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Show Results For
- All HBS Web
(2,302)
- People (4)
- News (640)
- Research (1,373)
- Events (8)
- Multimedia (3)
- Faculty Publications (612)
- 2021
- Article
Evidence of Decreasing Internet Entropy: The Lack of Redundancy in DNS Resolution by Major Websites and Services
By: Samantha Bates, John Bowers, Shane Greenstein, Jordi Weinstock, Jonathan Zittrain and Yunhan Xu
This paper analyzes the extent to which the Internet’s global domain name resolution (DNS) system has preserved its distributed resilience given the rise of cloud-based hosting and infrastructure. We explore trends in the concentration of the DNS space since at least... View Details
Keywords: Domain Name System; Resilience; Entropy; Internet and the Web; Infrastructure; Performance Effectiveness; Safety; Cybersecurity
Bates, Samantha, John Bowers, Shane Greenstein, Jordi Weinstock, Jonathan Zittrain, and Yunhan Xu. "Evidence of Decreasing Internet Entropy: The Lack of Redundancy in DNS Resolution by Major Websites and Services." Journal of Quantitative Description: Digital Media 1 (2021).
- 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
Tufano, Peter, and Sanjay Bhatnagar. "Enron Gas Services." Harvard Business School Case 294-076, March 1994. (Revised September 1995.)
- November 2007 (Revised January 2010)
- Case
ThedaCare: System Strategy
By: Michael E. Porter and Sachin H. Jain
Over the 1980s and 1990s, America's changing health care payer environment resulted in mergers of numerous community hospitals into hospital systems. Based in Appleton, Wisconsin, ThedaCare stood out among community hospital systems in its pursuit of service... View Details
Keywords: Value Creation; Health Care and Treatment; Problems and Challenges; Innovation and Invention; Health Industry; Wisconsin
Porter, Michael E., and Sachin H. Jain. "ThedaCare: System Strategy." Harvard Business School Case 708-424, November 2007. (Revised January 2010.)
- October 2012 (Revised September 2013)
- Teaching Note
The Dabbawala System: On-Time Delivery, Every Time
By: Stefan H. Thomke
The Mumbai-based dabbawalas are a 5,000 or so person organization that achieves exceptional service performance with a semi-literate workforce. Every working day, they deliver and return about 130,000 lunchboxes to offices throughout Mumbai. This entails more than... View Details
- 11 Apr 2000
- Research & Ideas
Financial Services 24/7
online financial services operation that will make today's local commercial bank a historical relic. The importance of operational efficiency is particularly apparent in the area of trading, where seconds count and View Details
Keywords: by Susan Young
- 2016
- Working Paper
Operations in the On-Demand Economy: Staffing Services with Self-Scheduling Capacity
By: Itai Gurvich, Martin Lariviere and Antonio Moreno
Motivated by recent innovations in service delivery such as ride-sharing services and work-from-home call centers, we study capacity management when workers self-schedule. Our service provider chooses capacity to maximize its profit (revenue from served customers minus... View Details
Keywords: Strategic Servers; On-demand Economy; Independent Capacity; Distributed Systems; Uber; Service Operations; Performance Capacity
Gurvich, Itai, Martin Lariviere, and Antonio Moreno. "Operations in the On-Demand Economy: Staffing Services with Self-Scheduling Capacity." Working Paper, June 2016.
- 2017
- Working Paper
Digital Agility: The Impact of Software Portfolio Architecture on IT System Evolution
By: Alan MacCormack, Robert Lagerström, Martin Mocker and Carliss Y. Baldwin
The modern industrial firm increasingly relies on software to support its competitive position. However, the uncertain and dynamic nature of today’s global marketplace dictates that this software be continually evolved and adapted to meet new business challenges. This... View Details
Keywords: Information Systems; Software; Architecture; Modularity; Agility; Coupling; Applications and Software; Design; Decisions; Performance
MacCormack, Alan, Robert Lagerström, Martin Mocker, and Carliss Y. Baldwin. "Digital Agility: The Impact of Software Portfolio Architecture on IT System Evolution." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 17-105, May 2017. (Revised October 2017.)
- 2015
- Book
What Great Service Leaders Know and Do: Creating Breakthroughs in Service Firms
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
Heskett, James L., W. Earl Sasser, and Leonard A. Schlesinger. What Great Service Leaders Know and Do: Creating Breakthroughs in Service Firms. Oakland, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2015.
- 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... View Details
- December 1992 (Revised June 1993)
- Case
ACTC Customer Service Department
Focuses on the young general manager of a new cable TV system and on its customer service department. Jeanne LaFrance, the general manager, has an uneasy feeling about the way in which the department is being managed. She sees symptoms of what she suspects are serious... View Details
Keywords: Management; Problems and Challenges; Planning; Customer Focus and Relationships; Performance Evaluation; Telecommunications Industry
Roberts, Michael J. "ACTC Customer Service Department." Harvard Business School Case 393-056, December 1992. (Revised June 1993.)
