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Show Results For
- All HBS Web
(3,919)
- People (11)
- News (1,204)
- Research (2,184)
- Events (3)
- Multimedia (5)
- Faculty Publications (1,420)
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- Research Summary
Managing the Operating Role of Customers
By: Frances X. Frei
Customers in operating roles introduce considerable variability into the production environment including differences in the demands they impose on the environment and the unpredictability of those demands. When customers are the source of production variability, the... View Details
- 2015
- Book
What Great Service Leaders Know and Do: Creating Breakthroughs in Service Firms
Based on decades of collective field experiences, the authors present anecdotal evidence in support of eight things that great service leaders know and do. Great service leaders know that (1) leading a breakthrough service is different, and they take steps to ensure... View Details
Heskett, James L., W. Earl Sasser, and Leonard A. Schlesinger. What Great Service Leaders Know and Do: Creating Breakthroughs in Service Firms. Oakland, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2015.
- 09 Jun 2003
- Research & Ideas
Incentives and Operational Excellence
Whether you're running a major medical supply company or a hole-in-the-wall video store, chances are you know how common operational problems are. If you are the medical supplier, for instance, you probably deal with a hospital group that... View Details
Keywords: by Martha Lagace
- November 1992
- Background Note
Note on Service Mapping
By: James L. Heskett
Illustrates a simple technique for diagramming operations flows in service companies. Can be used to help structure analysis and discussion of cases involving sequenced operations. View Details
Keywords: Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Operations; Business Processes; Organizational Structure; Service Industry
Heskett, James L. "Note on Service Mapping." Harvard Business School Background Note 693-065, November 1992.
- 12 Apr 2004
- Research & Ideas
Operations and the Competitive Edge
Obstacles facing companies in today's hyper-competitive global markets are seemingly more complex than ever, to the point that managers must rethink many of the basic principles of good operations management, says Robert Hayes. In a new... View Details
Keywords: by Martha Lagace
- 01 Jul 2014
- Working Paper Summaries
Creating Reciprocal Value Through Operational Transparency
- 11 Apr 2000
- Research & Ideas
Financial Services 24/7
online financial services operation that will make today's local commercial bank a historical relic. The importance of operational efficiency is particularly apparent in the... View Details
Keywords: by Susan Young
- June 2024
- Supplement
Pal's Sudden Service (B)
By: Gary P. Pisano, Francesca Gino and Ruth Page
Pre-Abstract: Instructors should consider the timing of making videos available to students, as they may reveal key case details.
Abstract: Pal's Sudden Service has developed a unique operating model and organizational culture in the quick service... View Details
Abstract: Pal's Sudden Service has developed a unique operating model and organizational culture in the quick service... View Details
Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Organizational Culture; Motivation and Incentives; Service Operations; Service Industry; Service Industry
Pisano, Gary P., Francesca Gino, and Ruth Page. "Pal's Sudden Service (B)." Harvard Business School Multimedia/Video Supplement 917-701, June 2024.
- 2008
- Working Paper
Contracting for Servicizing
Servicizing, a novel business practice that sells product functionality rather than products, has been touted as an environmentally beneficial business practice. This paper describes how servicizing transactions mitigate some problems associated with sales... View Details
Keywords: Customer Focus and Relationships; Contracts; Market Transactions; Service Delivery; Service Operations; Sales
Toffel, Michael W. "Contracting for Servicizing." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 08-063, February 2008. (February 2008.)
- March 1993 (Revised April 1995)
- Case
IBM After-Sales Service
IBM has established a service delivery system to provide service and maintenance parts for its installed base of computers. The case outlines the competitive pressures IBM faces from alternative providers of maintenance services (e.g. other OEMs, third-party... View Details
Keywords: Service Delivery; Service Operations; Supply Chain; Supply Chain Management; Logistics; Operations; Distribution; Customer Focus and Relationships; Competitive Strategy; Computer Industry
Hammond, Janice H. "IBM After-Sales Service." Harvard Business School Case 693-001, March 1993. (Revised April 1995.)
- April 2013 (Revised November 2013)
- Case
Growing Financial Services in India: Aditya Birla Financial Services Group
By: Paul M. Healy and Rachna Tahilyani
Aditya Birla Financial Services Group is a large, broad-based, Indian financial services institution offering products ranging from life insurance and mutual funds to private equity. The company has witnessed a turnaround in recent years and regained lost market share.... View Details
Keywords: Regulatory Environment; Finance; Asset Management; Business Growth and Maturation; Transformation; Leadership Development; Leadership Style; Business Processes; Organizational Structure; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Competitive Strategy; Diversification; Segmentation; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry; India
Healy, Paul M., and Rachna Tahilyani. "Growing Financial Services in India: Aditya Birla Financial Services Group." Harvard Business School Case 113-059, April 2013. (Revised November 2013.)
