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Show Results For
- All HBS Web
(2,488)
- People (2)
- News (551)
- Research (1,695)
- Events (3)
- Multimedia (9)
- Faculty Publications (938)
- 11 May 2022
- News
Are You Tracking the Customer Service Metrics That Really Count?
- March 2001 (Revised March 2002)
- Background Note
Service Recovery
Discusses the value of service recovery to service organizations working to enhance customer loyalty. Also provides practical advice to managers and examines strategies proven helpful to service organizations in their recovery objectives. View Details
Hallowell, Roger H. "Service Recovery." Harvard Business School Background Note 801-342, March 2001. (Revised March 2002.)
- Article
Fighting Bias on the Front Lines
By: Alexandra C. Feldberg and Tami Kim
Most companies aim for exceptional customer service, but too few are attentive to the subtle discrimination by frontline employees that can alienate customers, lead to lawsuits, or even cause lasting brand damage by going viral.
This article presents research... View Details
This article presents research... View Details
Keywords: Customer Service; Customer Focus and Relationships; Service Delivery; Diversity; Prejudice and Bias; Organizational Change and Adaptation
Feldberg, Alexandra C., and Tami Kim. "Fighting Bias on the Front Lines." Harvard Business Review 99, no. 6 (November–December 2021): 90–98.
- March 2003
- Background Note
Customer Migration and Customer Types
By: Das Narayandas
Describes the evolution of customer relationships using the price vs. cost-to-serve matrix. View Details
- June 1987 (Revised May 1992)
- Case
Carolina Power & Light Co.: Customer and Operating Services Group
Cespedes, Frank V. "Carolina Power & Light Co.: Customer and Operating Services Group." Harvard Business School Case 587-179, June 1987. (Revised May 1992.)
- March 2018
- Article
In Pursuit of Enhanced Customer Retention Management: Review, Key Issues, and Future Directions
By: Eva Ascarza, Scott A. Neslin, Oded Netzer, Zachery Anderson, Peter S. Fader, Sunil Gupta, Bruce Hardie, Aurelie Lemmens, Barak Libai, David T. Neal, Foster Provost and Rom Schrift
In today’s turbulent business environment, customer retention presents a significant challenge for many service companies. Academics have generated a large body of research that addresses part of that challenge—with a particular focus on predicting customer churn.... View Details
Ascarza, Eva, Scott A. Neslin, Oded Netzer, Zachery Anderson, Peter S. Fader, Sunil Gupta, Bruce Hardie, Aurelie Lemmens, Barak Libai, David T. Neal, Foster Provost, and Rom Schrift. "In Pursuit of Enhanced Customer Retention Management: Review, Key Issues, and Future Directions." Special Issue on 2016 Choice Symposium. Customer Needs and Solutions 5, nos. 1-2 (March 2018): 65–81.
- February 19, 2018
- Article
The Parts of Customer Service That Should Never Be Automated
By: Ryan W. Buell
Buell, Ryan W. "The Parts of Customer Service That Should Never Be Automated." Harvard Business Review (website) (February 19, 2018).
- March 2002 (Revised May 2007)
- Case
Customer Profitability and Customer Relationship Management at RBC Financial Group (Abridged)
By: V.G. Narayanan and Lisa Brem
The Royal Bank of Canada uses customer relationship management and customer profitability tools to gain a competitive advantage in Canada's increasingly crowded financial services market. The case presents two pricing and customer management issues: one from the point... View Details
Keywords: Customers; Customer Relationship Management; Price; Perspective; Marketing; Competitive Advantage; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry; Canada
Narayanan, V.G., and Lisa Brem. "Customer Profitability and Customer Relationship Management at RBC Financial Group (Abridged)." Harvard Business School Case 102-072, March 2002. (Revised May 2007.)
Uncommon Service
Most companies treat service as a low-priority business operation, keeping it out of the spotlight until a customer complains. Then service gets to make a brief appearance – for as long as it takes to calm the customer down and fix whatever foul-up... View Details
- February 2002 (Revised March 2002)
- Case
Customer Profitability and Customer Relationship Management at RBC Financial Group
By: V.G. Narayanan and Lisa Brem
The Royal Bank of Canada uses customer relationship management and customer profitability tools to gain a competitive advantage in Canada's increasingly crowded financial services market. The case presents two pricing and customer management issues: one from the point... View Details
Keywords: Competitive Advantage; Price; Customer Relationship Management; Marketing; Customer Value and Value Chain; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry; Canada
Narayanan, V.G., and Lisa Brem. "Customer Profitability and Customer Relationship Management at RBC Financial Group." Harvard Business School Case 102-043, February 2002. (Revised March 2002.)
