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    Service OperationsRemove Service Operations →

    New research on service operations from Harvard Business School faculty on issues including bringing "lean" principles to service industries, and how to build a better call center.
    Page 1 of 13 Results
    • 31 Mar 2022
    • Op-Ed

    Navigating the ‘Bermuda Triangle’ in Professional Services

    by Ashish Nanda

    Not all companies need to scale. Ashish Nanda explores a crucial choice that leaders of professional services firms face as their organizations grow. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

    • 09 Oct 2020
    • Working Paper Summaries

    Where the Cloud Rests: The Economic Geography of Data Centers

    by Shane Greenstein and Tommy Pan Fang

    This study quantifies how data center managers make a trade-off between the setup and operational costs of running a facility and capturing local demand.

    • 20 Aug 2020
    • Working Paper Summaries

    Can Shared Service Delivery Increase Customer Engagement? A Study of Shared Medical Appointments

    by Ryan W. Buell, Kamalini Ramdas, and Nazlı Sönmez

    Shared service delivery means that customers are served in groups rather than individually. Results from a large-scale study of glaucoma follow-up appointments at a major eye hospital indicate that shared service delivery can significantly improve patients’ verbal and non-verbal engagement.

    • 25 May 2020
    • Research & Ideas

    Has Occupational Licensing Outlived Its Usefulness?

    by Martha Lagace

    A recent study shows that consumers do not value occupational licensing of their contractors or the higher prices they charge. Research by Chiara Farronato. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

    • 21 Aug 2019
    • Working Paper Summaries

    Improving Customer Compatibility with Operational Transparency

    by Ryan W. Buell and MoonSoo Choi

    Service firms seeking prospective customers usually highlight the advantages of their offerings and downplay the tradeoffs. This study suggests a different approach: Provide transparency into advantages as well as tradeoffs. The transparency helps customers make informed decisions and can lead to better outcomes for both firms and customers over the long run.

    • 25 Mar 2019
    • Research & Ideas

    The Secret Life of Supply Chains

    by Michael Blanding

    While US policymakers and politicians focus on reviving the manufacturing sector, Mercedes Delgado and Karen Mills unearth a source of better jobs hidden in plain sight. Call it the supply chain economy. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

    • 14 May 2018
    • Research & Ideas

    Amazon vs. Whole Foods: When Cultures Collide

    by Michael Blanding

    Amazon's acquisition of Whole Foods seemed a Wall Street dream come true. But then Amazon's data-driven efficiency met the customer-driven culture at Whole Foods—and the shelves began to empty. Dennis Campbell and Tatiana Sandino discuss their new case study. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

    • 02 Feb 2018
    • Working Paper Summaries

    Last Place Aversion in Queues

    by Ryan W. Buell

    While no one likes standing in line for service, being last intensifies the pain of waiting, doubles the probability of switching queues, and quadruples the chances of leaving the line altogether. Many service settings could be improved if managers actively mitigated last place aversion.

    • 23 Sep 2009
    • Working Paper Summaries

    Operational Failures and Problem Solving: An Empirical Study of Incident Reporting

    by Julia Adler-Milstein, Sara J. Singer & Michael W. Toffel

    Operational failures occur within organizations across all industries, with consequences ranging from minor inconveniences to major catastrophes. How can managers encourage frontline workers to solve problems in response to operational failures? In the health-care industry, the setting for this study, operational failures occur often, and some are reported to voluntary incident reporting systems that are meant to help organizations learn from experience. Using data on nearly 7,500 reported incidents from a single hospital, the researchers found that problem-solving in response to operational failures is influenced by both the risk posed by the incident and the extent to which management demonstrates a commitment to problem-solving. Findings can be used by organizations to increase the contribution of incident reporting systems to operational performance improvement. Key concepts include: Operational failures that trigger more financial and liability risks are associated with more frontline worker problem-solving. By communicating the importance of problem-solving and engaging in problem-solving themselves, line managers can stimulate increased problem-solving among frontline workers. Even without managers' regular engagement in problem-solving, communication about its importance can promote more problem-solving among frontline workers. By explaining some of the variation in responsiveness to operational failures, this study empowers managers to adjust their approach to stimulate more problem-solving among frontline workers. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.

    • 10 Jan 2008
    • Sharpening Your Skills

    Sharpening Your Skills: Operations Management

    Closed for comment; 0 Comments.

    • 22 Oct 2007
    • Research & Ideas

    Bringing ‘Lean’ Principles to Service Industries

    by Julia Hanna

    Toyota and other top manufacturing companies have embraced, improved, and profited by lean production methods. But the payoffs have not been nearly as dramatic for service industries applying lean principles. HBS professor David Upton and doctoral student Bradley Staats look at the experience of Indian software services provider Wipro for answers. Key concepts include: In terms of operations and improvements, the service industries in general are a long way behind manufacturing. Not all lean manufacturing ideas translate from factory floor to office cubicle. A lean operating system alters the way a company learns through changes in problem solving, coordination through connections, and pathways and standardization. Successful lean operations at Wipro involved a small rollout, reducing hierarchies, continuous improvement, sharing mistakes, and specialized tools. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.

    • 22 Aug 2005
    • Research & Ideas

    The Hard Work of Failure Analysis

    by Amy Edmondson & Mark D. Cannon

    We all should learn from failure—but it's difficult to do so objectively. In this excerpt from "Failing to Learn and Learning to Fail (Intelligently)" in Long Range Planning Journal, HBS professor Amy Edmondson and coauthor Mark Cannon offer a process for analyzing what went wrong. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.

    • 11 Jan 2000
    • Research & Ideas

    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.

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