Publications

Educators

March 2021
Article

The Customer May Not Always Be Right: Customer Compatibility and Service Performance

By: Ryan W. Buell, Dennis Campbell and Frances X. Frei

This paper investigates the impact of customer compatibility – the degree of fit between the needs of customers and the capabilities of the operations serving them – on customer experiences and firm performance. We use a variance decomposition analysis to quantify the... View Details

Keywords: Customer Compatibility; Satisfaction; Profitability; Service Operations; Customer Relationship Management; Customer Satisfaction; Performance

12 Mar 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, March 12, 2019

By: Buell, Ryan W. Abstract—Conventional wisdom holds that the more contact an operation has with its customers, the less efficiently it will run. But when customers are... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

Article

Cooks Make Tastier Food When They Can See Their Customers

By: Ryan W. Buell, Tami Kim and Chia-Jung Tsay

While existing theory suggests that increased contact between customers and employees diminishes efficiency, recent research demonstrates that when employees can see their customers, the beneficiaries of their efforts, the quality and efficiency of the service they... View Details

Keywords: Operational Transparency; Service Delivery; Service Operations; Service Management; Service Industry

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2019
Working Paper

The Customer May Not Always Be Right: Customer Compatibility and Service Performance

By: Ryan W. Buell, Dennis Campbell and Frances X. Frei

This paper investigates the impact of customer compatibility – the degree of fit between the needs of customers and the capabilities of the operations serving them – on customer experiences and firm performance. We use a variance decomposition analysis to quantify the... View Details

Keywords: Customer Compatibility; Satisfaction; Profitability; Customer Relationship Management; Service Operations; Customer Satisfaction; Banking Industry; Retail Industry

SSRN

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06 Mar 2018
First Look

First Look at Research and Ideas, March 6, 2018

down as a result. Download working paper: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=54142 Mitigating Malicious Envy: Why Successful Individuals Should Reveal Their Failures By: Huang, Karen, Alison Wood Brooks, Ryan View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

2018
Article

Service Operations: What's Next?

By: Joy M. Field, Liana Victorino, Ryan W. Buell, Michael J. Dixon, Susan M. Goldstein, Larry J. Menor, Madeleine E. Pullman, Aleda Roth, Enrico Secchi and Jie J. Zhang

The purpose of this article is to present exciting and innovative research questions in service operations that are aligned with eight key themes and related topics determined by the Journal of Service Management (JOSM) Service Operations Expert Research Panel.... View Details

Keywords: Service Operations; Research; Collaborative Innovation and Invention

26 Mar 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, March 26, 2019

challenging areas. Download working paper: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=55885 Learning or Playing? The Effect of Gamified Training on Performance By: Buell, Ryan W., Wei Cai, and Tatiana... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

09 Jun 2015
First Look

First Look: June 9, 2015

https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=49214 Working Papers Lifting the Veil: The Benefits of Cost Transparency By: Mohan, Bhavya, Ryan W. Buell, and Leslie K. John... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Fall 2016
Article

How Do Customers Respond to Increased Service Quality Competition?

By: Ryan W. Buell, Dennis Campbell and Frances X. Frei

When does increased service quality competition lead to customer defection, and which customers are most likely to defect? Our empirical analysis of 82,235 customers exploits the varying competitive dynamics in 644 geographically isolated markets in which a nationwide... View Details

Keywords: Service Quality Competition; Retail Banks; Empirical Operations; Retention; Service Operations; Quality; Competition; Banking Industry; United States

September 2014 (Revised June 2016)
Case

Whole Foods: The Path to 1,000 Stores

By: David F. Drake, Ryan W. Buell, Melissa Barton, Taylor Jones, Katrina Keverian and Jeffrey Stock

The case examines the operations strategy of Whole Foods, one of the largest natural grocery chains in the United States. In late 2013, Whole Foods was expanding rapidly, with a publicly-stated goal of growing from 351 to 1,000 domestic stores by 2022. It was also... View Details

Keywords: Human Capital; Food; Expansion; Market Entry and Exit; Operations; Strategy; Retail Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

Educators

Article

Are Self-service Customers Satisfied or Stuck?

By: Ryan W. Buell, Dennis Campbell and Frances X. Frei

This paper investigates the impact of self-service technology (SST) usage on customer satisfaction and retention. Specifically, we disentangle the distinct effects of satisfaction and switching costs as drivers of retention among self-service customers. Our empirical... View Details

Keywords: Service Delivery; Information Technology; Customer Satisfaction; Competition; Cost; Banks and Banking; Behavior; Market Transactions; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques

02 Apr 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, April 2, 2019

gun restrictions. Lifting the Veil: The Benefits of Cost Transparency By: Mohan, Bhavya, Ryan W. Buell, and Leslie K. John Abstract—Firms do not typically disclose information... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

14 Nov 2017
First Look

New Research and Ideas: November 14, 2017

video. These results suggest a phenomenon of desensitization or habituation of victims to crime exposure. Download working paper: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=53446 Lifting the Veil: The Benefits of Cost Transparency By: Mohan, Bhavya, View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

January–February 2024
Article

Shared Service Delivery Can Increase Client Engagement: A Study of Shared Medical Appointments

By: Ryan W. Buell, Kamalini Ramdas, Nazlı Sönmez, Kavitha Srinivasan and Rengaraj Venkatesh

Problem Definition: Clients and service providers alike often consider one-on-one service delivery to be ideal, assuming – perhaps unquestioningly – that devoting individualized attention best improves client outcomes. In contrast, in shared service delivery, clients... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Customer Satisfaction; Outcome or Result; Performance Improvement

12 Dec 2017
First Look

New Research and Ideas, December 12, 2017

Joy M., Liana Victorino, Ryan W. Buell, Michael J. Dixon, Susan M. Goldstein, Larry J. Menor, Madeleine E. Pullman, Aleda Roth, Enrico Secchi, and Jie Zhang Abstract—The... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

April 2019
Article

Mitigating Malicious Envy: Why Successful Individuals Should Reveal Their Failures

By: Alison Wood Brooks, Karen Huang, Nicole Abi-Esber, Ryan W. Buell, Laura Huang and Brian Hall

People often feel malicious envy, a destructive interpersonal emotion, when they compare themselves to successful peers. Across three online experiments and a field experiment of entrepreneurs, we identify an interpersonal strategy that can mitigate feelings of... View Details

Keywords: Emotions; Perception; Interpersonal Communication; Communication Strategy