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- All HBS Web
(2,567)
- Faculty Publications (635)
- March 2006 (Revised April 2008)
- Module Note
Conceptualizing the Customer Operating Role
By: Frances X. Frei
The module introduces students to the concept and implications of a customer operating role. Building on the first year operations curriculum in which only employees' and machines' operating roles are considered, it provides the additional perspectives needed to bring... View Details
Keywords: Customers; Performance Efficiency; Perspective; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Service Operations
Frei, Frances X. "Conceptualizing the Customer Operating Role." Harvard Business School Module Note 606-032, March 2006. (Revised April 2008.)
- March 2006
- Background Note
Customer-Introduced Variability in Service Operations
By: Frances X. Frei
Presents a typology of customer-introduced variability and offers guidance on how to manage each type. Central to the ideas developed is how to mitigate the effects of the apparent trade-off between reducing variability and diminishing the service experience or... View Details
Frei, Frances X. "Customer-Introduced Variability in Service Operations." Harvard Business School Background Note 606-063, March 2006.
- March 2006
- Background Note
Influencing Customer Behavior in Service Operations
By: Frances X. Frei and Amy C. Edmondson
Explores ways in which service firms can influence the behavior of their customers. Drawing from research on employee motivation and applying it to customer motivation, the note describes two levels of managerial control: instrumental control, which shapes behavior... View Details
Keywords: Customers; Governance Controls; Consumer Behavior; Service Operations; Emotions; Motivation and Incentives; Power and Influence; Service Industry
Frei, Frances X., and Amy C. Edmondson. "Influencing Customer Behavior in Service Operations." Harvard Business School Background Note 606-061, March 2006.
- February 2006 (Revised October 2006)
- Case
Veridian: Putting a Value on Values
By: Rakesh Khurana, Joel Podolny and Jaan Margus Elias
David Langstaff, the CEO of Veridian, a defense company, struggles with the decision of selling the company. Langstaff has concerned himself with inculcalating his organization with the values necessary for superior achievement over the long term. But as a fiduciary,... View Details
Keywords: Cash; Corporate Governance; Financial Markets; Law; Leadership; Patents; Values and Beliefs; Service Industry; Service Industry
Khurana, Rakesh, Joel Podolny, and Jaan Margus Elias. "Veridian: Putting a Value on Values." Harvard Business School Case 406-028, February 2006. (Revised October 2006.)
- November 2005 (Revised August 2007)
- Case
ConAgra Foods: The Next Chapter
By: Ray A. Goldberg and Mary L. Shelman
In 2005, CEO Bruce Rohde has almost completed the integration of ConAgra Foods' collection of 90 independent operating companies into a focused, value-added firm and was beginning to think about his successor. ConAgra had become the second largest food company and No.... View Details
Keywords: Change Management; Corporate Strategy; Leading Change; Management Succession; Strategic Planning; Brands and Branding; Food; Agribusiness; Product Marketing; Management Teams; Transformation; Customer Focus and Relationships; Food and Beverage Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; United States
Goldberg, Ray A., and Mary L. Shelman. "ConAgra Foods: The Next Chapter." Harvard Business School Case 906-409, November 2005. (Revised August 2007.)
- June 2005 (Revised August 2013)
- Case
Amazon.com's European Distribution Strategy
By: Janice Hammond and Claire Chiron
Describes how Amazon's distribution system evolved from the company's inception. In 2003, Amazon Europe must decide how to reconfigure its distribution network in light of expected growth, products proliferation, and geographical expansion in Europe. Examines how... View Details
Keywords: Business Model; Decision Choices and Conditions; Growth and Development; Business or Company Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Supply and Industry; Distribution; Supply Chain; Risk and Uncertainty; Expansion; Web Services Industry
Hammond, Janice, and Claire Chiron. "Amazon.com's European Distribution Strategy." Harvard Business School Case 605-002, June 2005. (Revised August 2013.)
- June 2005 (Revised September 2006)
- Case
Oracle vs. salesforce.com
By: David B. Yoffie and Alison Berkley Wagonfeld
Explores the phenomenon of software becoming a service. Salesforce.com has catapulted into the lead for offering a customer relationship management (CRM) solution as a Web-based service. Siebel, the leader in CRM packaged software sales, has to devise a strategy to... View Details
Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Competitive Advantage; Software; Web Services Industry; Web Services Industry
Yoffie, David B., and Alison Berkley Wagonfeld. "Oracle vs. salesforce.com." Harvard Business School Case 705-440, June 2005. (Revised September 2006.)
