Publications

October 1989
Case

Federal Express: The Money Back Guarantee (A)

Discusses a large overnight express company, which guarantees its service, and which has created a major headache for one of its customers. The problem exposes deficiencies in its service and in the guarantee it has advertised heavily. A formal complaint is made to the... View Details

Keywords: Service Delivery; Crisis Management; Service Industry; Shipping Industry

18 Nov 2014
News

Alfred Raises $2M to Bring Its Personal Butler Service to Boston & Beyond

Keywords: Personal Services

2 Dec 2019
Other Presentation

Increasing Solar Power

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III and Abby Hopper

Is increasing solar power the answer? Abby Hopper, president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association, and Professor Joe Lassiter discuss how to deliver reliable, clean, low cost power for people everywhere. View Details

Keywords: Solar Power; Renewable Energy; Service Delivery

Web

Neil Band | MBA

delivery for my senior thesis. Formative experience at the intersection of technology and business: At Kensho, an AI/ML fintech company, I learned that the greatest discoveries of this century will be due to unprecedented scale of... View Details

01 Sep 2015
News

High Yields

100,000 jobs and $82 billion worth of value. Amazon famously entered the space in 2013, announcing plans to use drones for its 30-minute delivery service, but there’s plenty of startup activity, too. Hawk Aerial, launched last year by CEO... View Details

Keywords: Francis Storrs

Web

Health Plans - Institute For Strategy And Competitiveness

measuring and rewarding providers based on outcomes, maximizing patient value over the full cycle of care, minimizing paperwork, and competing for subscribers based on the ability to achieve positive health outcomes. Implications for Health Plans in a Value-Based... View Details

01 Apr 2002
News

HBS Press Books in Brief

they can compete successfully in both the old and the new economies. Authors Philip Kotler, Dipak C. Jain, and Suvit Maesincee show how to build a complete marketing platform around the exploration, creation, and delivery of superior... View Details

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

December 2015
Case

IDEO: Human-Centered Service Design

By: Ryan W. Buell and Andrew Otazo

The case describes IDEO, one of the world's leading design firms, and its human-centered innovation culture and processes. It is an example of what managers can do to make their own organizations more innovative. In reaction to a rapidly changing competitive landscape,... View Details

Keywords: Design Thinking; Innovation; Service Management; Service; Design; Service Delivery; Innovation and Management; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Peru

Web

U.S. Competitiveness Project - Institute For Strategy And Competitiveness

Delivery Project The Institute for Cancer Care Innovation MOC Network ICIC U.S. Cluster Mapping Project U.S. Competitiveness Project FSG Shared Value Initiative Social Progress Imperative AllWorld Network U.S. Competitiveness Project U.S.... View Details

Portrait Project

Lisa Marrone

“You’ll do the right thing.” My father pauses after saying these words and looks at me, pleadingly. There are moments in life when things become just a little bit clearer. I blink and stare. What is the right thing? My parents were never married; My dad was in the... View Details

Web

Suppliers - Institute For Strategy And Competitiveness

Employers Suppliers Policymakers Suppliers Suppliers Suppliers of medical products, technology, and services play vital roles in the value of health care delivery and innovation in health care practice. By increasing patient success rates... View Details

01 Sep 2010
News

Noted & Quoted

“Your chances of getting a generally accepted best practice in your average American hospital are a coin toss. That’s not Six Sigma by a long shot.” — HBS professor Richard Bohmer describing problems with American health-care delivery... View Details

Keywords: Securities, Commodities, and Other Financial Investments; Finance; Hospitals; Health, Social Assistance

April 2018
Supplement

Breakfast at the Paramount

By: Ryan W. Buell

The Paramount is a 44-seat diner on Charles Street in the Beacon Hill neighborhood of Boston. A frequent "Best of Boston" award winner, the restaurant is a perennial favorite among locals and tourists, particularly for brunch on the weekends, when lines often stretch... View Details

Keywords: Food; Management Practices and Processes; Service Delivery; Service Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Boston

November 2016
Supplement

Irregular Operations

By: Ryan W. Buell, Willy C. Shih and Michael W. Toffel

This video shows a dispatcher responding to an irregular operations situation caused by weather at an East Coast airport. View Details

Keywords: Service; Service Excellence; Service Quality; Operating Systems; Operational Complexity; Operational Disruptions; Operational Efficiency; Operational Focus; Air Transportation; Service Operations; Service Delivery; Air Transportation Industry

March 2002 (Revised October 2002)
Background Note

Service on the Internet: The Effect of Physical Service on Scalability

Develops a framework for exploring the idea of, how service affects the economics of Internet organizations. Development of the framework requires an understanding of the different forms service takes in organizations that conduct business through the Internet. These... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Service Delivery; Service Industry