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- Faculty Publications (262)
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- All HBS Web (457)
- Faculty Publications (262)
- January 2010 (Revised August 2011)
- Case
United Breaks Guitars
By: John A. Deighton and Leora Kornfeld
When social media propagate a complaint about poor customer service, an international media event ensues. How do viral videos spread and what can firms do about them? This case dissects an incident in which a disgruntled customer used YouTube and Twitter to spread a... View Details
Keywords: Communication Technology; Customer Satisfaction; Marketing Communications; Marketing Strategy; Consumer Behavior; Network Effects; Service Delivery; Social and Collaborative Networks; Internet; Air Transportation Industry
Deighton, John A., and Leora Kornfeld. "United Breaks Guitars." Harvard Business School Case 510-057, January 2010. (Revised August 2011.) (request a courtesy copy.)
- 01 Oct 2008
- Research & Ideas
How Much Time Should CEOs Devote to Customers?
following three things: First, the CEO should spearhead the identification of three or four customer health metrics that are leading indicators of sales or profit performance. These metrics should not be off-the-shelf standbys such as... View Details
Keywords: by John Quelch
- Research Summary
Using IT to Leverage Human Resources in Services
Discussion of the Internet and IT to date concentrates on how they will replace, rather than support, human service providers. While this approach is appropriate for a few firms, it is inadequate for many. The Internet and other information technology... View Details
- March 2013
- Article
Breaking Them in or Eliciting Their Best? Reframing Socialization around Newcomers' Authentic Self-expression
By: Daniel M. Cable, Francesca Gino and Brad Staats
Socialization theory has focused on enculturating new employees such that they develop pride in their new organization and internalize its values. Drawing on authenticity research, we propose that the initial stage of socialization leads to more effective employment... View Details
Keywords: Socialization; Authenticity; Self-Expression; Best Self; Outsourcing; Employee Retention; Organizational Culture; Retention; Identity; Customer Satisfaction
Cable, Daniel M., Francesca Gino, and Brad Staats. "Breaking Them in or Eliciting Their Best? Reframing Socialization around Newcomers' Authentic Self-expression." Administrative Science Quarterly 58, no. 1 (March 2013): 1–36.
- February 2022
- Case
Toraya
By: Lauren Cohen and Akiko Kanno
Mitsuharu Kurokawa was the 18th generation leader of a family firm that produced and sold premium Japanese sweets, Toraya Confectionery Co., Ltd. He had succeeded the business from his father, Mitsuhiro Kurokawa who had led the firm for thirty years. Mitsuharu was... View Details
- January 2021
- Case
Anodot: Autonomous Business Monitoring
By: Antonio Moreno and Danielle Golan
Autonomous business monitoring platform Anodot leveraged machine learning to provide real-time alerts regarding business anomalies. Anodot’s solution was used in various industries in order to primarily monitor business health, such as revenue and payments, product... View Details
Keywords: Digital Platforms; Internet and the Web; Knowledge Sharing; Information Management; Sales; Value Creation; Product Positioning; Israel
Moreno, Antonio, and Danielle Golan. "Anodot: Autonomous Business Monitoring." Harvard Business School Case 621-084, January 2021.
- 28 Apr 2003
- Research & Ideas
Supply Chain Risk: Deal With It
efficiency has been cast in high relief, supply chain managers realize that they can no longer focus solely on cost reduction—any calculation of a supply chain's return on investment must also take customer View Details
Keywords: by David Stauffer
- September 1999 (Revised February 2004)
- Case
Juice Guys (B)
By: Joseph B. Lassiter III, Sharon Lee Fox and Cynthia Rushmore Kuechle
The case explores who the customers are for a new beverage product, their desires as customers for this product, and their desires when ordering this product from a local specialty store location. View Details
Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Product Launch; Product Positioning; Customer Relationship Management; Consumer Behavior; Commercialization; Customer Satisfaction; Food and Beverage Industry
Lassiter, Joseph B., III, Sharon Lee Fox, and Cynthia Rushmore Kuechle. "Juice Guys (B)." Harvard Business School Case 800-123, September 1999. (Revised February 2004.)
