Publications

Article

Finding the Platform in Your Product: Four Strategies That Can Reveal Hidden Value

By: Andrei Hagiu and Elizabeth J. Altman

Five of the 10 most valuable companies in the world today—Apple, Alphabet, Amazon, Facebook, and Microsoft—derive much of their worth from their multisided platforms (MSPs), which facilitate interactions or transactions between parties. Many MSPs are more valuable than... View Details

Keywords: Multi-Sided Platforms; Competitive Strategy; Value Creation

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April 2006
Background Note

Informing Service Management with Customer Data

By: Frances X. Frei and Dennis Campbell

Taught as the third module in a Harvard Business School course on Managing Service Operations. Explores the role of data analysis in ongoing service management. Describes how to realize the maximum amount of value from analyses and use this information in... View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Design; Analytics and Data Science; Service Operations; Mathematical Methods; Value

05 Nov 2021
Op-Ed

How to Tap the Talent Automated HR Platforms Miss

As the global staffing shortage grinds on, corporate recruiters everywhere are relying on their online hiring platforms and automated systems to deliver the candidates they need. Too often, these tools will fail them, sidelining many qualified workers in the process.... View Details

Keywords: by Joseph B. Fuller

Research Summary

Sovereign Debt as a Contingent Claim: A Quantitative Approach (joint with Fabio Kanczuk)

By: Laura Alfaro

We construct a dynamic equilibrium model with contingent service and adverse selection to quantitatively study sovereign debt. In the model, benefits of defaulting are tempered by higher future interest rates. For a wide parameter, the only equilibrium is one in which... View Details

2014
Working Paper

Product to Platform Transitions: Organizational Identity Implications

By: Elizabeth J. Altman and Mary Tripsas

Organizations are increasingly recognizing that value they once derived from offering standalone products can be significantly enhanced if they transition to platform-based businesses that harness the innovative capabilities of complementors. While the competitive... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change; Organizational Identity; Ecosystems; Complementors; Managing Innovation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Multi-Sided Platforms; Innovation and Management; Organizational Culture

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Research Summary

Building Capabilities in Professional Service Firms

One of the most distinctive aspects of professional service firms is that the vast majority of the people who work in them are directly involved in serving clients. Long-term success in a professional service firm requires obtaining and developing the right... View Details

August 2000 (Revised June 2001)
Case

Fsas: Fujitsu Support and Service Inc.

Fsas was created as a spinoff subsidiary of Fujitsu to service PC networks. As the company succeeded, it became listed on Japan's stock exchange--second tier. Now the Internet is causing Fsas to decide how to structure itself again. Should it spinoff a new company? View Details

Keywords: Business Subsidiaries; Internet; Business Growth and Maturation; Innovation and Invention; Information Technology Industry; Japan

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April 2008
Module Note

Service Design in the Context of Customer-Operators

By: Frances X. Frei

Taught as the second module in a Harvard Business School course on Managing Service Operations: Understanding the Customer Operating Role (606-092). Addresses the design and management of service operations with significant customer operating roles. The focus is on... View Details

Keywords: Customer Satisfaction; Management; Design; Service Operations; Cost

December 2003 (Revised April 2004)
Case

Sherif Mityas at A.T. Kearney (A): Negotiating a Client Service Predicament

By: Ashish Nanda

Sherif Mityas, recently promoted as project manager at A.T. Kearney, faced a client service challenge in his very first project experience. Mityas had been working closely for six weeks with the management team of the U.S. subsidiary of a Japan-headquartered consumer... View Details

Keywords: Management; Conflict of Interests; Business Subsidiaries; Trust; Consumer Products Industry; Japan; United States

09 Dec 2015
Research Event

When Hosts Attack: The Competitive Threat of Online Platforms

sellers find themselves operating in an environment where their hosts could become enemies at any time, and they must figure out a defensive strategy. But platform operators have some strategizing to do... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Web Services; Web Services; Web Services

Research Summary

The Supply Chain Economy: A New Industry Categorization for Understanding Innovation in Services

An active debate has centered on the importance of manufacturing for driving innovation in the U.S. economy. This paper offers an alternative framework that focuses on the role of suppliers of goods and services (the “supply chain economy”) in national performance. We... View Details

January 1994
Case

ABC Sales and Service Division: A Case Study of Personal and Organizational Transformation

By: D. Quinn Mills, Brock W. Orwig, Janet M. Pumo, Todd C. Stilson and Richard C. Wei

In the midst of dramatic changes in the information systems industry and declining profits at the ABC Co., the vice president in charge of the sales and service division, Jeff, and his managers attempt to transform their division. The transformation gets off to a good... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Transformation; Motivation and Incentives; Resignation and Termination; Communication; Business or Company Management; Information Technology Industry

March 2001 (Revised September 2005)
Case

Madison Avenue: Digital Media Services (C)

By July 2000, Madison Avenue had experienced extraordinary growth in sales, employees, clients, and service offerings. From late 1999 to July 2000, the company had taken several initiatives to redesign its internal processes so that the firm could continue to grow,... View Details

Keywords: Service Operations; Digital Marketing; Product Development; Growth and Development Strategy; Advertising Industry

December 2005 (Revised October 2006)
Case

Pharmacy Service Improvement at CVS (A)

CVS's retail pharmacy operations are functioning poorly and dissatisfying customers. Many customers are defecting as a result. A pharmacy service improvement team has documented the current prescription fulfillment process, its exception rates, and the problems... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Performance Improvement; Business Processes; Retail Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States

November 1999 (Revised November 2000)
Background Note

Overview of the Professional Services Course, An

By: Thomas J. DeLong and Ashish Nanda

Provides an overview of the HBS MBA Professional Services Course. Presents a structure and an outline intended to serve as a reference and provide orientation to students as the course progresses. View Details

Keywords: Business Education; Curriculum and Courses; Personal Development and Career

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March 2005 (Revised June 2006)
Case

Sun Microsystems, Inc.: Web Services Strategy

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Fernando Suarez

Microsoft and IBM have excluded Sun Microsystems from the board of the Web Services Interoperability Organization (WS-I), an industry consortium that will shape the evolution of Web services standards. Sun managers must decide whether to join WS-I as a contributing... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Standards; Corporate Governance; Power and Influence; Web Services Industry; Web Services Industry

January 2025
Case

Redwood & Strong: The Value of a Consulting Engagement

By: David G. Fubini and Patrick Sanguineti

The board of Redwood & Strong LLP (R&S), the American branch of a large global law firm, is meeting to review the findings of a recent strategic initiative designed to identify potential merger candidates. The request for the engagement originated from Daniel Crawford,... View Details

Keywords: Client Service; Professional Service Firm; Professional Services; Consulting; Mergers and Acquisitions; Governing and Advisory Boards; Reports; Strategic Planning; Value; Legal Services Industry; Legal Services Industry; United States