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- Faculty Publications (740)
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- Forthcoming
- Article
Mitigating the Negative Effects of Customer Anxiety Through Access to Human Contact
By: Michelle A. Kinch and Ryan W. Buell
Prior research in social psychology has shown that when people feel anxious, they seek advice from others. However, companies that operate in high-anxiety settings (like financial services, health care, and education) are increasingly deploying self-service... View Details
Keywords: Anxiety; Self-service; Empirical Operations; Behavioral Operations; Communication Technology; Behavior; Customer Focus and Relationships; Trust; Satisfaction; Financial Services Industry
Kinch, Michelle A., and Ryan W. Buell. "Mitigating the Negative Effects of Customer Anxiety Through Access to Human Contact." Management Science (forthcoming). (Pre-published online March 31, 2025.)
- March 2016
- Supplement
Trouble at Tessei
By: Ethan Bernstein and Ryan W. Buell
In 2005, Teruo Yabe is asked to revive Tessei, the 669-person JR-East subsidiary responsible for cleaning its Shinkansen ("bullet") trains. Operational mistakes, customer complaints, safety issues, and employee turnover are at or near all-time highs, even as the... View Details
Keywords: Service Management; Employee Engagement; Employee Motivation; Leadership And Managing People; Quality Improvement; Efficiency; Japan; Operational Transparency; Employee Coordination; Transparency; Leadership; Service Delivery; Service Operations; Employees; Quality; Transportation Industry; Japan
Bernstein, Ethan, and Ryan W. Buell. "Trouble at Tessei." Harvard Business School Multimedia/Video Supplement 616-706, March 2016.
- February 2021
- Article
How Transparency into Internal and External Responsibility Initiatives Influences Consumer Choice
By: Ryan W. Buell and Basak Kalkanci
Amid growing calls for transparency and social and environmental responsibility, companies are employing different strategies to improve consumer perceptions of their brands. Some pursue internal initiatives that reduce their negative social or environmental impacts... View Details
Keywords: Sustainable Operations; Corporate Social Responsibility; Operational Transparency; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Operations; Environmental Sustainability; Consumer Behavior; Perception
Buell, Ryan W., and Basak Kalkanci. "How Transparency into Internal and External Responsibility Initiatives Influences Consumer Choice." Management Science 67, no. 2 (February 2021): 932–950.
- Article
The Perils of Excellence: Barriers to Effective Process Improvement in Product-Driven Firms
By: Rebecca M. Henderson, Jesus del Alamo, Todd Becker, James Lawton, Peter Moran, Saul Shapiro and Dean Vlasak
Henderson, Rebecca M., Jesus del Alamo, Todd Becker, James Lawton, Peter Moran, Saul Shapiro, and Dean Vlasak. "The Perils of Excellence: Barriers to Effective Process Improvement in Product-Driven Firms." Production and Operations Management 7, no. 1 (Spring 1998): 2–18.
- 2023
- Working Paper
Personalized Game Design for Improved User Retention and Monetization in Freemium Games
By: Eva Ascarza, Oded Netzer and Julian Runge
One of the most crucial aspects and significant levers that gaming companies possess in designing
digital games is setting the level of difficulty, which essentially regulates the user’s ability to
progress within the game. This aspect is particularly significant in... View Details
Keywords: Freemium; Retention/churn; Field Experiment; Field Experiments; Gaming; Gaming Industry; Mobile App; Mobile App Industry; Monetization; Monetization Strategy; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Customers; Retention; Product Design; Strategy
Ascarza, Eva, Oded Netzer, and Julian Runge. "Personalized Game Design for Improved User Retention and Monetization in Freemium Games." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 21-062, November 2020. (Revised December 2023.)
