Publications
Publications
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- All HBS Web
(4,886)
- Faculty Publications (1,157)
- June 1991 (Revised October 1992)
- Case
Otis Elevator Co.: Managing the Service Force
- spring 1991
- Article
Breaking the Cycle of Failure in Services
By: Leonard A. Schlesinger and James Heskett
Most managers recognize that good service is a direct result of having effective, productive people in customer contact positions. However, most service companies perpetuate a cycle of failure by tolerating high turnover and expecting employee dissatisfaction. This... View Details
- March 1991 (Revised May 1991)
- Case
Charles Schwab: Financial Advisors Service
- Article
Enfranchisement of Service Workers
By: Leonard A. Schlesinger and James Heskett
Enfranchisement is achieved through an integration of empowerment with methods of pay for performance. Evidence from Ito Yokado Group in Japan and Nordstrom in the US demonstrates the positive effects of enfranchisement. Successful efforts to enfranchise employees: 1.... View Details
- May 1990 (Revised August 1990)
- Case
Campbell Soup Co.
Describes the engineering effort at Campbell Soup Co. to develop a microwavable package and product for the growing convenience segment. Focuses on the role of engineering services in developing the production process, acquiring and installing equipment, and getting... View Details
- April 1990 (Revised November 1992)
- Case
Population Services International: The Social Marketing Project in Bangladesh (Abridged)
By: James E. Austin
Population Services International (PSI) was a not-for-profit agency founded to disseminate family planning information and to market birth control products, primarily in less developed countries seeking to curb their population explosions. In 1976, PSI concluded an... View Details
- March 1990
- Case
Lehrer McGovern Bovis, Inc. (Abridged)
Describes the growth of a construction management company and the operating problems it now encounters. Designed to introduce students to the value of competition in the construction industry, to show how the techniques of value analysis can be used to strategic... View Details
- February 1990 (Revised August 2001)
- Case
Merloni Elettrodomestici SpA: The Transit Point Experiment
By: Janice H. Hammond and Maura G Kelly
Merloni Elettrodomestici is a leading Italian manufacturer of domestic appliances. In 1986, an exposition for Merloni customers is scheduled at its Milano regional warehouse. During the two-month period preceding the event, when the warehouse must be free of inventory,... View Details
- January 1990 (Revised March 1994)
- Case
Royal Ahold NV
By: Richard F. Meyer
Contains a general description of a large international retailer. Focus is on the major financial risks facing the company: exchange rate risk and commodity price risk. This case is an introduction to financial risk management. It poses some of the major problem areas. View Details
- November 1989 (Revised February 1992)
- Case
Ford Motor Co.: Dealer Sales and Service
Since Henry Ford founded Ford Motor Co., Ford vehicles have been sold and serviced the same way. By the late 1980s Ford began to consider making changes in its sales and service process. Two developments forced Ford to reconsider these processes. First, Ford found... View Details
- June 1989 (Revised July 1993)
- Case
CIGNA Worldwide
By: John A. Quelch
A CIGNA Worldwide (CWW) task group of European country directors and key functional managers is meeting in November 1988 to discuss how CWW should respond to the European Community's plan to remove existing internal barriers and restrictions to the free flow of goods... View Details
- January 1989 (Revised March 1995)
- Case
Du Pont Freon Products Division (A)
In 1988, the Du Pont Co. is abruptly confronted with solid scientific evidence that chlorofluorocarbons are destroying the earth's ozone shield. Du Pont, with its Freon brand product line serving markets for foam insulation, electronics solvents, and especially... View Details
- April 1988 (Revised September 1992)
- Case
Frito-Lay, Inc.: The Backhaul Decision
Prior to the Motor Carrier Act of 1980, companies with private trucking fleets were generally prohibited from selling transportation services to other companies. The deregulation of the trucking industry in 1980 allowed private carriers to offer for-hire transportation... View Details
- February 1988 (Revised August 2000)
- Background Note
Note on the U.S. Freight Transportation Industry
By: Janice H. Hammond and John E. P. Morrison
Describes the major modes of domestic freight transportation (motor carrier, rail, air, water, and pipelines). Examines the characteristics of the transportation service that each mode provides and discusses changes in the industry that have resulted from recent... View Details
- September 1987
- Background Note
What Do Venture Capitalists Do?
Presents the results derived from 49 responses to a questionnaire mailed to 100 venture capitalists in late 1984. The purpose of the survey was to shed light on the relationship between venture capitalists and their portfolio companies. The survey revealed that the... View Details
- June 1987 (Revised May 1992)
- Case
Carolina Power & Light Co.: Customer and Operating Services Group
- March 1987 (Revised October 1993)
- Case
Au Bon Pain: The French Bakery Cafe, The Partner/Manager Program
By: W. Earl Sasser
In recent years, Au Bon Pain (ABP), a chain of upscale French bakeries/sandwich cafes based in Boston, confronted a set of human resource problems endemic to the fast food industry (i.e., a labor shortage which made it difficult to attract and maintain quality crew... View Details
- June 1986 (Revised July 1990)
- Case
OTISLINE (A)
By: F. Warren McFarlan and Donna B. Stoddard
Describes the company's use of information technology to strengthen its position in the elevator sales and service market. Also demonstrates how information technology can be used to better manage and control a large geographically dispersed service organization. View Details
- 1985
- Article
Small Scale Manufacturing as a Competitive Advantage
By: L. T. Wells Jr.
Keywords: Production
- May 1983 (Revised December 1987)
- Case
Technical Data Corp.
Describes a decision confronting the president of a small company about selling some or all of the shares in his company to another firm. Technical Data Corp. provides analytical services to professional bond market traders over a system of computer terminals operated... View Details