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- All HBS Web
(5,137)
- People (38)
- News (1,640)
- Research (2,473)
- Events (13)
- Multimedia (10)
- Faculty Publications (1,104)
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- 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.
- Research Summary
Building Capabilities in Professional Service Firms
One of the most distinctive aspects of professional service firms is that the vast majority of the people who work in them are directly involved in serving clients. Long-term success in a professional service firm requires obtaining and developing the right... View Details
- 03 Feb 2016
- Research & Ideas
The State of Customer Service Leadership
service sector? What role does it play in the US economy? Heskett: Leadership practices in the service sector deserve attention because this sector represents nearly 90 percent... View Details
- Article
Market Heterogeneity and Local Capacity Decisions in Services
By: Dennis Campbell and Frances X. Frei
We empirically document factors that influence how local operating managers use discretion to balance the tradeoff between service capacity costs and customer sensitivity to service time. Our findings, using data from one of the largest financial services providers in... View Details
Keywords: Customer Satisfaction; Cost; Standards; Service Delivery; Service Operations; Performance Capacity; Performance Productivity; Financial Services Industry; United States
Campbell, Dennis, and Frances X. Frei. "Market Heterogeneity and Local Capacity Decisions in Services." Manufacturing & Service Operations Management 13, no. 1 (Winter 2011): 2–19. (Lead Article.)
- Article
Enfranchisement of Service Workers
By: Leonard A. Schlesinger and James Heskett
Enfranchisement is achieved through an integration of empowerment with methods of pay for performance. Evidence from Ito Yokado Group in Japan and Nordstrom in the US demonstrates the positive effects of enfranchisement. Successful efforts to enfranchise employees: 1.... View Details
Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Franchise Ownership; Employees; Compensation and Benefits; Service Industry; Japan; United States
Schlesinger, Leonard A., and James Heskett. "Enfranchisement of Service Workers." California Management Review 33, no. 4 (Summer 1991).
- August 1998 (Revised December 1998)
- Case
Wells Fargo Online Financial Services (B)
By: Robert S. Kaplan and Nicole Tempest
Describes how the Balanced Scorecard built by the Online Financial Services (OFS) group is used to select the highest-priority initiatives for the organization. Currently, initiatives arise continually throughout the organization, and management spends considerable... View Details
Keywords: Balanced Scorecard; Internet and the Web; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Corporate Strategy; Performance Evaluation; Finance; Change; Situation or Environment; Measurement and Metrics; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry
Kaplan, Robert S., and Nicole Tempest. "Wells Fargo Online Financial Services (B)." Harvard Business School Case 199-019, August 1998. (Revised December 1998.)
- February 2003 (Revised April 2003)
- Background Note
Note on Staffing in Professional Service Firms
By: Ashish Nanda
This case discusses the problem of balancing demand and supply of professionals within a professional services firm (PSF). It emphasizes how human resources management policies impact supply conditions and how market opportunities determine demand conditions. The case... View Details
Keywords: Demand and Consumers; Balance and Stability; Supply and Industry; Employees; Service Industry
Nanda, Ashish. "Note on Staffing in Professional Service Firms." Harvard Business School Background Note 903-110, February 2003. (Revised April 2003.)
- October 2004 (Revised February 2006)
- Case
Staffing in Professional Service Firms
By: Ashish Nanda
This case discusses the problem of balancing demand and supply of professionals over time using a fictional scenario. View Details
Nanda, Ashish, Kelley Elizabeth Morrell, and Lauren Prusiner. "Staffing in Professional Service Firms." Harvard Business School Case 905-026, October 2004. (Revised February 2006.)
- November 2005 (Revised June 2006)
- Case
Strategic Planning at United Parcel Service
By: David A. Garvin and Lynne Levesque
In March 2005, CEO Michael Eskew has asked the Corporate Strategy Group to recommend changes to the strategic process to ensure it allows United Parcel Service (UPS) to continue to transform itself over the next several years. Describes the evolution of UPS's strategic... View Details
Keywords: Change; Decisions; Globalization; Growth and Development Strategy; Managerial Roles; Strategic Planning; Creativity; Corporate Strategy
Garvin, David A., and Lynne Levesque. "Strategic Planning at United Parcel Service." Harvard Business School Case 306-002, November 2005. (Revised June 2006.)
- 2013
- Article
How Concentrated Is the U.S. Advertising and Marketing Services Industry? Myth vs. Reality
By: Alvin J. Silk and Charles King III
We analyze changes in concentration levels in the U.S. Advertising and Marketing Services industry using data from the U.S. Census Bureau's quinquennial Economic Census and the Service Annual Survey. These data, heretofore largely ignored, allow us to redress some of... View Details
Keywords: Concentration Levels; Data; U.S. Census Bureau’s Quinquennial Economic Census And The Service Annual Survey; Measurement Problems; Herfindahl-Hirschman Index; Concentration Ratios; Advertising; Advertising Industry; North and Central America
Silk, Alvin J., and Charles King III. "How Concentrated Is the U.S. Advertising and Marketing Services Industry? Myth vs. Reality." Journal of Current Issues & Research in Advertising 34, no. 1 (2013): 166–193.