- 2018
- Working Paper
Show or Tell? Improving Agent Decision Making in a Tanzanian Mobile Money Field Experiment
By: Jason Acimovic, Chris Parker, David F. Drake and Karthik Balasubramanian
When workers make operational decisions, the firm's global knowledge and the workers’ domain-specific knowledge complement each other. Oftentimes workers have the final decision-making power. Two key decisions a firm makes when designing systems to support these... View Details
Keywords: Employees; Decision Making; Training; Performance Improvement; Money; Mobile Technology; Developing Countries and Economies; Financial Services Industry
Acimovic, Jason, Chris Parker, David F. Drake, and Karthik Balasubramanian. "Show or Tell? Improving Agent Decision Making in a Tanzanian Mobile Money Field Experiment." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 18-106, May 2018.
- September 2009
- Article
Virtue out of Necessity? Compliance, Commitment and the Improvement of Labor Conditions in Global Supply Chains
By: Akshay Mangla, Richard Locke and Matthew Amengual
Private, voluntary compliance programs, promoted by global corporations and nongovernmental organizations alike, have produced only modest and uneven improvements in working conditions and labor rights in most global supply chains. Through a detailed study of a major... View Details
Mangla, Akshay, Richard Locke, and Matthew Amengual. "Virtue out of Necessity? Compliance, Commitment and the Improvement of Labor Conditions in Global Supply Chains." Politics & Society 37, no. 3 (September 2009): 319–351.
- Research Summary
"On design of operations & production management technology-base and performance database for empowerment of global/local industries in the international business environment"
His current research interests are in the reinforcement of continuous improvement schemes such as TPM, its global transfer and road-mapping for empowerment of industries. One of his aims while at Harvard TOM Unit is to establish infrastructure which enables... View Details
- 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.
- fall 2002
- Article
How Much Does the Market Value an Improvement in a Product Attribute?
By: Elie Ofek and V. Srinivasan
Ofek, Elie, and V. Srinivasan. "How Much Does the Market Value an Improvement in a Product Attribute?" Marketing Science 21, no. 4 (fall 2002): 398–411.
- Research Summary
Overview
By: Ryan W. Buell
From creating flight itineraries online, to interacting with tellers to complete complex banking transactions, to engaging with the government to address civic problems, customers are playing an increasingly vital role in the performance of operations in a broadening... View Details
Keywords: Service Operations; Customer Satisfaction; Customer Retention; Customer Behavior; Operational Transparency; Customer Compatibility; Engagement; Customers; Decision Making; Design; Management; Operations; Quality; Relationships; Social Psychology; Technology; Value; Banking Industry; Service Industry; Travel Industry; Web Services Industry; Retail Industry; Food and Beverage Industry
- 2010
- Book
The New Science of Retailing: How Analytics Are Transforming the Supply Chain and Improving Performance
By: Marshall Fisher and Ananth Raman
Retailers today are drowning in data but lacking in insight: They have huge volumes of information at their disposal. But they're unsure of how to sort through it and use it to make smart decisions. The result? They're struggling with profit-sapping supply chain... View Details
Keywords: Profit; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Logistics; Supply Chain Management; Mathematical Methods; Retail Industry
Fisher, Marshall, and Ananth Raman. The New Science of Retailing: How Analytics Are Transforming the Supply Chain and Improving Performance. Harvard Business Press, 2010.
- July – August 2011
- Article
Deliberate Learning to Improve Performance in Dynamic Service Settings: Evidence from Hospital Intensive Care Units
By: I. M. Nembhard and A. L. Tucker
Dynamic service settings-characterized by workers who interact with customers to deliver services in a rapidly changing, uncertain, and complex environment (e.g., hospitals)-play an important role in the economy. Organizational learning studies in these settings have... View Details
Keywords: Experience and Expertise; Customer Focus and Relationships; Learning; Health Care and Treatment; Service Delivery; Performance Improvement; Quality; Groups and Teams; Cooperation; Health Industry
Nembhard, I. M., and A. L. Tucker. "Deliberate Learning to Improve Performance in Dynamic Service Settings: Evidence from Hospital Intensive Care Units." Organization Science 22, no. 4 (July–August 2011): 907–922.
