Scaling Service Operations - Publications - Faculty & Research

12 Aug 2019
Research & Ideas

How Scale Changes a Manager's Responsibilities

to operate at scale and consider whether to replace them. Here are a few tips in areas I find to be the most challenging at this stage: People When it comes to employees, there are two areas where... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Austin

21 Aug 2019
Working Paper Summaries

Improving Customer Compatibility with Operational Transparency

Keywords: by Ryan W. Buell and MoonSoo Choi; Banking

2012
Other Unpublished Work

The Instrumental Value of Medical Leadership: Engaging Doctors in Improving Services

By: Richard Bohmer

This paper was commissioned to contribute to The King's Fund's 2012 review of leadership and engagement. View Details

Keywords: Health Care; Service Quality; Quality; Leadership; Service Delivery; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry

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February 2003 (Revised May 2003)
Case

Mobile Energy Services Company

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Aldo Sesia

When Al "Chainsaw" Dunlap became CEO of the Scott Paper Co., the company owned a large, vertically integrated production facility in Mobile, Alabama. Dunlap sold part of the production facility, a cogeneration power plant (later known as Mobile Energy Services Co.), to... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Risk and Uncertainty; Contracts; Agreements and Arrangements; Investment; Projects; Vertical Integration; Energy Sources; Bonds; Ownership; Restructuring; Energy Industry; Alabama

Citation

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January 2021 (Revised July 2022)
Case

Snapp: Scaling Under Sanctions in Iran (A)

By: Meg Rithmire and Gamze Yucaoglu

The case opens in November 2019 as Eyad Alkassar and Mahmoud Fouz, co-founders of Iran’s first and leading ride-hailing platform, Snapp, find out about Apple’s and Google’s decisions to remove all Iranian apps from their respective application stores.
The case... View Details

Keywords: Sanctions; Change Management; Disruption; Volatility; Decision Choices and Conditions; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Government and Politics; International Relations; National Security; Risk Management; Crisis Management; Transportation Industry; Iran; Middle East

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06 Jul 2017
News

Leadership on a Global Scale

When the inaugural West Point All-Academies Asia Summit opened in Singapore in June 2015, Ray Jefferson (MBA 2000) celebrated a personal moment of triumph. For the Summit’s point person, this first-ever gathering in Asia for graduates of US View Details

01 Jun 2018
News

Case Study: Tip the Scale

over speed in the fulfillment process. Walden aims to build a community of home cooks who are connected to local farms in a meaningful way, not simply a transactional purchase. The Question: With year-over-year growth at 75 to 100 percent, Cummings’s question is how to... View Details

Research Summary

Organizational Change in Professional Service Firms

Professor Gabarro's current research focuses on organizational change in professional service firms and the challenges that they face in dealing with increased size, scale and complexity. View Details

Article

Optimizing Organic Waste to Energy Operations

By: Baris Ata, Deishin Lee and Mustafa H. Tongarlak

A waste-to-energy firm that recycles organic waste with energy recovery performs two environmentally beneficial functions: it diverts waste from landfill and it produces renewable energy. At the same time, the waste-to-energy firm serves and collects revenue from two... View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Energy Generation; Renewable Energy; Revenue; Customers; Strategy; Corporate Governance; Wastes and Waste Processing; Environmental Sustainability; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Cost Management; Urban Scope

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July 2020 (Revised September 2020)
Case

The Honor Foundation: Accessing Special Operations Talent

By: Boris Groysberg and John Masko

In 2020, The Honor Foundation (THF), a nonprofit dedicated to helping U.S. military special operators to transition into civilian careers, was facing a series of strategic challenges. THF had been founded in 2013 by former Navy SEAL trainee Joe Musselman, who observed... View Details

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01 Mar 2006
News

Scaling Peaks for Cancer Research

MOUNTAIN CLIMBING TRIO: Bishop, Murphy, and Serafini stay in shape. Three HBS students are out to set a world record by scaling the seven tallest mountains on seven continents in seven months — all to raise $5 million to help fight... View Details

Keywords: pediatric cancer research; Personal Services; Personal Services

05 Dec 2016
News

Scaling Up at Five Below

(photo by Jane M. Von Bergen / Philadelphia Inquirer) (photo by Jane M. Von Bergen / Philadelphia Inquirer) It’s the holiday season and emoji merchandise is flying off the shelves—especially poop emoji (sorry). Chalk it up to the whimsical tastes of the teen and... View Details

Keywords: Miscellaneous Store Retailers; Retail Trade

April 2008
Teaching Note

Exercise: Challenging Operational Assumptions

By: Frances X. Frei and Christine van Keuren

Teaching Note for [608128]. View Details

Keywords: Service Operations; Performance Improvement

Citation

September 1998 (Revised May 1999)
Case

Strategic Services at Andersen Consulting

By: Thomas J. DeLong, Catherine M. Conneely and Abby J. Hansen PHD

Bill Copacino, Andersen Consulting's managing partner of Strategic Services Americas, needed to submit his recommendation to Peter Fuchs, Strategic Services worldwide director, for the operating plan for Strategic Services Americas for fiscal year 1999. Strategic... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Planning; Recruitment; Organizational Culture; Expansion; Business Units; Consulting Industry

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01 Sep 2003
News

Incentives and Operational Excellence

Operational problems can be the cause of an organization’s demise. Often they can be traced to poor controls in interorganizational settings, according to HBS associate professor V.G. Narayanan, a specialist in measurement systems and... View Details

Keywords: Educational Services; Educational Services; Educational Services

1994
Chapter

Managing Services When Service Is a Performance

By: J. A. Deighton

Keywords: Service Operations; Performance; Management; Service Industry

Citation

May 2023
Teaching Note

Away: Scaling a DTC Travel Brand

By: Joseph B. Fuller and Jill Avery

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 520-051. Away, a direct-to-consumer, digital native e-commerce seller of travel luggage, is debating how to invest its latest round of venture funding. How quickly could and should Away scale and what were the most promising growth... View Details

Keywords: Distribution; Growth and Development Strategy; E-commerce; Segmentation; Venture Capital; Consumer Products Industry

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Statistical & Data Services - Research Computing Services

About Us Statistical & Data Services 38ms Research Computing Services (RCS) provides statistical and data services for the HBS research community, including consultations and... View Details

28 Jun 2022
Cold Call Podcast

Scaling a Fintech Startup for the Greater Good

Keywords: Re: Emily Williams; Financial Services

October 2018
Case

Accomplice: Scaling Early Stage Finance

By: Ramana Nanda, Raffaella Sadun and Olivia Hull

Accomplice, an early-stage venture capital firm based in Boston, is raising its second fund in November 2017. Since 2009, the firm has followed a seed-led investment model, investing in tech companies at the earliest stages, often when products and business models are... View Details