Publications

March 1997
Background Note

Note on Customer Behavior

By: Gerald Zaltman

A review of selected key concepts that are useful for understanding customers. The importance of understanding customers is also discussed, along with a short description of new frontiers in the study of customer behavior. View Details

Keywords: Knowledge; Marketing; Consumer Behavior

Research Summary

Dynamic Customer Relationship Management

Professor Lemon's work on dynamic customer relationships provides insight into how the customer's view of the relationship changes over time. Her research shows that current customers will adjust usage levels of a service in response to firm price changes in order to... View Details

January 2005 (Revised June 2005)
Case

Zipcar: Influencing Customer Behavior

By: Frances X. Frei and Hanna Rodriguez-Farrar

At Zipcar, customers share the use of cars and, as a result, rely on each other for their service experience. Customers are required to keep the car clean and the gas tank full and to return the car on time. Told from the perspective of two customers: Sal Fishman, who... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Governance Controls; Behavior; Service Delivery; Service Operations; Consumer Behavior; Leasing; Transportation Industry; Service Industry; United States

Aug 08 2019
Brochure

Delivering Exceptional Customer Value

27 Oct 2014
News

Track Customer Service, but Don't Forget the Financials

Keywords: customer satisfaction; financial results; front line employees; decision making

July 1998 (Revised October 2004)
Case

Custom Research Inc. (A)

By: William J. Bruns Jr. and Susan Harmeling

Custom Research is considering terminating service to many clients to eliminate unprofitable work and concentrate on the more profitable client projects. View Details

Keywords: Customers; Profit; Decision Making; Service Industry

December 1992 (Revised June 1993)
Case

ACTC Customer Service Department

Focuses on the young general manager of a new cable TV system and on its customer service department. Jeanne LaFrance, the general manager, has an uneasy feeling about the way in which the department is being managed. She sees symptoms of what she suspects are serious... View Details

Keywords: Management; Problems and Challenges; Planning; Customer Focus and Relationships; Performance Evaluation; Telecommunications Industry

2001
Article

Customizing Careers

By: James Waldroop and Timothy Butler

Keywords: Personal Development and Career

February 2024 (Revised February 2024)
Teaching Note

Travelogo: Understanding Customer Journeys

By: Eva Ascarza and Ta-Wei Huang

Teaching Note for HBS Exercise 524-044. The exercise aims to teach students about 1) Customer Segmentation; and 2) constructing buying personas, 3) Get actionable insights from clickstream data. View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Analysis; Analytics and Data Science; Marketing Strategy; Segmentation; Consumer Behavior; Travel Industry; United States

November 1989
Background Note

Customer Service

By: Frank V. Cespedes

Keywords: Customers

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January 1995 (Revised October 1995)
Case

Citibank: Global Customer Management

By: Michael Y. Yoshino and Thomas W. Malnight

Describes Citibank's worldwide operations, which include activities in developing and developed markets. The bank's structure also varies across markets and regions, varying from autonomous national affiliates to an industry/product-based structure in its domestic U.S.... View Details

Keywords: Customer Focus and Relationships; Global Range; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Multinational Firms and Management; SWOT Analysis; Emerging Markets; Banking Industry; United States

14 Jul 2003
Research & Ideas

Keeping Your Balance With Customers

From product push to customer pull, technology has vastly reshaped the business transaction—and in turn, the customer's place in the value chain. Today, managing the customer relationship has become the... View Details

Keywords: by Robert S. Kaplan & David P. Norton

07 Sep 2010
News

Customers always know best

Fall 2020
Article

Competing on Customer Outcomes

By: Marco Bertini and Oded Koenigsberg

Customers ultimately want to pay for meaningful outcomes, not the products and services that presumably deliver them. Today, companies can be increasingly accountable for those outcomes with three kinds of technologically-enhanced revenue models. Adopt one to better... View Details

Keywords: Market Positioning; Revenue Strategy; Customer Satisfaction; Marketing Strategy; Business Model; Value Creation

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15 Apr 2019
News

Why Anxious Customers Prefer Human Customer Service

Research Summary

Understanding Customers

(To learn about Luc Wathieu's MBA course, please scroll down to the last abstract below.) View Details

August 2002 (Revised November 2016)
Background Note

Customer Profitability and Lifetime Value

By: Elie Ofek

Introduces the central concepts involved in determining customer lifetime value, with detailed analysis and examples from the realm of direct marketing. Implications for marketing strategy and customer relationship management are briefly discussed. View Details

Keywords: Customer Value and Value Chain; Customer Relationship Management; Customization and Personalization; Product Marketing; Sales; Marketing Strategy; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Consumer Products Industry