- 14 Sep 2015
- Research & Ideas
Rewriting the Rules of Service Competition
coordinating with others, working in teams, or being denied “star” status. These leaders know that the best uses of technology and other support systems create frontline service heroes and heroines. They... View Details
- 16 May 2005
- Research & Ideas
Confronting the Reality of Web Services
cheap, fast, and "easy," don't you think Cisco would have used them? Q: What are the characteristics of successful Web service implementations today? What kinds of companies can benefit most? Are... View Details
Keywords: by Sara Grant
- October 2022
- Case
Volt Lines: Leading a B2B Service Provider through a Crisis (A)
By: Navid Mojir and Gamze Yucaoglu
Volt Lines was a next-generation transportation service in Istanbul, Turkey. The company was trying to disrupt the traditional corporate transportation market by developing software that allowed it to offer subscription-based transportation. Under the subscription... View Details
Keywords: Business To Business Marketing; B2B Marketing; B2B Pricing; Subscription Model; Crisis Marketing; Startup; Service Management; Information Technology; Transportation; COVID-19 Pandemic; Disruptive Innovation; Digital Platforms; Business Model; Price; Crisis Management; Opportunities; Transportation Industry; Technology Industry; Turkey
Mojir, Navid, and Gamze Yucaoglu. "Volt Lines: Leading a B2B Service Provider through a Crisis (A)." Harvard Business School Case 523-037, October 2022.
- May 1993
- Case
Patient Transfusion Services Lab of Central Blood Bank
By: James L. Heskett
The vice president of the Lab and Clinical Services at Central Blood Bank is faced with the challenge of convincing a hospital to use economical shared patient transfusion testing services. View Details
Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Quality; Service Operations; Mathematical Methods; Customer Satisfaction; Health Industry
Heskett, James L. "Patient Transfusion Services Lab of Central Blood Bank." Harvard Business School Case 693-091, May 1993.
- Spring 2019
- Article
Fluid Teams and Knowledge Retrieval: Scaling Service Operations
By: Melissa A. Valentine, Tom Fangyun Tan, Bradley R. Staats and Amy C. Edmondson
To scale service operations requires retrieving knowledge across the organization. However, prior work highlights that individuals on the periphery of organizational knowledge networks may struggle to access useful knowledge at work. A knowledge repository has the... View Details
Keywords: Teaming; Teams; Groups and Teams; Knowledge Management; Service Delivery; Knowledge Use and Leverage
Valentine, Melissa A., Tom Fangyun Tan, Bradley R. Staats, and Amy C. Edmondson. "Fluid Teams and Knowledge Retrieval: Scaling Service Operations." Manufacturing & Service Operations Management 21, no. 2 (Spring 2019): 346–360.
- September 2011
- Case
Driving Profitable Growth at US Auto Parts
USAP faces extraordinary opportunities to change the way that automobiles are serviced in the US by selling parts at fair prices though online channels. View Details
Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Disruptive Innovation; Business Model; Internet and the Web; Business Strategy; Internet and the Web; Machinery and Machining; Cost Management; Auto Industry; Retail Industry; United States
Tripsas, Mary, Amit Bhatia, and Anita M. McGahan. "Driving Profitable Growth at US Auto Parts." Harvard Business School Case 812-032, September 2011.
- October 2011
- Case
Raleigh & Rosse: Measures to Motivate Exceptional Service
By: Robert Simons and Michael Mahoney
In January 2010, U.S. luxury goods retailer Raleigh & Rosse is being sued by its employees for encouraging "off the clock" hours. At the center of the class action lawsuit is the famous Raleigh & Rosse performance measurement system previously thought to be the core of... View Details
Keywords: Control Systems; Performance Measurement; Goal Setting; Compensation; Incentives; Motivation; Sales Compensation; Motivation and Incentives; Goals and Objectives; Growth Management; Lawsuits and Litigation; Organizational Culture; Management Systems; Customer Focus and Relationships; Employees; Performance Evaluation; Compensation and Benefits; Retail Industry; United States
Simons, Robert, and Michael Mahoney. "Raleigh & Rosse: Measures to Motivate Exceptional Service." Harvard Business School Brief Case 114-353, October 2011.
- January 2020 (Revised May 2021)
- Case
Salary Finance US
By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock
In October 2019, Dan Macklin, the newly-appointed chief executive of Salary Finance Inc., was weighing his options for the future of the business. The company’s value proposition was quite simple: partner with employers to offer employees affordable loans that were... View Details
Keywords: Employees; Credit; Financing and Loans; Wages; Innovation and Invention; Expansion; Growth Management; Decision Making; Financial Services Industry; United States
Wells, John R., and Benjamin Weinstock. "Salary Finance US." Harvard Business School Case 720-421, January 2020. (Revised May 2021.)
- 2014
- Article
Notes from the Search for Deep Indicators in Services
By: James L. Heskett
Much of the research in the service sector over the last four decades has concerned itself with the search for deep indicators that explain service performance. This paper provides a brief retrospective of some of this research and illustrates the directions that this... View Details
Heskett, James L. "Notes from the Search for Deep Indicators in Services." Journal of Service Management 25, no. 3 (2014): 298–309.
- 19 Jul 2004
- Research & Ideas
Your Customers: Use Them or Lose Them
Frei. Their customers are better off and the organizations earn a disproportionate share of the profits over their competitors. Frei, who spoke with HBS alumni on June 4 in a session titled "Capitalizing on the Power of the Customer," said three successful... View Details
Keywords: by Martha Lagace