Publications

November 2001 (Revised August 2005)
Case

BigEast Bank (A): Credit Card Approval

BigEast is considering adopting a relationship-centric view in its credit card approval process. This would shift the bank's current practice of analyzing applications based on the merits of a single product to one where the customer's existing relationship is... View Details

Keywords: Customers; Forecasting and Prediction; Banks and Banking; Analytics and Data Science; Managerial Roles; Relationships; Adoption; Banking Industry

October 2001 (Revised October 2017)
Supplement

Pilgrim Bank (C): Electronic Billpay

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Product; Banking Industry

September 2001 (Revised July 2002)
Case

Fraud Prevention at Omni Bank

By: Frances X. Frei and Hanna Rodriguez-Farrar

Omni Bank is undergoing a merger and has two important decisions ahead. First, should it enforce the use of its model-driven approach to interacting with customers at the recently acquired Friends Savings and Loan branches. Friends has a culture of personal touch with... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Model; Crime and Corruption; Customer Relationship Management; Decisions; Banks and Banking; Banking Industry

December 2000 (Revised May 2002)
Teaching Note

Oracle Corporation TN

By: Frances X. Frei and Hanna Rodriguez-Farrar

Teaching Note for (9-601-043). View Details

Keywords: Information Technology Industry

Article

The Cost Structure, Customer Profitability, and Retention Implications of Self-Service Distribution Channels: Evidence from Customer Behavior in an Online Banking Channel

By: Dennis Campbell and Frances X. Frei

This paper uses the context of online banking to investigate the consequences of employing self-service distribution channels to alter customer interactions with the firm. Using a sample of retail banking customers observed over a 30-month period at a large U.S. bank,... View Details

Keywords: Cost; Service Operations; Distribution Channels; Consumer Behavior; Internet and the Web; Banks and Banking; Technology Adoption; Service Delivery; Market Transactions; Market Participation; Profit; Retail Industry; Banking Industry; United States

November 2004
Article

The Persistence of Customer Profitability: Empirical Evidence and Implications from a Financial Services Firm

By: Dennis Campbell and Frances X. Frei

Keywords: Customers; Markets; Information; Finance; Business Ventures; Profit; Financial Services Industry

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Web

Privacy Statement (English) - Global

Supporting Harvard Business School collaborations with other universities, research institutions, government agencies and businesses in France and Europe - Communicating and responding to inquiries about the foregoing and other matters... View Details

01 Sep 2011
News

MBA 101: HBS Commencements Pass the Century Mark

Associate Professor Anita Elberse (Strategic Marketing in Creative Industries), Professor Frances Frei (TOM), Senior Lecturer Stephen Kaufman (TOM), Professor Deepak Malhotra (Negotiation), and Professor Paul Marshall (Entrepreneurial... View Details

Keywords: commencement; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services

May 26, 2000
Article

Web Self-Service Can Be Self-Defeating

By: Frances X. Frei and Y. Moon

Keywords: Internet and the Web

March 7, 2025
Article

Leaders Can Move Fast and Fix Things

By: Frances X. Frei and Anne Morriss

The assumption embedded in Silicon Valley’s famous “move fast and break things” ethos is that we can either make progress or take care of people, one or the other. A certain amount of wreckage is the price we have to pay for creating the future. The authors have spent... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Leading Change; Performance Efficiency

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May 2021
Case

Megan Ming Francis: Leadership and Racial Injustice

By: Francesca Gino and Frances X. Frei

In this multimedia case, Megan Ming Francis, a professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Washington (UW) and a visiting professor at the Harvard Kennedy School, discusses the roots of racial injustice and the need for change. Through... View Details

Keywords: Racial Injustice; Race; Prejudice and Bias; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Leadership

January 2008 (Revised April 2008)
Teaching Note

Pilgrim Bank (B): Customer Retention (TN)

Teaching Note for [602095]. View Details

Keywords: Customers; Banks and Banking; Customer Focus and Relationships; Banking Industry

January 2008 (Revised April 2008)
Teaching Note

Pilgrim Bank (A): Customer Profitability (TN)

Teaching Note for 602104. View Details

Keywords: Customers; Profit; Banks and Banking; Banking Industry

August 2002
Case

eBay (C): PayPal Merger

By: Frances X. Frei and Hanna Rodriguez-Farrar

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Internet; Web Services Industry; Financial Services Industry

October 2001 (Revised October 2017)
Case

Pilgrim Bank (A): Customer Profitability

Provides a context in which students can explore managerial decision making that is critically informed by data analysis. The setting is a retail bank and the decision making relates to the bank's policy toward online banking. The management team is evaluating whether... View Details

Keywords: Banks and Banking; Customers; Profit; Banking Industry

June 2001 (Revised April 2004)
Case

Innovation at Progressive (B): Homeowners Insurance

By: Frances X. Frei and Hanna Rodriguez-Farrar

Analyzes whether Progressive, strictly an auto insurer, should enter the home owner's insurance market. The critical decision is whether the competencies that made Progressive succeed in the auto insurance industry can translate to the home owner's insurance industry. View Details

Keywords: Market Entry and Exit; Insurance Industry

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

May 2024
Case

Pernod Ricard: Uncorking Digital Transformation

By: Iavor Bojinov, Edward McFowland III, François Candelon, Nikolina Jonsson and Emer Moloney

This case study explores the opportunities and challenges of the digital transformation journey of French wine and spirits company Pernod Ricard. As part of the transformation, the company launched four key digital programs (KDPs) aimed at using data and artificial... View Details

Keywords: Business Organization; Business Divisions; Talent and Talent Management; Global Strategy; AI and Machine Learning; Analytics and Data Science; Digital Transformation; Digital Strategy; Advertising; Sales; Organizational Culture; Product Development; Decision Making; Technology Adoption; Alignment; Expansion; Food and Beverage Industry; France; Europe