- June 2005
- Case
Furqan Nazeeri and the IMTrader Spin-Out
By: Lynda M. Applegate and Brian DeLacey
Furqan Nazeeri is looking to spin out a promising set of products and technologies from an established financial services firm. Designed as an exercise in negotiation. Includes material from the original business plan, and it is possible to simulate a negotiation... View Details
Keywords: Business Startups; Business or Company Management; Negotiation Process; Product Development; Technology Adoption
Applegate, Lynda M., and Brian DeLacey. "Furqan Nazeeri and the IMTrader Spin-Out." Harvard Business School Case 805-147, June 2005.
- 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
Rayport, Jeffrey F., and Bernard J. Jaworski. Best Face Forward: Why Companies Must Improve Their Service Interfaces With Customers. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press, 2005.
- March 2005
- Case
Henkel Iberica (A)
By: Francisco de Asis Martinez-Jerez, V.G. Narayanan and Lisa Brem
In 2002, Esteban Garriga, customer service director at Henkel Iberica, questions whether Collaborative Planning, Forecasting, and Replenishment (CPFR) would help manage retail promotions and limit their impact on the stock-outs and obsolete inventory. Describes the... View Details
Keywords: Business Subsidiaries; Forecasting and Prediction; Price; Distribution Channels; Strategic Planning; Commercialization; Valuation; Rail Industry; Germany; Spain
Martinez-Jerez, Francisco de Asis, V.G. Narayanan, and Lisa Brem. "Henkel Iberica (A)." Harvard Business School Case 105-023, March 2005.
- February 2005 (Revised March 2013)
- Case
Phase Zero: Introducing New Services at IDEO (A)
By: Amy C. Edmondson and Laura Feldman
Focuses on whether world-renowned product design firm IDEO's new customer service fits with the firm's strategic position and organization capabilities. Over the course of IDEO's 13-year history, an increasing share of revenues are a result of "Phase 0"... View Details
Keywords: Strategy; Service Operations; Product Design; Infrastructure; Customer Focus and Relationships; Innovation and Invention; Service Industry; Boston; United States
Edmondson, Amy C., and Laura Feldman. "Phase Zero: Introducing New Services at IDEO (A)." Harvard Business School Case 605-069, February 2005. (Revised March 2013.)
- January 2005 (Revised August 2007)
- Exercise
Letter Writing Exercise
By: Frances X. Frei and Hanna Rodriguez-Farrar
Provides an opportunity for students to experience first-hand how service companies respond to customer feedback. The corresponding module note further describes the exercise. View Details
- January 2005 (Revised June 2005)
- Case
Zipcar: Influencing Customer Behavior
By: Frances X. Frei and Hanna Rodriguez-Farrar
At Zipcar, customers share the use of cars and, as a result, rely on each other for their service experience. Customers are required to keep the car clean and the gas tank full and to return the car on time. Told from the perspective of two customers: Sal Fishman, who... View Details
Keywords: Information Technology; Governance Controls; Behavior; Service Delivery; Service Operations; Consumer Behavior; Leasing; Service Industry; Service Industry; United States
Frei, Frances X., and Hanna Rodriguez-Farrar. "Zipcar: Influencing Customer Behavior." Harvard Business School Case 605-054, January 2005. (Revised June 2005.)
- December 2004 (Revised April 2006)
- Case
Managing Diversity at Cityside Financial Services
By: Robin J. Ely and Ingrid Vargas
Cityside Financial Services, a disguised consumer bank, serves both a largely African-American urban community and a more affluent, predominantly white clientele. To match the gender and racial makeup of its staff to that of its customers, Cityside's sales division... View Details
Keywords: Selection and Staffing; Situation or Environment; Race; Employees; Gender; Customer Satisfaction; Diversity; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Banks and Banking; Banking Industry
Ely, Robin J., and Ingrid Vargas. "Managing Diversity at Cityside Financial Services." Harvard Business School Case 405-047, December 2004. (Revised April 2006.)
