Publications

03 Feb 2016
Research & Ideas

The State of Customer Service Leadership

largely in the hands of those who lead our service organizations. It’s natural that we would look to leaders in the service sector for the same cutting-edge practices that we used to find being implemented... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Aisner; Retail

December 1994
Supplement

Prodigy Services Company (A)-- Supplement

By: Lynn S. Paine

Allows students to record their personal evaluations of the communications which gave rise to the controversy detailed in Prodigy Services Co. (A). View Details

Keywords: Information Technology Industry

September 1999 (Revised November 2002)
Background Note

Indian Software Industry in 2002, The

The Indian software industry, growing at more than 50% per annum and largely dependent on exports of services and products, is one of the few industries in that country considered to be globally competitive. This note allows a discussion of the uses and limits of... View Details

Keywords: Geographic Location; Competition; Applications and Software; Globalization; Information Technology Industry; India

May 2002
Case

Mellon Investor Services

By: Thomas J. DeLong

James Aramanda, head of Mellon Investor Services, must decide how to change the focus of his business. He works with consultants to create a change strategy to enhance a business that is already doing well. Will he be able to interest his professionals in changing the... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Change Management; Innovation Leadership; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Strategy; Management Teams; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry; United States

April 2008 (Revised April 2010)
Background Note

The Hedge Fund Industry

By: William E. Fruhan Jr.

This note describes the hedge fund industry as of the end of the year 2007. View Details

Keywords: Investment Return; Investment Funds; Investment Portfolio; Financial Services Industry

Winter 2014
Article

Does Service Bundling Reduce Churn?

By: Jeff Prince and Shane Greenstein

We examine whether bundling in telecommunications services reduces churn using a series of large, independent cross sections of household decisions. To identify the effect of bundling, we construct a pseudo-panel dataset and utilize a linear, dynamic panel-data model,... View Details

Keywords: Communication Technology; Customer Satisfaction; Product Marketing; Telecommunications Industry

September 2016
Case

Financial Services at Falabella (A)

By: C. Fritz Foley and Agustin M. Hurtado

In 2010, the board and senior management team of Falabella, a leading retailer with operations throughout Latin America, faced choices about what to do with its financial services division. More than 4.5 million customers had CMR credit cards that could be used in... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Credit; Financial Institutions; Personal Finance; Financial Management; Financial Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Banking Industry; Banking Industry; Latin America; Chile; Argentina; Colombia; Peru

December 1987 (Revised September 1995)
Case

IDS Financial Services

Scarce managerial talent, sales force turnover, and client attrition were potential problems underlying IDS' disappointing performance at mid-year 1987. The marketing vice president had three potential "fixes": 1) increasing or decreasing the $35 million budget for... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Salesforce Management; Performance Improvement; Financial Services Industry

2002
Report

Integrate to Innovate: The Determinants of Success in Developing and Deploying New Services in the Communications Industry

By: Michael Raynor and C. M. Christensen

Keywords: Integration; Innovation and Management; Service Operations; Success; Communications Industry

November 2011
Teaching Note

Comfort Class Transport: Does Customer Service Need an Overhaul? (Brief Case)

By: Michael J. Roberts and Paul E. Morrison

Teaching Note for Product #4377. View Details

Keywords: Capacity Utilization; Supply ＆ Demand; Operations Management; Customer Service; Management; Demand and Consumers; Operations; Customer Focus and Relationships; Supply and Industry; Capital

November 1989 (Revised April 2018)
Case

Automation Consulting Services

By: Robert Simons and Hilary Weston

Illustrates the management control challenges that are associated with rapid growth and geographic expansion. Situated at an offsite Executive Committee Retreat. The three founding partners of a specialized consulting firm are grappling with several difficult questions... View Details

Keywords: Geographic Location; Governance Controls; Policy; Growth and Development Strategy; Management Teams; Expansion; Consulting Industry

winter 1997
Article

The Effects of Market Structure and Ownership on Prices and Service Offerings in the Cable Television Industry

By: Willis Emmons and Robin A. Prager

Keywords: Markets; Ownership; Price; Service Delivery; Entertainment; Media and Broadcasting Industry

April 2002
Background Note

Consolidation of Highly Fragmented Service Industries, The

Designed to familiarize students with the consolidation of highly fragmented labor-dependent service industries, offering insights into service firm growth and the ways services can, and cannot, increase their efficiency and effectiveness. Two frameworks are presented... View Details

Keywords: Consolidation; Acquisition; Growth and Development Strategy; Service Industry

July 2000 (Revised September 2005)
Case

Madison Avenue: Digital Media Services (A)

Introduces a "new-economy" company, Madison Avenue, facing challenges of mega-success. In the two years since its founding, the company's revenues have grown from zero to nearly $30 million, head count has swollen from the start-up handful to more than 200, and the... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Design; Online Advertising; Advertising Industry

19 Feb 2018
Sharpening Your Skills

Amazoned: Is Any Industry Safe?

obvious—igniting a revolution in retail—to the more subtle—how Amazon's web development services resulted in more startups receiving VC funding. What will be the next shoe to fall? Can Amazon Do What Walmart... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Retail

December 1998
Case

Retail Financial Services in 1998: First Union

By: Stephen P. Bradley and Takia Mahmood

Provides an overview of First Union's current strategy for retail financial services. Retail Financial Services in 1998 should be given to all students as background material. The class should then be split into groups, with each group receiving one of the following... View Details

Keywords: Investment Funds; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Industry Structures; Competition; Competitive Strategy; Financial Services Industry

2009
Working Paper

Principles that Matter: Sustaining Software Innovation from the Client to the Web

By: Marco Iansiti

Economic analysis often reviews the role of principles—such as respect for intellectual property rights—in driving innovation. Given the interdependent nature of innovation in information technology, three core principles have emerged that work together to ensure that... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Technological Innovation; Intellectual Property; Partners and Partnerships; Competition; Information Technology; Internet and the Web

Read Now

August 2004 (Revised April 2005)
Case

MK Taxi: Private Chauffeur Service

MK Taxi Tokyo has developed a system to allow customers to use their mobile phones to find and contact the cab closest to them, bypassing the dispatch center. The system, called the Private Chauffeur Service (PCS), makes use of NTT's i-mode service, which essentially... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Entrepreneurship; Customer Focus and Relationships; Transportation; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Transportation Industry; Transportation Industry; Tokyo