- April 1987
- Supplement
Inland Steel Co. Product Policy, Video 3: Customer and Technical Services
By: Benson P. Shapiro and Lawrence B. Levine
Shapiro, Benson P., and Lawrence B. Levine. "Inland Steel Co. Product Policy, Video 3: Customer and Technical Services." Harvard Business School Video Supplement 887-541, April 1987.
- 24 Aug 2018
- Video
Customer Interaction Days
- 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
Bruns, William J., Jr., and Susan Harmeling. "Custom Research Inc. (A)." Harvard Business School Case 199-001, July 1998. (Revised October 2004.)
- 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
- September 2015 (Revised March 2025)
- Technical Note
FIELD Global Capstone: Developing Customer Empathy
By: Jill Avery
The Design Thinking process begins with empathizing with potential customers. Empathizing, being aware of, interpreting, and understanding the thoughts of others, as well as being able to vicariously experience them oneself, requires the careful and deliberate study of... View Details
Keywords: Market Research; Design Thinking; Customer Behavior; Ethnography; Interviews; Surveys; A/B Testing; Experimentation; Marketing; Customer Focus and Relationships; Consumer Behavior; Demand and Consumers
Avery, Jill. "FIELD Global Capstone: Developing Customer Empathy." Harvard Business School Technical Note 316-082, September 2015. (Revised March 2025.)
- February 2021 (Revised May 2021)
- Case
SafeGraph: Selling Data as a Service
By: Ramana Nanda, Abhishek Nagaraj and Allison Ciechanover
Set in January 2021, the CEO of SafeGraph, a four-year-old startup that sold Data as a Service, looked to the future. His aim was to become the most trusted source for data about a physical place. The company provided points of interest (POI) and foot traffic data on... View Details
Keywords: Data As A Service; Monetization; Pricing; Business Startups; Analytics and Data Science; Consumer Behavior; Analysis; Business Model; Health Pandemics; Information Industry; United States
Nanda, Ramana, Abhishek Nagaraj, and Allison Ciechanover. "SafeGraph: Selling Data as a Service." Harvard Business School Case 821-082, February 2021. (Revised May 2021.)
- Teaching Interest
Overview
By: Rob Markey
Managing Service Operations - MBA Elective Curriculum
World-class service organizations deeply understand the needs and behaviors of their customers, and design, manage, and improve their operating models accordingly. This course... View Details
Keywords: Customer Lifetime Value; Customer Centric Initiative; Customer Engagement; Service Management; Service Profit Chain; Service Design; Service Models; Service Excellence; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Satisfaction; Customer Value and Value Chain; Service Delivery; Service Operations
- 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; Service Industry; Service Industry; United States
Frei, Frances X., and Hanna Rodriguez-Farrar. "Zipcar: Influencing Customer Behavior." Harvard Business School Case 605-054, January 2005. (Revised June 2005.)
- June 2019
- Case
Airbnb, Etsy, Uber: Expanding from One to Many Millions of Customers
By: Thales S. Teixeira
By 2019, two-sided online platforms (or marketplaces) were among the highest-growing internet startups around. These marketplaces sought to match suppliers of assets for rent, physical products, or services with customers demanding them. Among the most notable... View Details
Keywords: Airbnb; Etsy; Uber; Growth Hacking; Two-Sided Markets; Digital Marketing; Customer Acquisition; Two-Sided Platforms; Growth Management; Marketing Strategy; Customers; Acquisition; Organizational Change and Adaptation
Teixeira, Thales S. "Airbnb, Etsy, Uber: Expanding from One to Many Millions of Customers." Harvard Business School Case 519-087, June 2019.
- April 2011 (Revised May 2011)
- Case
EMC2: Delivering Customer Centricity
By: Thomas Steenburgh and Jill Avery
This case introduces the concept of customer centricity and traces its development at EMC, the world's leading data storage hardware and information management software company. EMC's customers had historically relied on EMC salespeople to guide them through the... View Details
Keywords: Business Model; Interpersonal Communication; Customer Relationship Management; Knowledge Acquisition; Marketing Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Salesforce Management; Social and Collaborative Networks; Internet; Information Technology Industry
Steenburgh, Thomas, and Jill Avery. "EMC2: Delivering Customer Centricity." Harvard Business School Case 511-124, April 2011. (Revised May 2011.)