- 22 Oct 2007
- Research & Ideas
Bringing ‘Lean’ Principles to Service Industries
Wipro Technologies, an Indian outsource provider of software services, launches its own lean initiative. "In terms of operations and improvements, the service industries in general are a long way behind... View Details
- September 2011
- Article
The Labor Illusion: How Operational Transparency Increases Perceived Value
By: Ryan W. Buell and Michael I. Norton
A ubiquitous feature of even the fastest self-service technology transactions is the wait. Conventional wisdom and operations theory suggests that the longer people wait, the less satisfied they become; we demonstrate that due to what we term the labor illusion, when... View Details
Keywords: Internet and the Web; Perception; Valuation; Service Delivery; Consumer Behavior; Performance Effectiveness; Customer Satisfaction; Service Industry
Buell, Ryan W., and Michael I. Norton. "The Labor Illusion: How Operational Transparency Increases Perceived Value." Management Science 57, no. 9 (September 2011): 1564–1579.
- 2006
- Book
Service Productivity Management: Improving Service Performance Using Data Envelopment Analysis
By: H. David Sherman and Joe Zhu
Here is an in-depth guide to the most powerful available benchmarking technique for improving service organization performance—Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). The book outlines DEA as a benchmarking technique, identifies high cost service units, isolates specific... View Details
Sherman, H. David, and Joe Zhu. Service Productivity Management: Improving Service Performance Using Data Envelopment Analysis. Boston, MA: Springer, 2006.
- 2005
- Book
Best Face Forward: Why Companies Must Improve Their Service Interfaces With Customers
By: Jeffrey F. Rayport and Bernard J. Jaworski
Keywords: Technology; Digital; Services; Strategy; Internet and the Web; Service Delivery; Marketing
Rayport, Jeffrey F., and Bernard J. Jaworski. Best Face Forward: Why Companies Must Improve Their Service Interfaces With Customers. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press, 2005.
- 2015
- Working Paper
Service Quality, Inventory and Competition: An Empirical Analysis of Mobile Money Agents in Africa
By: Karthik Balasubramanian and David F. Drake
The use of electronic money transfer through cellular networks ("mobile money") is rapidly increasing in the developing world. The resulting electronic currency ecosystem could improve the lives of the estimated 2 billion people who live on less than $2 a day by... View Details
Keywords: Operations Strategy; Base Of The Pyramid; Mobile Money; Inventory Management; Competition; Currency; Service Operations; Mobile and Wireless Technology
Balasubramanian, Karthik, and David F. Drake. "Service Quality, Inventory and Competition: An Empirical Analysis of Mobile Money Agents in Africa." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 15-059, January 2015. (Revised October 2015.)
- October 2020
- Article
The Supply Chain Economy: A New Industry Categorization for Understanding Innovation in Services
By: Mercedes Delgado and Karen G. Mills
An active debate has centered on the importance of manufacturing for driving innovation in the U.S. economy. This paper offers an alternative framework that focuses on the role of suppliers of goods and services (the “supply chain economy”) in national performance. We... View Details
Keywords: Supply Chain Industries; Business-to-consumer Industries; Services; Innovation; Economy; Framework; Supply Chain; Service Operations; Innovation and Invention; Economic Growth; United States
Delgado, Mercedes, and Karen G. Mills. "The Supply Chain Economy: A New Industry Categorization for Understanding Innovation in Services." Research Policy 49, no. 8 (October 2020).
- 2012
- Other Unpublished Work
The Instrumental Value of Medical Leadership: Engaging Doctors in Improving Services
By: Richard Bohmer
This paper was commissioned to contribute to The King's Fund's 2012 review of leadership
and engagement. View Details
Keywords: Health Care; Service Quality; Quality; Leadership; Service Delivery; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry
Bohmer, Richard. "The Instrumental Value of Medical Leadership: Engaging Doctors in Improving Services." King's Fund, London, England, May 2012.
- Article
Optimizing Organic Waste to Energy Operations
By: Baris Ata, Deishin Lee and Mustafa H. Tongarlak
A waste-to-energy firm that recycles organic waste with energy recovery performs two environmentally beneficial functions: it diverts waste from landfill and it produces renewable energy. At the same time, the waste-to-energy firm serves and collects revenue from two... View Details
Keywords: Business Ventures; Energy Generation; Renewable Energy; Revenue; Customers; Strategy; Corporate Governance; Wastes and Waste Processing; Environmental Sustainability; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Cost Management; Urban Scope
Ata, Baris, Deishin Lee, and Mustafa H. Tongarlak. "Optimizing Organic Waste to Energy Operations." Manufacturing & Service Operations Management 14, no. 2 (Spring 2012): 231–244.
- 2018
- Article
Service Operations: What Have We Learned?
By: Liana Victorino, Joy M. Field, Ryan W. Buell, Michael J. Dixon, Susan M. Goldstein, Larry J. Menor, Madeleine E. Pullman, Aleda V. Roth, Enrico Secchi and Jie J. Zhang
The purpose of this article is to identify research themes in service operations that have great potential for exciting and innovative conceptual and empirical work. To frame these research themes, the article provides a systematic literature review of operations... View Details
Victorino, Liana, Joy M. Field, Ryan W. Buell, Michael J. Dixon, Susan M. Goldstein, Larry J. Menor, Madeleine E. Pullman, Aleda V. Roth, Enrico Secchi, and Jie J. Zhang. "Service Operations: What Have We Learned?" Journal of Service Management 29, no. 1 (2018): 39–54.