Publications

20 Feb 2019
News

Operational Transparency

Sep 2017
Report

Why Competition in the Politics Industry is Failing America

At a time of high dissatisfaction and distrust with the U.S. political system, Michael E. Porter and co-author Katherine M. Gehl use the lens of industry competition to determine why politics in America fails to deliver results for the average American. Applying the... View Details

Research Summary

Entrepreneurship in Education Reform

This work explores two questions in the US public education system. First, is there a correlation between improved leadership and management practices and increased student outcomes? And second, can the introduction of market forces such as customer choice among... View Details

January–February 2013
Article

Will Our Partner Steal Our IP?

By: Willy C. Shih and Jyun-Cheng Wang

This fictionalized case looks at the spillover of intellectual property (IP) from a critical component supplier to an original equipment maker in the Chinese auto industry. What are the challenges to holding on to proprietary know-how when a customer wishes to use... View Details

Keywords: Intellectual Property Management; Intellectual Property; Auto Industry; Electronics Industry; China; Taiwan

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July–August 2014
Article

How 'Brand Tourists' Can Grow Sales

By: Silvia Bellezza and Anat Keinan

The article discusses how exclusive brands can increase their sales by moving "downmarket" without diminishing their prestige or alienating existing customers. The authors suggest various ways to cater to new, non-core customers in a way that differentiates the... View Details

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21 Nov 2021
News

Say My Name

27 Mar 2017
News

How Companies Can Benefit More From Their Corporate Giving

29 Mar 2012
News

Culture at 30,000 Feet Above Ground

04 Mar 2016
News

Startups Can’t Revolve Around Their Founders If They Want to Succeed

November 1990
Case

Techsonic Industries, Inc.: Humminbird - New Products

By: Melvyn A. Menezes

After several new product failures, the company began using customer input to help develop new products. In 1989, the fishing electronics industry is experiencing a downturn, and the company's sales and profits are slipping. The company, which has one product line... View Details

Keywords: Customer Value and Value Chain; Marketing Reference Programs; Product Development; Electronics Industry

August 2017 (Revised May 2019)
Case

Hilti (A): Fleet Management?

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Oliver Gassmann and Roman Sauer

This case explores the strategic decision-making process of premium power tools manufacturer Hilti in 1999, when the company was considering implementing a fleet management system in the construction industry. Fleet management would involve a shift from selling power... View Details

22 Nov 2016
First Look

November 22, 2016

popularity of carryout orders, which poses a threat to the service experiences of customers and the sustainability of the operation. Purchase this case: https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/product/617011-PDF-ENG Harvard Business School Case... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

14 Apr 2015
First Look

First Look: April 14

considers the challenge of how an organization, with a standardized service model, can repeatedly delight customers whose expectations grow with every interaction. To explore this question, the case details the design elements of Oberoi's... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Anthony Mayo

Tony Mayo is the Thomas S. Murphy Senior Lecturer of Business Administration and C. Roland Christensen Distinguished Management Educator in the Organizational Behavior Unit of Harvard Business School (HBS). He currently teaches and serves as the course head for... View Details

Keywords: advertising; airline; education industry; nonprofit industry; publishing industry; service industry

April 2008
Module Note

Improvement with Customer-Operators

By: Frances X. Frei and Dennis Campbell

Taught as the third module in a Harvard Business School course on Managing Service Operations: Understanding the Customer Operating Role (606-092). Explores how firms can systematically leverage their customer-operators in the organizational improvement process is... View Details

Keywords: Service Operations; Performance Improvement; Customer Focus and Relationships; Framework; Employees; Business Model; Management Practices and Processes; Organizational Design

March 2011
Case

Insight Communications

By: Rajiv Lal and Natalie Kindred

After undertaking a multi-year, metrics-driven operational and cultural overhaul, in April 2010 Insight Communications was planning the next phase of its development. Insight was a New York-based provider of cable, landline phone, and high-speed Internet service to... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Culture; Competitive Strategy; Management Practices and Processes; Performance Improvement; Growth Management; Management Systems; Business Processes; Measurement and Metrics; Employees; Telecommunications Industry; New York (state, US)

2012
Working Paper

Do Market Leaders Lead in Business Process Innovation? The Case(s) of E-Business Adoption

By: Kristina S. McElheran

This paper explores the relationship between market position and business process innovation. Prior research has focused on the alignment between new technologies and the internal capabilities of firms to pursue them. I extend the investigation to include external... View Details

Keywords: Investment; Technological Innovation; Leadership; Business Processes; Behavior; Motivation and Incentives; Technology Adoption; Manufacturing Industry; United States

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June 1998 (Revised September 1998)
Case

Case for Brand Loyalty, A

Brand loyalty is one of the core concepts of the marketing discipline that has enjoyed practical and academic attention for over 75 years. The era of relationship marketing, with its focus on retaining customers for life, has instilled yet greater interest in the... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Behavior; Brands and Branding

May 2018
Article

Effects of an Information Sharing System on Employee Creativity, Engagement, and Performance

By: Shelley Xin Li and Tatiana Sandino

Many service organizations rely on information sharing systems to boost employee creativity to meet customer needs. We conducted a field experiment in a retail chain, based on a registered report accepted by Journal of Accounting Research, to test whether an... View Details

Keywords: Information; Knowledge Sharing; Employees; Creativity; Performance