Publications

March 2006 (Revised February 2007)
Case

UBS: Towards the Integrated Firm

By: Rajiv Lal, Nitin Nohria and Carin-Isabel Knoop

In late June 2005, UBS Group CEO Peter Wuffli--anointed "Master of Zurich" by the financial press--was returning to Zurich from the firm's latest three-day Senior Leadership Conference (SLC). Tapping 600 top managers, this SLC featured an outdoor event at a former... View Details

Keywords: Integration; Programs; Leadership; Talent and Talent Management; Trust

June 2001 (Revised September 2005)
Case

Madison Avenue: Digital Media Services (B)

In late 1999, Madison Avenue was experiencing phenomenal growth in sales, clients, employees, and services provided. The stress and strain on the firm's employees was considerable and threatened to jeopardize the high-quality, active-ad management for which the firm... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Growth Management; Service Operations; Digital Marketing; Business Processes; Advertising Industry

July 2018
Teaching Note

Ron Johnson: A Career in Retail

By: Ryan Raffaelli

In April 2013, Ron Johnson (HBS '84) stepped down after just 18 months as CEO of J.C. Penney. In his brief tenure, Johnson, an acclaimed retailer respected for his innovation and success in shaping the retail image at Target and Apple, introduced dramatic departures... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Leadership Development; Legal Industry; Procurement; Professional Service Firms; Pricing; Competition; Organizational Behavior; Change Management; Innovation Leadership; Situation or Environment; Failure; Management Teams; Brands and Branding; Retail Industry; United States

01 Feb 2000
News

Financial Services 24/7

efficiency has led to mergers," says Dwight Crane. "What were nine banks in Boston, Hartford, and Providence, for instance, is now one megabank. Firms now need to capture a larger share of each customer's business," Crane observes, noting... View Details

Keywords: Susan Young

March 2006
Background Note

Influencing Customer Behavior in Service Operations

By: Frances X. Frei and Amy C. Edmondson

Explores ways in which service firms can influence the behavior of their customers. Drawing from research on employee motivation and applying it to customer motivation, the note describes two levels of managerial control: instrumental control, which shapes behavior... View Details

Keywords: Customers; Governance Controls; Consumer Behavior; Service Operations; Emotions; Motivation and Incentives; Power and Influence; Service Industry

22 Oct 2007
Research & Ideas

Bringing ‘Lean’ Principles to Service Industries

Wipro Technologies, an Indian outsource provider of software services, launches its own lean initiative. "In terms of operations and improvements, the service industries in general are a long way behind manufacturing," Upton... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Computer

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

June 2004 (Revised July 2005)
Case

Procter & Gamble: Global Business Services

By: Thomas J. DeLong, Warren Brackin, Alex Cabanas, Phil Shellhammer and David L. Ager

Dave Walker, vice-president of business service opportunities and chairman of the governance team at Procter & Gamble, must decide what to do with P&G's 5,700 employee Global Business Services (GBS) group. GBS brought together internal services such as finance,... View Details

Keywords: Business Units; Change Management; Decision Making; Globalized Firms and Management; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Organizational Design

Teaching Interest

Investment Managment for Professional and Personal Investors

By: Luis M. Viceira

IMPPI is suitable for all students interested in gaining a broad perspective on investing and the asset management business, including those targeting careers in asset management and those interested in learning how to become sophisticated consumers of investment... View Details

05 Jul 2006
Working Paper Summaries

Why IT Matters in Midsized Firms

Keywords: by Marco Iansiti, George Favaloro, James Utzschneider & Greg Richards; Technology; Computer

September 2001 (Revised January 2002)
Case

The American Medical Association-Sunbeam Deal (C): Denouement

By: Ashish Nanda and Kimberly A. Haddad

On September 5, 1997, the American Medical Association(AMA) withdrew from a contract with Sunbeam Corporation, the maker of small home appliances. Sunbeam sued the AMA to pay for the damages or to comply with the contract. The fracas led to the dismissal of three top... View Details

Keywords: Medical Services; Appliances; Lawsuit; Litigation; Professionalism; Contracts; Corporate Accountability; Organizations; Lawsuits and Litigation; Consumer Products Industry; Health Industry; United States

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

April 2006 (Revised April 2008)
Course Overview Note

Managing Service Operations: Understanding the Customer Operating Role

By: Frances X. Frei

Describes Managing Service Operations: Understanding the Customer Operating Role, a second-year MBA course that consists of three modules. The first module, Conceptualizing the Customer Operating, explores the operational challenges and opportunites of managing... View Details

Keywords: Service Operations

2021
Working Paper

Proxy Advisory Firms and Corporate Shareholder Engagement

By: Aiyesha Dey, Joshua White and Austin Starkweather

We examine the influence of proxy advisors on firms’ shareholder engagement behavior. Our analyses exploit a quasi-natural experiment using Say-On-Pay voting outcomes near a threshold that triggers a review of engagement activities by Institutional Shareholder Services... View Details

Keywords: Proxy Advisors; ISS; Shareholder Engagement; Disclosure; Business and Shareholder Relations; Executive Compensation; Corporate Disclosure

SSRN

Read Now

December 2016
Supplement

Ron Johnson: A Career in Retail

By: Ryan Raffaelli, Joshua D. Margolis and Das Narayandas

This is a video supplement, to be used when teaching the Ron Johnson case. See abstract:

In April 2013, Ron Johnson (HBS '84) stepped down after just 18 months as CEO of J.C. Penney. In his brief tenure, Johnson, an acclaimed retailer respected for his... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Leadership Development; Legal Industry; Procurement; Professional Service Firms; Pricing; Competition; Organizational Behavior; Change Management; Innovation Leadership; Situation or Environment; Failure; Management Teams; Brands and Branding; Retail Industry; United States

23 Aug 2016
Working Paper Summaries

CEO Personality and Firm Policies

Keywords: by Ian D. Gow, Steven N. Kaplan, David F. Larcker, and Anastasia A. Zakolyukina; Financial Services

October 2006 (Revised October 2006)
Case

DLA Piper: Becoming a Global Firm

By: Jay W. Lorsch and Alexis Chernak

Focuses on DLA Piper, a global law firm resulting from the merger of the combined U.S. firm Piper Rudnick Gray Cary and the British firm DLA. At the time of the merger, the firms had similar strategies for the future and approaches to clients. While figuring out some... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Global Strategy; Leadership; Alignment; Expansion; Legal Services Industry; United States

Fast Answer

Managing Service Operations: Research resources for new service design

Where can I begin begin my research for the new service design exercise? The following are highly selected resources for MSO New Service Design exercise. Please contact Baker Library View Details

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