- September–October 2020
- Article
Global Supply Chains in a Post-Pandemic World: Companies Need to Make Their Networks More Resilient. Here's How.
By: Willy C. Shih
The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the vulnerabilities in the production strategies and supply chains of firms everywhere. Coupled with a rise in economic nationalism, manufacturers everywhere are going to be under pressure to rethink their sourcing and logistics... View Details
Keywords: Resilience; Pandemic; Operations Management; Health Pandemics; Supply Chain; Supply Chain Management; Manufacturing Industry; United States; Asia; Europe
Shih, Willy C. "Global Supply Chains in a Post-Pandemic World: Companies Need to Make Their Networks More Resilient. Here's How." R2005F. Harvard Business Review 98, no. 5 (September–October 2020): 82–89.
- January 2010 (Revised February 2010)
- Supplement
IBM Retail Business Assessment at Dillard's, Inc.: Managing Staffing Levels to Improve Conversion (CW)
IBM consultants are convinced that there is a positive relationship with staffing levels and conversion rate. How should Dillard's, a large department store chain, use this insight to manage their staffing levels? View Details
- Article
Improving Environmental Performance Assessment: Comparative Analysis of Weighting Methods used to Evaluate Chemical Release Inventories
By: Michael W. Toffel and Julian D. Marshall
Toffel, Michael W., and Julian D. Marshall. "Improving Environmental Performance Assessment: Comparative Analysis of Weighting Methods used to Evaluate Chemical Release Inventories." Journal of Industrial Ecology 8, nos. 1-2 (January 2004): 143–172.
- Article
Time-driven Activity-based Costing of Multivessel Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting across National Boundaries to Identify Improvement Opportunities: Study Protocol
By: F. Erhun, B. Mistry, T. Platcheck, A. Milstein, V.G. Narayanan and R. S. Kaplan
Coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery is a common treatment for coronary artery disease—a disease that affects over 10% of US adults and is a major cause of morbidity and mortality. In 2005, the mean cost for a CABG procedure among Medicare beneficiaries in the... View Details
Keywords: Activity Based Costing and Management; Health Disorders; Health Care and Treatment; United States; India
Erhun, F., B. Mistry, T. Platcheck, A. Milstein, V.G. Narayanan, and R. S. Kaplan. "Time-driven Activity-based Costing of Multivessel Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting across National Boundaries to Identify Improvement Opportunities: Study Protocol." BMJ Open 5, no. 8 (2015).
- October 2016 (Revised October 2020)
- Case
Essent: From a State-Owned Utility to a Commercial Company
By: Ananth Raman and Elena Corsi
Patrick Lammers, Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) for the Dutch energy company Essent NV, once a state-owned company, was pleased with the progress Essent’s consumer (“B2C”) business had made: Earnings Before Income Tax (EBIT) for B2C had gone from a loss of €18 million... View Details
Keywords: Lean Management; Operation Management; Service Management; Commercialization; Operations; Management; Energy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Service Operations; Performance; Energy Industry; Europe
Raman, Ananth, and Elena Corsi. "Essent: From a State-Owned Utility to a Commercial Company." Harvard Business School Case 617-026, October 2016. (Revised October 2020.)
- 2016
- Chapter
Ignore, Avoid, Abandon, and Embrace: What Drives Firm Responses to Environmental Regulation?
By: David F. Drake and Robin L. Just
A regulator's ability to incentivize environmental improvement among firms is vital in achieving long-term sustainability. However, firms can and do respond to environmental regulation in a variety of ways: complying with its intent; avoiding the regulation by... View Details
Keywords: Sustainability; Environmental Operations; Regulation; Cost vs Benefits; For-Profit Firms; Operations; Environmental Sustainability
Drake, David F., and Robin L. Just. "Ignore, Avoid, Abandon, and Embrace: What Drives Firm Responses to Environmental Regulation?" In Environmentally Responsible Supply Chains, edited by Atalay Atasu. New York: Springer, 2016.