Publications

2014
Article

Notes from the Search for Deep Indicators in Services

By: James L. Heskett

Much of the research in the service sector over the last four decades has concerned itself with the search for deep indicators that explain service performance. This paper provides a brief retrospective of some of this research and illustrates the directions that this... View Details

Keywords: Service Delivery; Organizational Culture; Performance; Service Industry

March 1998 (Revised July 1998)
Case

United Way Community Services

By: V. Kasturi Rangan

Describes in detail the fund development and distribution system of United Way Community Services. A key question is how to measure the outcome/impact of the work done by the agencies that receive United Way funding. A follow-on question is how to reinvent the... View Details

Keywords: Capital; Management Systems; Measurement and Metrics; Distribution Channels; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Outcome or Result; Nonprofit Organizations

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01 Mar 2003
News

Service with a Smile

data from 111 workers — college students who labored in service jobs — the pair measured job satisfaction and its relationship to whether workers were being asked to hide or exaggerate emotions. Their study, “A Longitudinal Analysis of... View Details

Keywords: Laura Morgan Roberts; Stephane Cote; Publishing Industries (except Internet); Information

Aug 03 2015
Testimonial

Taking Practical Steps to Achieve Service Goals

December 1998 (Revised December 1999)
Case

Morgan Stanley Dean Witter Private Client Services

By: Thomas J. DeLong, David M. Darst, Ann K Rusher and Catherine M. Conneely

The 1997 merger of retail giant Dean Witter and investment bank Morgan Stanley was a year old when Bob Sculthorpe was appointed director of Private Client Services (PCS) at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter (MSDW). The firm was still operating under two separate broker-dealer... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Divisions; Investment Banking; Brands and Branding; Salesforce Management; Competitive Strategy; Retail Industry

November 1989 (Revised February 1992)
Case

Ford Motor Co.: Dealer Sales and Service

By: Leonard A. Schlesinger

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

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Change Management; Distribution Channels; Customer Focus and Relationships; Service Industry; Service Industry; Service Industry; United States

Web

Technology & Operations Management Faculty - Faculty & Research

Technology & Operations Management Overview Faculty Curriculum Seminars & Conferences Awards & Honors Doctoral Students Unit Heads Marco Iansiti David Sarnoff Professor of Business Administration Co-Unit Head, Technology and View Details

December 2004 (Revised April 2006)
Case

Managing Diversity at Cityside Financial Services

By: Robin J. Ely and Ingrid Vargas

Cityside Financial Services, a disguised consumer bank, serves both a largely African-American urban community and a more affluent, predominantly white clientele. To match the gender and racial makeup of its staff to that of its customers, Cityside's sales division... View Details

Keywords: Selection and Staffing; Situation or Environment; Race; Employees; Gender; Customer Satisfaction; Diversity; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Banks and Banking; Banking Industry

2000
Chapter

Service Markets and the Internet

By: J. A. Deighton

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Service Operations; Market Design

Web

Technology & Operations Management Curriculum - Faculty & Research

Edmondson , Tiona Zuzul Spring 2026 Q3Q4 3.0 Managing Service Operations Ryan Buell , Robert Markey Fall 2025 Q1Q2 3.0 Supply Chain Management Kris Ferreira Fall 2025 Q1Q2 3.0 Ananth Raman Spring 2026 Q3Q4... View Details

September 2000
Background Note

Professional Services Module Five: Serving Clients Effectively

By: Thomas J. DeLong, Ashish Nanda and Scot H. Landry

It is imperative for the internal systems and processes to be connected to the external processes of client management, competitive adaptation, and service delivery. View Details

Keywords: Competency and Skills; Customer Relationship Management; Knowledge Acquisition; Service Delivery; Performance Effectiveness; Adaptation; Competitive Strategy

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March 1999
Case

Australia's Telstra Corporation (C): Operating in Never-Never Land

By: W. Earl Sasser, Carin-Isabel Knoop and Carlos A. A Gonzalez

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Service Operations; Telecommunications Industry; Australia

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October 2002 (Revised April 2007)
Case

Dell Computers (A): Field Service for Corporate Clients

By: Frances X. Frei, Amy C. Edmondson and Corey B. Hajim

Explores the highly successful PC and low-end server manufacturer's entry into the large-scale server market in the United States. A key difference of this new market is the intense service element required to support the larger hardware. Specifically, the industry... View Details

Keywords: Information Infrastructure; Customer Relationship Management; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Service Operations; Business or Company Management; Emerging Markets; Problems and Challenges; Service Delivery; Computer Industry; United States

2007
Other Unpublished Work

Practice Segmentation in Professional Services

By: John J. Gabarro, Thomas J. DeLong and Robert Lees

Keywords: Service Operations; Segmentation; Service Industry

04 May 2011
News

Recipes from the COC (Chief Operating Cook)

A spicy chickpea dish © Kirti Poddar on Flickr When Dean Nitin Nohria sat down for an interview with us last September, we asked: "What do you like to do for fun?" His answer: "I love to cook. I'm vegetarian, and I cook Indian and Italian food. At home, I'm the chef.... View Details

Keywords: Bulletin; Educational Services; Educational Services

January 2017
Supplement

Hello Alfred: Come Home Happy — Operating the Business Model Exercise

By: Joseph B. Fuller and Christopher Payton

On a mission to "automate the on-demand economy," Harvard Business School classmates Marcela Sapone and Jessica Beck launched Hello Alfred in 2013 to provide subscribers with an "Alfred" to complete various chores for a monthly fee. In early 2016, the company has built... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Internet and the Web; Business Startups; Service Operations; Service Industry; New York (city, NY); Boston

23 Sep 2009
Working Paper Summaries

Operational Failures and Problem Solving: An Empirical Study of Incident Reporting

Keywords: by Julia Adler-Milstein, Sara J. Singer & Michael W. Toffel; Health

Web

SAS/CONNECT - Research Computing Services

PC SAS version 9.3 or 9.4 to connect to SAS 9.2 on the server): Compute Services (CS) Remote Library Services (RLS) Give user access to all of the computing resources on the remote host. Give user access to... View Details

April 2017 (Revised February 2020)
Supplement

edaixi (eWash): Digital Transformation of Laundry Services (B)

By: Feng Zhu, Weiru Chen, Chuang Chen and Ciwu Lin

Founded in 2013 as a laundry service featuring online ordering for home pickup and delivery, China’s edaixi (eWash) illustrated the online-to-offline (O2O) business model. As yet unclear in 2016 was the optimal way to organize third-party laundry service providers,... View Details

Keywords: Laundry; O2O; Online-to-offline; Service Operations; Business Model; Digital Platforms; Transformation; Service Industry; China