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A World of Difference: What Keeps Companies from Becoming More Inclusive

by Jen McFarland Flint

Inclusion can unlock excellence and innovation, but instincts and good intentions will never get you there. In this interview, Frances Frei and Francesca Gino explore the underlying factors that keep organizations from becoming more inclusive. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Key to Doing Your Best at Work? Be Yourself

by Christina Pazzanese, Harvard Gazette

Hiding your quirks and opinions won't get you ahead. 'Badass' leaders bring their bold, authentic selves to work, without apology, says Francesca Gino. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

It’s Not About You: Why Leaders Need to Look Outward

by Kristen Senz

By unleashing the full potential of their teams, leaders increase safety and inclusion in the workplace. Co-author Frances Frei discusses her new book, "Unleashed." Open for comment; 0 Comments.

That's Classic: Modern-Day Business Lessons from Ancient Rome

by Julia Hanna

What can MBAs learn from the Roman emperors Tiberius and Claudius? All Roads Lead to Rome, a course taught by HBS professor Frances Frei and Harvard history and classics professor Emma Dench, surfaces insights into the age-old issue of leadership. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Bringing "Moneyball" to the NBA

Re: Frances X. Frei

Are people better off as a result of your presence? Leadership lessons from basketball, the ultimate team sport. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Excellence Comes From Saying No

by Michael Blanding

In a new course designed by Frances Frei and Amy Schulman, business and law students help each other define and achieve their own interpretations of success. Lesson one: You can't be great at everything. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Sharpening Your Skills: Understanding Customers

Re: Multiple Faculty

In these previous articles, professors discuss a range of topics about customers: why they are not always right; understanding their motivations; providing them dramatically enhanced services; and making things right when you don't meet their expectations. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Break Your Addiction to Service Heroes

by Deborah Blagg

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. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.

What Loyalty? High-End Customers are First to Flee

by Julia Hanna

Companies offering top-drawer customer service might have a nasty surprise awaiting them when a new competitor comes to town. Their best customers might be the first to defect. Research by Harvard Business School's Ryan W. Buell, Dennis Campbell, and Frances X. Frei. Key concepts include: Companies that offer high levels of customer service can't expect too much loyalty if a new competitor offers even better service. High-end businesses must avoid complacency and continue to proactively increase relative service levels when they're faced with even the potential threat of increased service competition. Even though high-end customers can be fickle, a company that sustains a superior service position in its local market can attract and retain customers who are more valuable over time. Firms rated lower in service quality are more or less immune from the high-end challenger. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.

How Do Incumbents Fare in the Face of Increased Service Competition?

by Ryan W. Buell, Dennis Campbell & Frances X. Frei

Companies that compete by offering a high level of service are particularly vulnerable to lose customers—even longtime customers—when competitive entrants offer increased service levels, according to new research in the retail banking industry by Ryan W. Buell, Dennis Campbell, and Frances X. Frei, all of Harvard Business School. The good news for providers of high-touch service is that if they can sustain the service advantage over time, they could be rewarded with higher value customers. Key concepts include: Incumbents offering high quality service attract and retain customers who are disproportionately service sensitive and systematically vulnerable to competitors offering superior service. It is the high quality incumbent's most valuable customers—those with the longest tenure, most products, and highest balances—who are the most vulnerable to superior service alternatives. Conversely, when the incumbent fails to maintain a high service position within the market, its customers are vulnerable to competitors offering inferior service but lower prices. Firms that make the strategic decision not to compete on service may not need to be concerned about the entry or expansion of competitors offering superior service. A long-run implication is that incumbents that can sustain a high level of service relative to local competitors will be able to attract and retain higher value customers over time. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.

How Magazine Luiza Courts the Poor

by Julia Hanna

Brazilian retailer Magazine Luiza has developed an innovative strategy for selling to the poor, combining technology with great service that please both customers and employees. The question of how the company can grow without sacrificing the special qualities that have made it successful is at the heart of a case study developed by Harvard Business School professor Frances X. Frei. Key concepts include: The case "Magazine Luiza: Building a Retail Model of 'Courting the Poor'" looks at the Brazilian retailer's innovative approach to selling to the poor. Magazine Luiza sells a mix of furniture, consumer electronics, and white goods. The retailer's flexible procedure for credit approval employs nontraditional metrics, which enables customers with lower, less easily established incomes to make purchases. Students who discuss the case in the HBS classroom must assess the viability of Magazine Luiza's acquisition of another Brazilian retailer and consider future growth initiatives. Can the company retain the qualities that have made it special to both customers and employees? Closed for comment; 0 Comments.

Your Customers: Use Them or Lose Them

by Martha Lagace

Companies can differentiate on service profitably, says HBS professor Frances X. Frei. Here's how a new-thinking bank, insurance provider, and software company are using customer power to win. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.

Calling All Managers: How to Build a Better Call Center

by Martha Lagace

Once viewed simply as low-cost channels for resolving customer concerns, call centers are increasingly seen as powerful service delivery mechanisms and even as generators of revenue. Research by HBS Professor Frances X. Frei and her colleagues Ann Evenson and Patrick T. Harker of the Wharton School points toward new ways of making them work. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.