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Show Results For
- All HBS Web
(2,562)
- People (2)
- News (547)
- Research (1,692)
- Events (3)
- Multimedia (9)
- Faculty Publications (945)
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- March 2017
- Exercise
Designing Transformational Customer Experiences
By: Stefan Thomke
Anyone who has recently travelled, gone shopping, or tried to have a problem solved may have little recollection of the experience. Worse yet, some are frustrated by the lack of responsiveness or empathy that they encountered. The reality is that most customer... View Details
Keywords: Customer Experience; Exercise; Learning By Doing; LEGO; Storytelling; Customer Satisfaction; Design; Innovation and Management; Transformation; Service Delivery
Thomke, Stefan. "Designing Transformational Customer Experiences." Harvard Business School Exercise 617-051, March 2017.
- August 2013
- Teaching Plan
Zappos.com 2009: Clothing, Customer Service and Company Culture
By: Frances X. Frei and Annelena Lobb
Frei, Frances X., and Annelena Lobb. "Zappos.com 2009: Clothing, Customer Service and Company Culture." Harvard Business School Teaching Plan 614-021, August 2013.
- May 28, 2018
- Article
How Companies Can Identify Racial and Gender Bias in Their Customer Service
By: Alexandra C. Feldberg and Tami Kim
Research shows that minority customers — blacks and Asians — regularly receive worse customer service than whites in ways that are not immediately obvious to onlookers (or even managers). These results prompt a couple of questions for executives and managers. One, does... View Details
Keywords: Internal Audit; Customers; Service Delivery; Prejudice and Bias; Race; Gender; Organizational Change and Adaptation
Feldberg, Alexandra C., and Tami Kim. "How Companies Can Identify Racial and Gender Bias in Their Customer Service." Harvard Business Review (website) (May 28, 2018).
- October–December 2005
- Article
Medicine's Service Challenge: Blending Custom and Standard Care
By: Richard Bohmer
Bohmer, Richard. "Medicine's Service Challenge: Blending Custom and Standard Care." Health Care Management Review 30, no. 4 (October–December 2005): 322–330.
- 20 Aug 2020
- Working Paper Summaries
Can Shared Service Delivery Increase Customer Engagement? A Study of Shared Medical Appointments
- February 1982
- Case
MCI Telecommunications Corp. (B): Customer Service Strategy and Organization
By: John F. Cady and Frank V. Cespedes
Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Customer Focus and Relationships; Strategy; Telecommunications Industry
Cady, John F., and Frank V. Cespedes. "MCI Telecommunications Corp. (B): Customer Service Strategy and Organization." Harvard Business School Case 582-108, February 1982.
- 1991
- Article
Job Satisfaction, Service Capability and Customer Satisfaction: An Examination of Linkages and Management Implications
By: Leonard A. Schlesinger and Jeffrey Zornitsky
Survey data from 1,277 employees and 4,269 customers of a personal lines insurance organization were analyzed with the following results: (a) employee perceptions of service quality are positively related to both job satisfaction and self-perceived service capability;... View Details
Schlesinger, Leonard A., and Jeffrey Zornitsky. "Job Satisfaction, Service Capability and Customer Satisfaction: An Examination of Linkages and Management Implications." Human Resource Planning 14, no. 2 (1991): 141–149.
- Article
Fighting Bias on the Front Lines
By: Alexandra C. Feldberg and Tami Kim
Most companies aim for exceptional customer service, but too few are attentive to the subtle discrimination by frontline employees that can alienate customers, lead to lawsuits, or even cause lasting brand damage by going viral.
This article presents research... View Details
This article presents research... View Details
Keywords: Customer Service; Customer Focus and Relationships; Service Delivery; Diversity; Prejudice and Bias; Organizational Change and Adaptation
Feldberg, Alexandra C., and Tami Kim. "Fighting Bias on the Front Lines." Harvard Business Review 99, no. 6 (November–December 2021): 90–98.
- March 2003
- Background Note
Customer Migration and Customer Types
By: Das Narayandas
Describes the evolution of customer relationships using the price vs. cost-to-serve matrix. View Details
- June 1987 (Revised May 1992)
- Case
Carolina Power & Light Co.: Customer and Operating Services Group
Cespedes, Frank V. "Carolina Power & Light Co.: Customer and Operating Services Group." Harvard Business School Case 587-179, June 1987. (Revised May 1992.)
- March 2018
- Article
In Pursuit of Enhanced Customer Retention Management: Review, Key Issues, and Future Directions
By: Eva Ascarza, Scott A. Neslin, Oded Netzer, Zachery Anderson, Peter S. Fader, Sunil Gupta, Bruce Hardie, Aurelie Lemmens, Barak Libai, David T. Neal, Foster Provost and Rom Schrift
In today’s turbulent business environment, customer retention presents a significant challenge for many service companies. Academics have generated a large body of research that addresses part of that challenge—with a particular focus on predicting customer churn.... View Details
Ascarza, Eva, Scott A. Neslin, Oded Netzer, Zachery Anderson, Peter S. Fader, Sunil Gupta, Bruce Hardie, Aurelie Lemmens, Barak Libai, David T. Neal, Foster Provost, and Rom Schrift. "In Pursuit of Enhanced Customer Retention Management: Review, Key Issues, and Future Directions." Special Issue on 2016 Choice Symposium. Customer Needs and Solutions 5, nos. 1-2 (March 2018): 65–81.
