Publications

30 Sep 2002
Research & Ideas

Use the Psychology of Pricing To Keep Customers Returning

the idea that people will use a product or service more right after they pay for it. How can companies make this work for them? A: Sunk costs are a curious bit of psychology. Economists say that attending to sunk costs is not... View Details

Keywords: by Manda Mahoney

May 2021
Simulation

Customer Compatibility Exercise Application

By: Ryan W. Buell

Customers impose considerable variability on the operating systems of service organizations. They show up when they wish (arrival variability), they ask for different things (request variability), they vary in their willingness and ability to help themselves (effort... View Details

Keywords: Customer Compatibility; Customer Relationship Management; Strategy; Service Operations; Service Delivery; Performance Efficiency; Analysis; Consumer Behavior; Analytics and Data Science

2015
Book

How the Internet Became Commercial: Innovation, Privatization, and the Birth of a New Network

By: Shane Greenstein

In less than a decade, the Internet went from being a series of loosely connected networks used by universities and the military to the powerful commercial engine it is today. This book describes how many of the key innovations that made this possible came from... View Details

Victoria Ivashina is the Lovett-Learned Professor of Finance and Head of the Finance Unit at Harvard Business School. She also serves as a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), a Research Fellow at the Center for Economic Policy... View Details

Keywords: financial services; financial services; financial services; financial services; financial services; financial services

June 1991 (Revised February 1999)
Case

Willow Creek Community Church (A)

By: Leonard A. Schlesinger

Describes the historic evolution and current positioning of a Christian church which focuses on the attraction of "unchurched" individuals. Describes the church's strategic service vision and its current growth and leadership problems. View Details

Keywords: Mission and Purpose; Strategic Planning; Social Enterprise; Marketing Strategy; Growth Management; Religion; Service Industry

01 Oct 2012
News

Better by the Bundle?

23 Feb 2011
First Look

First Look: Feb. 23

service (price) sensitive customers in markets where it has supplied relatively high (low) levels of service quality in the past. Furthermore, we show that it is the high... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

November 1995 (Revised March 2004)
Case

Massachusetts General Hospital: CABG Surgery (A)

By: Steven C. Wheelwright and James Weber

A cross-functional team at Massachusetts General Hospital tries to reengineer the service delivery process (the "care path") for heart bypass surgery (CABG) in order to shorten hospital stays (and lower costs) while maintaining/enhancing the quality of care provided. View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Medical Specialties; Business Processes; Mission and Purpose; Product Positioning; Product Marketing; Management Practices and Processes; Customer Satisfaction; Service Delivery; Service Operations; Fair Value Accounting; Ethics; Pharmaceutical Industry; Health Industry; Massachusetts

September 2010
Case

Angie's List

Angie's List is a paid subscription-based service that gives consumers online access to member-submitted reviews of plumbers, electricians, and other home service providers. Customer and revenue growth are strong, but customer acquisition costs are high and the company... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Price; Competitive Advantage; Product Launch; Service Industry; United States

16 May 2000
Research & Ideas

Getting the Message: How the Internet is Changing Advertising

outfit walked across the screen carrying a sign that pitched a product. These almost literal translations of billboard and magazine ads did little more than set the previous forms in motion. Silk: Issues of privacy will come under increased scrutiny HBS professor... View Details

Keywords: by Susan Young

March 2000 (Revised September 2000)
Case

yesmail.com

David Tolmie wants yesmail.com to become a leader in "permission marketing." Yesmail sends clients promotional e-mail messages to targeted consumers who said "yes" when asked whether they wished to receive promotional offers in a set of categories of interest. Tolmie... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Communications

Find at Harvard

November 2003 (Revised March 2004)
Case

Teledesic (Abridged)

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann

Describes plans for a failed project that proposed the use of 288 satellites to deliver high-speed data communications services anywhere in the world. View Details

Keywords: Communication Technology; Network Effects; Failure; Information Technology Industry; Telecommunications Industry

March 2023 (Revised May 2025)
Case

On

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Karolin Frankenberger and Sascha Mader

Founded in 2010, in just one decade, the Swiss company On had established itself as a main player in global sports footwear and apparel. Based on an unconventional strategy which one of the founders labeled as “obsessively distinct,” On grew its sales with a compound... View Details

2008
Working Paper

The Internalization of Advertising Services: An Inter-Industry Analysis

By: Sharon Horsky, Steven C. Michael and Alvin J. Silk

The common perception appears to be that vertical integration of advertising services is more the exception than the rule in the U.S. advertising industry. This study investigates the extent of such outsourcing and examines inter-industry variation in the use of... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Cost; Analytics and Data Science; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Service Operations; Creativity; Perception; Vertical Integration; Information Technology; Advertising Industry; United States