- 1978
- Chapter
Changing Organizational Constraints: Toward Promoting Equal Opportunity and Treatment for Women in Public Service Systems
By: R. M. Kanter
Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Equality and Inequality; Public Sector; Service Operations; Gender
Kanter, R. M. "Changing Organizational Constraints: Toward Promoting Equal Opportunity and Treatment for Women in Public Service Systems." In The United Nations and Decision-Making: The Role of Women. Vol. 2, edited by D. Nicol and M. Croke. New York: United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), 1978.
- 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
Simons, Robert, and Hilary Weston. "Automation Consulting Services." Harvard Business School Case 190-053, November 1989. (Revised April 2018.)
- April 2004 (Revised November 2004)
- Background Note
Why Complex Systems Fail
Operationally excellent organizations create competitive opportunities for themselves that are not available to their peers. One view of the manager's competitive dilemma is to pick the right position for his organization, differentiating it, for example, as a... View Details
Spear, Steven J., and Bryce LaPierre. "Why Complex Systems Fail." Harvard Business School Background Note 604-083, April 2004. (Revised November 2004.)
- March 1988 (Revised September 1993)
- Case
United Services Automobile Association (USAA)
Under the leadership of Robert F. McDermott, USAA has been transformed from a property and casualty insurance company with $200 million in assets in the late 1960s to a $11 billion financial services empire in 1988. The case illustrates the value of having a CEO drive... View Details
Keywords: Business or Company Management; Leadership; Information Technology; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry; United States
Vitale, Michael R. "United Services Automobile Association (USAA)." Harvard Business School Case 188-102, March 1988. (Revised September 1993.)
- 02 May 2000
- Research & Ideas
Leading Professional Service Firms
The HBS Executive Education course Leading Professional Service Firms (LPSF) is an intensive, one-week program that focuses on management issues unique to these firms. It provides a forum for participants from around the world to apply... View Details
- 2013
- Working Paper
The Appeal of the Appropriate: Accounting, Risk Management, and the Competition for the Supply of Control Systems
By: Anette Mikes
How do certain risk measurements in organizations come to be seen as more reliable and acceptable than others? Taking a multiple-control perspective, I investigate the aftermath of a control debacle at a financial services company (MultiBank), focusing on its insurance... View Details
Keywords: Management Control Systems; Multiple Control Systems; Interactive Control Systems; Performance Measurement; Risk Measurement; Financialization Of Accounting; Institutional Logics; Banking; Risk Management; Fair Value Accounting; Insurance; Financial Services Industry
Mikes, Anette. "The Appeal of the Appropriate: Accounting, Risk Management, and the Competition for the Supply of Control Systems." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 12-115, June 2012. (Revised January 2013.)
- June 1995
- Case
Polaroid Corporation: European Distribution System
By: Janice H. Hammond and Afroze A Mohammed
Describes distribution operations in Polaroid Europe. In the late 1980s, Polaroid senior management in the United States proposed moving from a system of 12 decentralized warehouses to a centralized distribution system in which all inventory for European retailers... View Details
Keywords: Distribution; Operations; Risk Management; Distribution Channels; Logistics; Transition; Strategy; Problems and Challenges; Industry Structures; Consumer Products Industry; Europe; European Union; United States
Hammond, Janice H., and Afroze A Mohammed. "Polaroid Corporation: European Distribution System." Harvard Business School Case 695-038, June 1995.
- August 2020 (Revised August 2023)
- Case
Nubank: Democratizing Financial Services
By: Michael Chu, Carla Larangeira and Pedro Levindo
Nubank, a wholly-digital solution created to disrupt Brazilian banking, with 6 million clients and a $4 billion valuation after five years, must decide whether to expand to Mexico. The company was founded in São Paulo in 2013 by Colombian-born David Vélez to seize what... View Details
Keywords: Fintech; Financial Inclusion; Digital Banking; Credit Cards; Banks and Banking; Disruption; Expansion; Growth and Development Strategy; Financial Services Industry; South America; Brazil; North America; Mexico
Chu, Michael, Carla Larangeira, and Pedro Levindo. "Nubank: Democratizing Financial Services." Harvard Business School Case 321-068, August 2020. (Revised August 2023.)
- October 1982 (Revised January 1985)
- Supplement
Federal Express: Customer Service Department -- Cosmos System and Interview with Heinz Adam, Video
Lovelock, Christopher H. "Federal Express: Customer Service Department -- Cosmos System and Interview with Heinz Adam, Video." Harvard Business School Video Supplement 883-501, October 1982. (Revised January 1985.)
- March 2020 (Revised January 2022)
- Case
Michelin: Building a Digital Service Platform
By: Sunil Gupta and Christian Godwin
Michelin, a tire company with over a century of experience, attempts to develop a digital service platform for its fleet and dealer customers. The case focuses on the challenges of bringing a large, well-established company into the digital age. Concerned about the... View Details
Keywords: Change; Transformation; Customer Focus and Relationships; Decision Making; Leading Change; Growth and Development; Strategy; Digital Platforms; Internet and the Web; Auto Industry; Travel Industry; Transportation Industry; United States; France
Gupta, Sunil, and Christian Godwin. "Michelin: Building a Digital Service Platform." Harvard Business School Case 520-061, March 2020. (Revised January 2022.)