- March 2001 (Revised March 2002)
- Background Note
Service Recovery
Discusses the value of service recovery to service organizations working to enhance customer loyalty. Also provides practical advice to managers and examines strategies proven helpful to service organizations in their recovery objectives. View Details
Hallowell, Roger H. "Service Recovery." Harvard Business School Background Note 801-342, March 2001. (Revised March 2002.)
- Teaching Interest
Overview
By: Rob Markey
Managing Service Operations - MBA Elective Curriculum
World-class service organizations deeply understand the needs and behaviors of their customers, and design, manage, and improve their operating models accordingly. This course... View Details
Keywords: Customer Lifetime Value; Customer Centric Initiative; Customer Engagement; Service Management; Service Profit Chain; Service Design; Service Models; Service Excellence; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Satisfaction; Customer Value and Value Chain; Service Delivery; Service Operations
- February 19, 2018
- Article
The Parts of Customer Service That Should Never Be Automated
By: Ryan W. Buell
Buell, Ryan W. "The Parts of Customer Service That Should Never Be Automated." Harvard Business Review (website) (February 19, 2018).
- September 2015 (Revised March 2025)
- Technical Note
FIELD Global Capstone: Developing Customer Empathy
By: Jill Avery
The Design Thinking process begins with empathizing with potential customers. Empathizing, being aware of, interpreting, and understanding the thoughts of others, as well as being able to vicariously experience them oneself, requires the careful and deliberate study of... View Details
Keywords: Market Research; Design Thinking; Customer Behavior; Ethnography; Interviews; Surveys; A/B Testing; Experimentation; Marketing; Customer Focus and Relationships; Consumer Behavior; Demand and Consumers
Avery, Jill. "FIELD Global Capstone: Developing Customer Empathy." Harvard Business School Technical Note 316-082, September 2015. (Revised March 2025.)
- February 2021 (Revised May 2021)
- Case
SafeGraph: Selling Data as a Service
By: Ramana Nanda, Abhishek Nagaraj and Allison Ciechanover
Set in January 2021, the CEO of SafeGraph, a four-year-old startup that sold Data as a Service, looked to the future. His aim was to become the most trusted source for data about a physical place. The company provided points of interest (POI) and foot traffic data on... View Details
Keywords: Data As A Service; Monetization; Pricing; Business Startups; Analytics and Data Science; Consumer Behavior; Analysis; Business Model; Health Pandemics; Information Industry; United States
Nanda, Ramana, Abhishek Nagaraj, and Allison Ciechanover. "SafeGraph: Selling Data as a Service." Harvard Business School Case 821-082, February 2021. (Revised May 2021.)
- Research Summary
Dynamic Customer Relationship Management
Professor Lemon's work on dynamic customer relationships provides insight into how the customer's view of the relationship changes over time. Her research shows that current customers will adjust usage levels of a service in response to firm price changes in order to... View Details
- February 2002 (Revised March 2002)
- Case
Customer Profitability and Customer Relationship Management at RBC Financial Group
By: V.G. Narayanan and Lisa Brem
The Royal Bank of Canada uses customer relationship management and customer profitability tools to gain a competitive advantage in Canada's increasingly crowded financial services market. The case presents two pricing and customer management issues: one from the point... View Details
Keywords: Competitive Advantage; Price; Customer Relationship Management; Marketing; Customer Value and Value Chain; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry; Canada
Narayanan, V.G., and Lisa Brem. "Customer Profitability and Customer Relationship Management at RBC Financial Group." Harvard Business School Case 102-043, February 2002. (Revised March 2002.)
- March 2002 (Revised May 2007)
- Case
Customer Profitability and Customer Relationship Management at RBC Financial Group (Abridged)
By: V.G. Narayanan and Lisa Brem
The Royal Bank of Canada uses customer relationship management and customer profitability tools to gain a competitive advantage in Canada's increasingly crowded financial services market. The case presents two pricing and customer management issues: one from the point... View Details
Keywords: Customers; Customer Relationship Management; Price; Perspective; Marketing; Competitive Advantage; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry; Canada
Narayanan, V.G., and Lisa Brem. "Customer Profitability and Customer Relationship Management at RBC Financial Group (Abridged)." Harvard Business School Case 102-072, March 2002. (Revised May 2007.)
- April 1987
- Supplement
Inland Steel Co. Product Policy, Video 3: Customer and Technical Services
By: Benson P. Shapiro and Lawrence B. Levine
Shapiro, Benson P., and Lawrence B. Levine. "Inland Steel Co. Product Policy, Video 3: Customer and Technical Services." Harvard Business School Video Supplement 887-541, April 1987.