- February 2025
- Case
Managing Complexity at mymuesli
By: Thomas Graeber and Stacy Straaberg
In April 2009, direct-to-consumer e-commerce muesli brand mymuesli faced a flood of customer questions. The breakfast cereal startup enabled users to order personalized muesli on its website by choosing from 75 organic ingredients for a total of 566 quadrillion... View Details
- September 2010 (Revised January 2012)
- Case
Emergia: Driving Profitability on Help Desk Contracts
Emergia wants to keep its customer happy with its contact center service, but the margins on the help desk contract are dangerously low. Can Miguel Neira, the COO, increase margins while preserving the customer relationship? View Details
Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Customer Satisfaction; Profit; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Service Operations; Performance Capacity; Performance Evaluation; Mathematical Methods; Service Industry
Martinez Jerez, F. Asis, and Lisa Brem. "Emergia: Driving Profitability on Help Desk Contracts." Harvard Business School Case 111-048, September 2010. (Revised January 2012.)
- September 1999 (Revised July 2006)
- Case
Juice Guys (A)
By: Joseph B. Lassiter III, Sharon Lee Fox and Cynthia Rushmore Kuechle
The case explores who the customers are for a new beverage product, their desires as customers for this product, and their desires when ordering this product from a local specialty store location. View Details
Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Product Launch; Product Positioning; Customer Relationship Management; Consumer Behavior; Commercialization; Customer Satisfaction; Food and Beverage Industry
Lassiter, Joseph B., III, Sharon Lee Fox, and Cynthia Rushmore Kuechle. "Juice Guys (A)." Harvard Business School Case 800-122, September 1999. (Revised July 2006.)
- August 2015 (Revised June 2021)
- Case
Amazon.com, 2021
By: John R. Wells, Benjamin Weinstock, Gabriel Ellsworth and Galen Danskin
In February 2021, Amazon announced 2020 operating profits of $22,899 million, up from $2,233 million in 2015, on sales of $386 billion, up from $107 billion five years earlier (see Exhibit 1). The shareholders expressed their satisfaction (see Exhibit 2), but not all... View Details
Keywords: Strategic Analysis; Retail; E-commerce; Amazon; Internet; Amazon.com; AmazonFresh; Jeff Bezos; Cloud Computing; Marketplaces; Streaming; E-reader Market; Digital Media; Mobile App; Online Retail; Shipping; Database; Tablet; Kindle; Kindle Fire; Smartphone; Delivery; Digital Platforms; Competition; Internet and the Web; Corporate Strategy; Digital Marketing; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; Business Organization; For-Profit Firms; Film Entertainment; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Music Entertainment; Television Entertainment; Profit; Revenue; Global Strategy; Multinational Firms and Management; Taxation; Business History; Human Resources; Resignation and Termination; Books; Human Capital; Working Conditions; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Management Practices and Processes; Industry Growth; Industry Structures; Media; Distribution; Distribution Channels; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Infrastructure; Logistics; Product Development; Supply Chain; Supply Chain Management; Organizational Culture; Public Ownership; Work-Life Balance; Problems and Challenges; Labor and Management Relations; Strategy; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Diversification; Expansion; Integration; Horizontal Integration; Vertical Integration; Information Infrastructure; Information Technology; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Price; Applications and Software; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Working Capital; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Value and Value Chain; Retail Industry; Advertising Industry; Distribution Industry; Electronics Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Information Technology Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Music Industry; Publishing Industry; Shipping Industry; Technology Industry; Video Game Industry; Web Services Industry; United States; Washington (state, US); Seattle
Wells, John R., Benjamin Weinstock, Gabriel Ellsworth, and Galen Danskin. "Amazon.com, 2021." Harvard Business School Case 716-402, August 2015. (Revised June 2021.)
- 15 Apr 2019
- Research & Ideas
Infographic: Can I Please Speak to an Actual Person?
Based on the Working Paper, Mitigating the Negative Effects of Customer Anxiety through Access to Human Contact (pdf) by Michelle A. Shell and Ryan W. Buell. Shell is a doctoral student at Harvard Business School, and Buell is the UPS... View Details
- August 2013
- Article
Customer-Driven Misconduct: How Competition Corrupts Business Practices
By: Victor Manuel Bennett, Lamar Pierce, Jason A. Snyder and Michael W. Toffel
Competition among firms yields many benefits but can also encourage firms to engage in corrupt or unethical activities. We argue that competition can lead organizations to provide services that customers demand but that violate government regulations, especially when... View Details
Keywords: Competition; Crime and Corruption; Management Practices and Processes; Ethics; Consumer Behavior; Customer Satisfaction; Auto Industry; Service Industry
Bennett, Victor Manuel, Lamar Pierce, Jason A. Snyder, and Michael W. Toffel. "Customer-Driven Misconduct: How Competition Corrupts Business Practices." Management Science 59, no. 8 (August 2013): 1725–1742. (Online Appendix. Lead article. Nominated for "Best Conference Paper Award" and "SMS Best Conference Paper Prize for Practice Implications" at 2012 Strategic Management Society International Conference.)
