Break Your Addiction to Service Heroes
| Q&A with: | Frances X. Frei |
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| Published: | January 23, 2012 |
| Feature: | Research & Ideas |
| Forum: | open for comment; 8 Comments posted |
In their new book, Uncommon Service, coauthors Frances Frei and Anne Morriss show it is possible for organizations to reduce costs while dramatically enhancing customer service. The key? Don't try to be good at everything. Interview and book excerpt from HBS Alumni Bulletin.
Published in 2011
Charitable Giving When Altruism and Similarity Are Linked
| Author: | |
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| Published: | December 13, 2011 |
| Paper Release Date: | November 2011 |
| Feature: | Working Papers |
Harvard Business School professor Julio J. Rotemberg looks at what makes people decide to contribute to a charity. He focuses on two psychological factors: that people feel better about themselves when other people agree with them, and that people tend to be more charitable to other like-minded people.
Clay Christensen's Milkshake Marketing
| Published: | February 14, 2011 |
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| Feature: | Research & Ideas |
| Forum: | open for comment; 102 Comments posted |
About 95 percent of new products fail. The problem often is that their creators are using an ineffective market segmentation mechanism, according to HBS professor Clayton Christensen. It's time for companies to look at products the way customers do: as a way to get a job done.
Published in 2008
New Challenges in Leading Professional Services
| Q&A with: | Thomas J. DeLong |
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| Published: | January 22, 2008 |
| Feature: | Research & Ideas |
Professional service firms are being challenged as never before—by clients, associates, and the competition, just for starters. But old-style PSF leaders are not equipped to respond, says Harvard Business School professor Thomas J. DeLong. He discusses his new book When Professionals Have to Lead. Plus: Book excerpt.
Published in 2007
The Dark Side of Trust
| Q&A with: | Felix Oberholzer-Gee |
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| Published: | August 13, 2007 |
| Feature: | Research & Ideas |
It has been well documented that strong trust between a buyer and supplier provides many advantages, such as increased productivity. But according to new research coauthored by HBS professor Felix Oberholzer-Gee, trusting relationships can also have a negative side that managers must take into account.
Published in 2006
Racial Diversity Initiatives in Professional Service Firms: What Factors Differentiate Successful from Unsuccessful Initiatives?
| Authors: | Modupe Akinola and David A. Thomas |
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| Published: | October 18, 2006 |
| Paper Release Date: | September 2006 |
| Feature: | Working Papers |
What organizational factors are needed for racial diversity initiatives to succeed? While diversity continues to grow in importance in organizations, very little research has focused on the processes that underlie diversity management. Modupe Akinola and David A. Thomas propose a study intended to explore management initiatives that focus on racial diversity in professional service firms. Given that such firms rely on the high level of skills, expertise, and diverse perspectives offered by their professional staff, these firms may be ideal laboratories for examining diversity initiatives.
How Important Is the "Service Sector Effect" on Productivity?
| Published: | May 29, 2006 |
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| Feature: | What Do YOU Think? |
| Forum: | closed | 16 Comments posted |
In the cost-driven U.S. service economy, are worker benefits being sacrificed in the name of lower-cost services to customers? Are these social costs more than offset by the benefits of job creation, the consumption stimulus that spurs job creation, and lower unemployment?
When Benchmarks Don't Work
| Published: | January 9, 2006 |
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| Feature: | Research & Ideas |
Benchmarks have their virtues, but professor Robert S. Kaplan argues they should be saved for surveys of commoditized processes or services. From Balanced Scorecard Report.
Published in 2005
Rethinking Marketing's Conventional Wisdom
| Q&A with: | Youngme Moon |
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| Published: | January 31, 2005 |
| Feature: | Research & Ideas |
Making advertising hard to find is just one way companies are rewriting conventional marketing strategies, says Harvard Business School professor Youngme Moon.
Published in 2003
Web Services
| Published: | February 3, 2003 |
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| Feature: | Research & Ideas |
Web services are being touted as the latest, greatest technologies. So late, in fact, they aren't even on most of the general public's radar yet. And so great that they just may jumpstart the sluggish tech market.
