Publications

September 2002 (Revised November 2002)
Case

Transformation at the IRS

By: Amy C. Edmondson, Frances X. Frei and Corey B. Hajim

Describes the service transformation occurring at the U.S. Internal Revenue Service. Plagued by a history of poor service, enormous complexity, and an insular employee base, the 100,000-person organization grapples with a turnaround process that attempts to change... View Details

Keywords: Service Delivery; Service Operations; Organizational Structure; Taxation; Organizational Culture; Transformation; Public Administration Industry; United States

01 Oct 1996
News

Tedlow on Tires and the Meaning of Life

12,000 miles; just a few years later it was up to every 20,000 miles -- unless you had a set of new Michelin or Bridgestone radial tires, imported from France or Japan, respectively, which lasted for 40,000 miles. And these days there are... View Details

August 2013
Teaching Plan

Zappos.com 2009: Clothing, Customer Service and Company Culture

By: Frances X. Frei and Annelena Lobb

April 2008
Teaching Note

Managing Service Operations: The Managerial Research Design Process

Keywords: Service Operations; Management

April 2008
Module Note

Improvement with Customer-Operators

Taught as the third module in a Harvard Business School course on Managing Service Operations: Understanding the Customer Operating Role (606-092). Explores how firms can systematically leverage their customer-operators in the organizational improvement process is... View Details

Keywords: Service Operations; Performance Improvement; Customer Focus and Relationships; Framework; Employees; Business Model; Management Practices and Processes; Organizational Design

April 2006
Background Note

Informing Service Management with Customer Data

Taught as the third module in a Harvard Business School course on Managing Service Operations. Explores the role of data analysis in ongoing service management. Describes how to realize the maximum amount of value from analyses and use this information in... View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Design; Analytics and Data Science; Service Operations; Mathematical Methods; Value

February 2005 (Revised November 2006)
Background Note

Using Data Desk for Statistical Analysis

Describes how to use the Data Desk software package to perform statistical analysis. View Details

Keywords: Mathematical Methods

November 2001 (Revised October 2017)
Supplement

GuestFirst Hotel (B): Taking Advantage of Panel Data

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Accommodations Industry

October 2001 (Revised October 2017)
Supplement

Pilgrim Bank (B): Customer Retention

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Banking Industry

Web

Research Links: Secondary Sources - Railroads and the Transformation of Capitalism | Harvard Business School

Mind in Action . Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1953. Dobbin, Frank. Forging Industrial Policy: The United States, Britain, and France in the Railway Age . New York: Cambridge University Press, 1994. Dunlavy, Colleen A. "Organizing... View Details

01 Apr 2002
News

University Elections

Pilkington & Ward LLP. New York, NY. Frances D. Fergusson, MA ’66, Ph.D. ’73; BA ’65, Wellesley College. President, Vassar College. Poughkeepsie, NY. William F. Lee, AB ’72; JD ’76, Cornell Law School; MBA ’76, Cornell University.... View Details

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

11 May 2011
News

In a Good Place

summarizes. “It’s definitely not the same old thing every week.” Gehrke adds that HBS reinforced her aptitude for planning and efficiency. “Last summer I ran the business while I was on vacation in France with an email and phone call from... View Details

25 Aug 2014
News

The First Five Years: Raymond Hwang (MBA 2010)

favorite HBS professor, and why? “As banal as it sounds, how do you pick just one? I think Professor Frances Frei had the biggest impact on my learning. At a time when we were all trying to figure out this whole HBS thing, Prof. Frei was... View Details

Keywords: Ambulatory Health Care Services; Health, Social Assistance

24 Oct 2013
News

Searching for a Better Society

of Prosys, another European technology company. "After a couple of years at Prosys, I had an opportunity to join eBay France as senior director of its auctions marketplace," he says. "They were growing in triple digits then, so I thought... View Details

Keywords: Robert S. Benchley; Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services; Professional Services

March 1983 (Revised January 1984)
Case

Merloni Group

By: Christopher A. Bartlett

The general manager of the recently-established French subsidiary of an Italian appliance company is in conflict with headquarters about unexpectedly poor financial performance. Headquarters management believes it should be able to exert more control over the... View Details

Keywords: Business Subsidiaries; Trade; Organizational Structure; Performance Evaluation; Power and Influence; France; Italy

Find at Harvard

December 2006 (Revised March 2007)
Case

Common Agricultural Policy and the Future of French Farming

By: J. Gunnar Trumbull, Vincent Marie Dessain and Elena Corsi

Presents the history and evolution of the EU Common Agricultural Policy, from early price supports to the 2003 decision to "decouple" payments to European farmers. Explores the logic behind agricultural supports, with a focus on the economic, political, and cultural... View Details

Keywords: History; Agreements and Arrangements; Price; Policy; Trade; Agribusiness; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; France; European Union

August 2021
Supplement

Danone S.A.: Becoming a Mission-Driven Company (C)

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Emilie Billaud

Describes the events that took place in the first year after Danone became France’s first “entreprise à mission” (mission-driven company). View Details

Keywords: Business and Stakeholder Relations; Corporate Governance; Leadership; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Mission and Purpose; Environmental Sustainability; Goals and Objectives; Consumer Products Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; France; Europe