- December 2012
- Case
Delwarca Software Remote Support Unit
By: Roy D. Shapiro and Paul E. Morrison
Delwarca Software provides business software to large corporate clients around the world. The firm serves customers who prefer to assemble corporate solutions using a combination of software programs from various suppliers rather than implementing a single enterprise... View Details
Keywords: Service Operations; Service Delivery; Mathematical Methods; Applications and Software; Problems and Challenges; Customer Satisfaction; Information Technology Industry
Shapiro, Roy D., and Paul E. Morrison. "Delwarca Software Remote Support Unit." Harvard Business School Brief Case 913-541, December 2012.
- 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
Frei, Frances X. "Service Design in the Context of Customer-Operators." Harvard Business School Module Note 608-134, April 2008.
- 2008
- Book
Ownership Quotient: Putting the Service Profit Chain to Work for Unbeatable Competitive Advantage
By: James L. Heskett, W. Earl Sasser Jr. and Joe Wheeler
Hundreds of large organizations worldwide have used the groundbreaking Service Profit Chain to improve business performance. Now The Ownership Quotient reveals the next generation of the chain: customer and employee "owners" of your business. Employee-owners exhibit... View Details
Keywords: Customer Satisfaction; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Customer Ownership; Employee Ownership; Competitive Advantage; Value Creation
Heskett, James L., W. Earl Sasser Jr., and Joe Wheeler. Ownership Quotient: Putting the Service Profit Chain to Work for Unbeatable Competitive Advantage. Harvard Business Press, 2008.
- July 2002 (Revised January 2003)
- Case
Harrah's Entertainment, Inc: Rewarding Our People
By: Thomas J. DeLong and Vineeta Vijayaraghavan
Marilyn Winn, head of human resources at Harrah's Entertainment, must make a recommendation to the company's president and CEO about whether the existing bonus payout program is effective at motivating employees or whether it should be revised and/or replaced. A recent... View Details
Keywords: Customer Satisfaction; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Compensation and Benefits; Employees; Human Capital; Management Style; Motivation and Incentives; Alignment; Entertainment and Recreation Industry
DeLong, Thomas J., and Vineeta Vijayaraghavan. "Harrah's Entertainment, Inc: Rewarding Our People." Harvard Business School Case 403-008, July 2002. (Revised January 2003.)
- January 2014 (Revised November 2021)
- Case
Filene's Basement: Inside a Fired Customer's Relationship
By: Jill Avery and Susan Fournier
How, in a business climate in which building relationships with customers has dominated both managerial thought and marketing budgets, could Filene's Basement have fired a loyal customer, one who was formally and informally recognized as a best customer? This case... View Details
Keywords: CRM; Retailing; Marketing; Consumer Behavior; Customer Relationship Management; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Satisfaction; Marketing Strategy; Brands and Branding; Retail Industry; United States
Avery, Jill, and Susan Fournier. "Filene's Basement: Inside a Fired Customer's Relationship." Harvard Business School Case 314-076, January 2014. (Revised November 2021.)
- Article
Market Heterogeneity and Local Capacity Decisions in Services
By: Dennis Campbell and Frances X. Frei
We empirically document factors that influence how local operating managers use discretion to balance the tradeoff between service capacity costs and customer sensitivity to service time. Our findings, using data from one of the largest financial services providers in... View Details
Keywords: Customer Satisfaction; Cost; Standards; Service Delivery; Service Operations; Performance Capacity; Performance Productivity; Financial Services Industry; United States
Campbell, Dennis, and Frances X. Frei. "Market Heterogeneity and Local Capacity Decisions in Services." Manufacturing & Service Operations Management 13, no. 1 (Winter 2011): 2–19. (Lead Article.)