Publications

December 2002 (Revised February 2003)
Case

Wyndham International: Fostering High-Touch with High-Tech

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Gabriele Piccoli

Examines a hotel chain's attempt to use information technology to achieve market dominance and build customer loyalty during a period of global industry decline. View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Competitive Strategy; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Satisfaction; Technological Innovation; Information Technology; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Strategy; Accommodations Industry

01 Dec 2012
News

Rival Visions

in European financial markets of any country in the world. Hamilton endured enormous personal abuse during these years, but he also had the satisfaction of seeing most of "my commercial system" put into place. What Hamilton's policies had... View Details

01 Mar 2004
News

Ron Shaich’s Café Society

satisfaction in the food industry. People love coming to Panera Bread — last week we served four million customers! They get what we’re doing. As I travel the country I find it amazing that people come up and thank me. It feels great... View Details

Keywords: Susan Young; Food Services and Drinking Places; Hospitality

01 Oct 2002
News

Faculty Research Symposium

organizational properties of each team, measuring factors such as leadership behaviors of nurse managers; adequacy of training, information, and equipment; team characteristics (stability, composition, quality of relationships, and performance outcomes); and individual... View Details

11 Mar 2001
Research & Ideas

Wired and Black: Focus on Careers

are," he said. Good managers, he added, should "value what others devalue." "If marketing is the priority, look at manufacturing," Thomas suggested. Seeking Balance In the end, though, all the panelists said job View Details

Keywords: by Carrie Levine

Web

How to Onboard Recently Graduated MBAs - Recruiting

perspectives, new dimensions — and sometimes new challenges — are naturally introduced: evolving what is familiar means that establishing and promoting shared expectations can become more complex. To reduce friction and increase mutual View Details

01 Jan 2002
News

Orin C. Smith (MBA '67)

right things were done that day." It's easy to hear the note of satisfaction and pride in Smith's voice, and while he's too modest to openly acknowledge his leadership role in Starbucks' phenomenal success, he's too honest to discount the... View Details

05 Sep 2012
What Do You Think?

Will Business Management Save US Health Care?

for-profit health care organization led to better patient outcomes at the same time that "provider engagement and feeling of satisfaction have increased, our costs have fallen and our net profit has increased." One of the basic... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett; Health

March 2010 (Revised November 2010)
Case

Pandora Radio: Fire Unprofitable Customers?

By: Willy C. Shih and Halle Alicia Tecco

Pandora Radio is at a crossroads. Founder Tim Westergren has just been told by a well known VC to get rid of his unprofitable customers in order to get his costs down, but Westergren is not sure that such actions are consistent with his company's business model.... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Customer Satisfaction; Music Entertainment; Venture Capital; Profit; Growth and Development Strategy; Consumer Behavior; Internet; Media and Broadcasting Industry

March 2011
Exercise

Customer Intelligence Advantage: Module 2 Assignment

By: F. Asis Martinez Jerez

This exercise directs students to analyze a customer-centric firm by first understanding the elements that characterize a customer-centric organization, then by capturing and comparing this firm's approach to customer-centricity. Students interview three levels in the... View Details

Keywords: Business Units; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Satisfaction; Employees; Knowledge Sharing; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Leadership; Competitive Advantage

Find at Harvard

08 Oct 2015
Research & Ideas

Four Questions Fundraisers Must be Prepared to Answer

say no and turn down the opportunity to make a gift, said Stevenson, who also highlighted the rewards of philanthropy—namely, the satisfaction of “partnering with others to accomplish things that have a positive impact on the world around... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna

02 May 2023
Blog Post

Sustainability Career Advice from the Career & Professional Development Office

you have for students grappling with this choice? My first piece of advice is to work with a CPD career coach to gain clarity on your career and life criteria. What are the tasks that you want to be doing on a day-to-day basis that will bring you View Details

September 2010 (Revised January 2012)
Case

Emergia: Driving Profitability on Help Desk Contracts

Emergia wants to keep its customer happy with its contact center service, but the margins on the help desk contract are dangerously low. Can Miguel Neira, the COO, increase margins while preserving the customer relationship? View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Customer Satisfaction; Profit; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Service Operations; Performance Capacity; Performance Evaluation; Mathematical Methods; Service Industry

03 Jun 2015
What Do You Think?

Is the Time Right for Self-Management?

29 percent, and customer satisfaction scores actually improved when compared to conventionally managed stores. The effort stalled only when the planned strategy was scaled down and Martin's successor halted further expansion of the... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Retail

21 Jun 2004
Research & Ideas

Racial Diversity Pays Off

benefits emanating from diversity, the two professors wanted to find a company that already had a lot of diversity in its ranks. This led them to the commercial bank. They then collected human resources data on branch demographics, the results of annual employee... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

January 2009 (Revised June 2010)
Case

Cisco Systems (2001): Building and Sustaining a Customer-Centric Culture

By: Ranjay Gulati

Customer centricity has been an important part of the culture at Cisco Systems since its inception. While part of this is attributable to values put in place by the founders and retained by subsequent management, it is also closely interwoven with its organizational... View Details

Keywords: Customer Satisfaction; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Change Management; Organizational Culture; Research and Development; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Employees; Brands and Branding; Customer Relationship Management; Business Units

2009
Chapter

Creating Superior Customer Value in a Connected World

By: Ranjay Gulati

"In the early twenty-first century, customers are more demanding than ever, and difficult economic times make them all the more so. As customers tighten their wallets and increase their demands, firms face greater pressure to provide superior customer value. Reducing... View Details

Keywords: Customer Satisfaction; Customer Value and Value Chain; Consumer Behavior; Product Design; Social and Collaborative Networks; Value Creation

October 1991 (Revised August 2000)
Case

Becton Dickinson & Company: VACUTAINER Systems Division (Condensed)

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Frank V. Cespedes

Becton Dickinson, a phenomenally successful company with an 80% market share in the blood collection needles and syringes market faces a change in the customer buying environment (cost containment pressures at hospitals). This forces a reevaluation of the company's... View Details

Keywords: Business Divisions; Customer Satisfaction; Demand and Consumers; Market Participation; Distribution Channels; Success; Corporate Strategy; Value Creation; Health Industry