogenous audit quality and... View Details
Keywords: Blockchain; Accounting Audits; Technology Adoption; Financial Reporting; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; China
Luo, Mei, Daniel Rabetti, and Shuangchen Yu. "Blockchain Adoption and Audit Quality." Working Paper, February 2025.
- 2006
- Book
Service Productivity Management: Improving Service Performance Using Data Envelopment Analysis
By: H. David Sherman and Joe Zhu
Here is an in-depth guide to the most powerful available benchmarking technique for improving service organization performance—Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). The book outlines DEA as a benchmarking technique, identifies high cost service units, isolates specific... View Details
Sherman, H. David, and Joe Zhu. Service Productivity Management: Improving Service Performance Using Data Envelopment Analysis. Boston, MA: Springer, 2006.
- 1995
- Chapter
Contending Views of Quality Management in Health Care: Implications for Competition and Regulation
By: D. Blumenthal and Richard Bohmer
- 26 Apr 2017
- Working Paper Summaries
Assessing the Quality of Quality Assessment: The Role of Scheduling
- September 2000
- Background Note
Professional Services Module Two: External Strategy for Sustained Competitive Advantage
By: Thomas J. DeLong, Ashish Nanda and Scot H. Landry
Concerns itself with the strategic dynamics which influence organizations externally. View Details
Keywords: Competitive Advantage; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Business Plan; Service Operations; For-Profit Firms; Power and Influence; Measurement and Metrics; Business Processes; Management Practices and Processes; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques
DeLong, Thomas J., Ashish Nanda, and Scot H. Landry. "Professional Services Module Two: External Strategy for Sustained Competitive Advantage." Harvard Business School Background Note 801-008, September 2000.
- Article
Price and Quality Decisions by Self-Serving Managers
By: Marco Bertini, Daniel Halbheer and Oded Koenigsberg
We present a theory of price and quality decisions by managers who are self-serving. In the theory, firms stress the price or quality of their products, but not both. Accounting for this, managers exploit any uncertainty about the cause of market outcomes to credit... View Details
Keywords: Causal Reasoning; Self-serving Bias; Strategic Orientation; Managerial Decision-making; Price; Quality; Decision Making; Theory
Bertini, Marco, Daniel Halbheer, and Oded Koenigsberg. "Price and Quality Decisions by Self-Serving Managers." International Journal of Research in Marketing 37, no. 2 (June 2020): 236–257.