Publications

June 2014 (Revised January 2017)
Case

YAAS's Service Center

By: Brian Hall and Sara del Nido

This case is about a compensation change at an automotive service company in the Middle East. The case allows investigation and analysis of many issues related to compensation design and human resource management, and even change management. The focus of the case is... View Details

Keywords: Compensation; Emotions; Values; Compensation and Benefits; Human Resources; Labor; Negotiation; Organizations; Social Psychology; Value Creation; Motivation and Incentives; Service Industry; Service Industry; Kuwait; Middle East

Forthcoming
Article

You've Got Mail! The Late 19th-Century U.S. Postal Service Expansion, Firm Creation, and Firm Performance

By: Astrid Marinoni and Maria P. Roche

This paper examines the impact of the expansion of the US Postal Service in the late 19th century on firm creation and performance. Utilizing newly digitized archival data on historic business establishments, post office locations, and road networks in California,... View Details

Keywords: Institutional Innovation; Knowledge Exchange; US Postal Service; Firm Performance; Infrastructure; Expansion; Government Administration; Communication; Business History; Entrepreneurship; Public Administration Industry; California

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11 Apr 2000
Research & Ideas

Financial Services 24/7

financial services. Its user-friendly interface is designed so that customers only need to fill out one application for all the products it offers. The services that Wingspanbank offers include checking and... View Details

Keywords: by Susan Young

Research Summary

Motivation and Incentive Design

Professor Ashraf's research in motivation and incentives focuses on how to design incentives in sectors where it is important that individuals are motivated by service, such as healthcare or environmental conservation. An important lever is the... View Details

01 Feb 2001
News

Design Moguls

The HBS Design Fair 2000, held December 4 in Kresge Hall, showcased final projects for the MBA elective course, Managing Product Development, taught by Associate Professor Stefan Thomke. Second-year students on the Capstone Snowboard... View Details

Keywords: Educational Services

June 2014 (Revised January 2017)
Supplement

YAAS's Service Center (B)

By: Brian Hall and Sara del Nido

This case is about a compensation change at an automotive service company in the Middle East. The case allows investigation and analysis of many issues related to compensation design and human resource management, and even change management. The focus of the case is... View Details

Keywords: Compensation; Emotions; Values; Human Resources; Labor; Negotiation; Organizations; Social Psychology; Value Creation; Motivation and Incentives; Service Industry; Service Industry; Kuwait; Middle East

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 2017
Case

Updating Dating

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann, Scott Duke Kominers and Alan Lam

To identify design ideas for their own startup, two MBAs compare the different profiling, matching, and monetization approaches employed by five incumbent dating services: Coffee Meets Bagel, OKCupid, Jiayuan, Dating Ring, and HurryDate. View Details

Keywords: Marketplace Design; Dating Services; Entrepreneurship; Market Design; United States; China

June 2014 (Revised January 2017)
Supplement

YAAS's Service Center (C)

By: Brian Hall and Sara del Nido

This case is about a compensation change at an automotive service company in the Middle East. The case allows investigation and analysis of many issues related to compensation design and human resource management, and even change management. The focus of the case is... View Details

Keywords: Compensation; Emotions; Values; Human Resources; Labor; Negotiation; Organizations; Social Psychology; Value Creation; Motivation and Incentives; Service Industry; Service Industry; Kuwait; Middle East

March 1996 (Revised October 1996)
Case

Singapore's Trade in Services

By: Debora L. Spar

Focuses on the efforts of Singapore's Economic Development Board (EDB) to grow the tiny island almost wholly through an expansion of its service economy. Between 1965 and 1990, Singapore achieved a remarkable rate of growth, largely by opening its economy to foreign... View Details

Keywords: Growth Management; Service Operations; Government and Politics; Developing Countries and Economies; Macroeconomics; Service Industry; Singapore

October 14, 2019
Article

Designing Better Online Review Systems

By: Geoff Donaker, Hyunjin Kim and Michael Luca

Online reviews are transforming the way consumers choose products and services of all sorts. We turn to TripAdvisor to plan a vacation, Zocdoc to find a doctor, and Yelp to choose a new restaurant. Reviews can create value for buyers and sellers alike, but only if they... View Details

Keywords: Reviews; Internet and the Web; Design; Quality; Reputation

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Register to Read

November 1989 (Revised April 2018)
Case

Automation Consulting Services

By: Robert Simons and Hilary Weston

Illustrates the management control challenges that are associated with rapid growth and geographic expansion. Situated at an offsite Executive Committee Retreat. The three founding partners of a specialized consulting firm are grappling with several difficult questions... View Details

Keywords: Geographic Location; Governance Controls; Policy; Growth and Development Strategy; Management Teams; Expansion; Consulting Industry

January 1994 (Revised May 1995)
Case

Xerox: Design for the Environment

By: Richard H.K. Vietor

In 1990, Xerox undertook an "Environmental Leadership Program" designed to make Xerox an industry leader in non-polluting operations, recycling, and products actually designed for the environment. This effort flowed naturally out of the system of total quality... View Details

Keywords: Product Design; Production; Service Delivery; Service Operations; Organizational Design; Environmental Sustainability

22 Oct 2007
Research & Ideas

Bringing ‘Lean’ Principles to Service Industries

Wipro Technologies, an Indian outsource provider of software services, launches its own lean initiative. "In terms of operations and improvements, the service industries in general are a long way behind manufacturing," Upton... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Computer

April 2006
Background Note

Informing Service Management with Customer Data

By: Frances X. Frei and Dennis Campbell

Taught as the third module in a Harvard Business School course on Managing Service Operations. Explores the role of data analysis in ongoing service management. Describes how to realize the maximum amount of value from analyses and use this information in... View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Design; Analytics and Data Science; Service Operations; Mathematical Methods; Value