- November 2004 (Revised September 2007)
- Case
The Mitchell Family and Mitchells/Richards
By: Amy C. Edmondson, John A. Davis, Corey B. Hajim and Kelly Mulderry
Describes a small, luxury retail chain's operational sophistication achieved through the use of technology and "high-touch" customer service. A family-run business, Mitchells has built its success with a customer service strategy known internally as "hugging." The term... View Details
Keywords: Family Business; Customer Relationship Management; Knowledge Management; Service Delivery; Organizational Culture; Expansion; Information Technology; Retail Industry
Edmondson, Amy C., John A. Davis, Corey B. Hajim, and Kelly Mulderry. "The Mitchell Family and Mitchells/Richards." Harvard Business School Case 605-047, November 2004. (Revised September 2007.)
- November 2004
- Article
The Persistence of Customer Profitability: Empirical Evidence and Implications from a Financial Services Firm
By: Dennis Campbell and Frances X. Frei
Keywords: Customers; Markets; Information; Finance; Business Ventures; Profit; Financial Services Industry
Campbell, Dennis, and Frances X. Frei. "The Persistence of Customer Profitability: Empirical Evidence and Implications from a Financial Services Firm." Journal of Service Research 7, no. 2 (November 2004).
- October 2004 (Revised July 2011)
- Case
AT&T 2000-2004
By: Stephen P. Bradley and Kerry Herman
Provides an update on CEO Michael Armstrong's "Project Grand Slam" strategy to build the value of AT&T by offering a complete, integrated telecommunications solution to both corporate and residential customers, including wireless and wire line telephone, Internet,... View Details
Keywords: Business Exit or Shutdown; Customers; Business or Company Management; Failure; Business and Shareholder Relations; Networks; Corporate Strategy; Internet; Wireless Technology; Value Creation; Telecommunications Industry
Bradley, Stephen P., and Kerry Herman. "AT&T 2000-2004." Harvard Business School Case 705-425, October 2004. (Revised July 2011.)
- September 2004 (Revised December 2004)
- Case
Metso Paper: Globalization of Finnish Metal Workshops
By: Lynda M. Applegate, Marikka Heikkila and Kalle Lyytinen
Metso Paper, the world's largest producer of paper machines, aims to transform itself into a knowledge- and information-based service and solution provider for the paper industry by aggressively exploiting information technologies. In the fall of 2002, Jorma Hujala, a... View Details
Keywords: Production; Customer Value and Value Chain; Information Technology; Corporate Strategy; Knowledge Management; Machinery and Machining; Expansion; Service Delivery; Manufacturing Industry; Pulp and Paper Industry; Finland
Applegate, Lynda M., Marikka Heikkila, and Kalle Lyytinen. "Metso Paper: Globalization of Finnish Metal Workshops." Harvard Business School Case 805-057, September 2004. (Revised December 2004.)
- September 2004 (Revised February 2007)
- Case
Hedging Currency Risks at AIFS
By: Mihir A. Desai, Vincent Dessain and Anders Sjoman
The American Institute for Foreign Studies (AIFS) organizes study abroad programs and cultural exchanges for American students. The firm's revenues are mainly in U.S. dollars, but most of its costs are in eurodollars and British pounds. The company's controllers review... View Details
Keywords: Foreign Direct Investment; Investment Funds; Financial Strategy; Forecasting and Prediction; Revenue; Credit Derivatives and Swaps; Currency; Currency Exchange Rate; Education Industry; North and Central America
Desai, Mihir A., Vincent Dessain, and Anders Sjoman. "Hedging Currency Risks at AIFS." Harvard Business School Case 205-026, September 2004. (Revised February 2007.)
- June 2004 (Revised July 2005)
- Case
Procter & Gamble: Global Business Services
By: Thomas J. DeLong, Warren Brackin, Alex Cabanas, Phil Shellhammer and David L. Ager
Dave Walker, vice-president of business service opportunities and chairman of the governance team at Procter & Gamble, must decide what to do with P&G's 5,700 employee Global Business Services (GBS) group. GBS brought together internal services such as finance,... View Details
Keywords: Business Units; Change Management; Decision Making; Globalized Firms and Management; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Organizational Design
DeLong, Thomas J., Warren Brackin, Alex Cabanas, Phil Shellhammer, and David L. Ager. "Procter & Gamble: Global Business Services." Harvard Business School Case 404-124, June 2004. (Revised July 2005.)