Operations
READ THESE FIRST:
Deep Change: How Operational Innovation Can Transform Your Company
Technology & Operations
Magazine Article
Customer Intimacy, Meet Operational Excellence
Health
Digital Article
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Why the Future of E-Commerce Depends on Better Roads
Transportation Digital ArticleYour Amazon box is stuck in traffic. -
Joint Ventures Reduce the Risk of Major Capital Investments
Operations management Digital ArticleAlternative models for big-ticket items. -
Priceline's CEO on Creating an In-house Multilingual Customer Service Operation
Leadership & Managing People Magazine ArticleToday, the author writes, business can be conducted in English almost anywhere in the developed world, possibly excepting Japan. But when you build or... -
Can You Cut "Turn Times" Without Adding Staff? (HBR Case Study)
Leadership & Managing People Magazine ArticleThe president of RSA Ground, the subsidiary of Rising Sun Airlines responsible for servicing its planes at airports across Japan, goes undercover as a... -
Revolutionizing Customer Service
Sales & Marketing Magazine ArticleMany companies want to raise their level of customer service--but how? The typical response is to rewrite frontline employees' scripts and conduct pilot... -
Can You Cut "Turn Times" Without Adding Staff? (HBR Case Study and Commentary)
Leadership & Managing People Magazine ArticleThe president of RSA Ground, the subsidiary of Rising Sun Airlines responsible for servicing its planes at airports across Japan, goes undercover as a... -
Why Doctors Shouldn’t Be Afraid of Online Reviews
Customer service ResearchThey’re good for medicine and for business. -
Companies That Don’t Manage Utilities Strategically Are Throwing Money Away
Sustainability Digital ArticleAppointing a Chief Utility Officer can help. -
A Refresher on Internal Rate of Return
Financial analysis Digital ArticleUnderstand this commonly used way to calculate ROI. -
The Upside of Automating Part of Your Job
Machines will do the things you didn't want to do anyway. -
The Best Way to Improve Health Care Delivery Is with a Small, Dedicated Team
Innovation Digital ArticleIt may sound boring, but it works. - SPONSOR CONTENT FROM DISNEY INSTITUTE
Learning from the Front Lines of Customer Service
Leadership Sponsor ContentSponsor Content from Disney Institute. -
The Best Luxury Services Are Customized, Not Standardized
Customer service Digital ArticleYou can’t rely on a checklist. - SPONSOR CONTENT FROM DISNEY INSTITUTE
Know the Difference between Customer Service and Customer Experience
Customer service Sponsor ContentSponsor Content from Disney Institute. -
Reigniting Growth
Operations Magazine ArticleHow to reverse a sudden slowdown. -
The CEO of Rio Tinto on Managing in a Hypercyclical Industry
Strategy & Execution Magazine ArticleDuring the 2000s, in one of the largest commodity booms in history, Rio Tinto allowed itself to be swept up along with other mining companies in the mad... -
The Other Disruption
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Magazine ArticleMost managers are well versed in the defensive playbook for confronting disruptive innovation. Most commonly, they either acquire the new entrants or... -
Two Digital Myths That Trip Up the C-Suite
Organizational culture Digital ArticleAnd what to do instead. -
This Coalition of 20 Companies Thinks It Can Change U.S. Health Care
Human resource management Digital ArticleHere’s what it should focus on. - SPONSOR CONTENT FROM DISNEY INSTITUTE
What If You Can’t Give Customers What They Want?
Customer service Sponsor ContentSponsor Content from Disney Institute.
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Reigniting Growth
Operations Magazine ArticleHow to reverse a sudden slowdown. -
Revolutionizing Customer Service
Sales & Marketing Magazine ArticleMany companies want to raise their level of customer service--but how? The typical response is to rewrite frontline employees' scripts and conduct pilot... -
Reinventing Performance Management
Organizational Development Magazine ArticleLike many other companies, Deloitte realized that its system for evaluating the work of employees--and then training them, promoting them, and paying... -
Design Thinking Comes of Age
Organizational Development Magazine ArticleIn large organizations, design is moving closer to the center of the enterprise. This shift isn't about aesthetics and product development, however. It's... -
Decoding the DNA of the Toyota Production System (HBR OnPoint Enhanced Edition)
Technology & Operations Magazine ArticleThe Toyota Production System is a paradox. On the one hand, every activity, connection, and production flow in a Toyota factory is rigidly scripted. Yet... -
The Strategy That Will Fix Health Care
Strategy Magazine ArticleProviders must lead the way in making value the overarching goal -
Why the Future of E-Commerce Depends on Better Roads
Transportation Digital ArticleYour Amazon box is stuck in traffic. -
Leading Change: Why Transformation Efforts Fail (HBR Bestseller)
Leadership & Managing People HBR BestsellerBusinesses hoping to survive over the long term will have to remake themselves into better competitors at least once along the way. These efforts have... -
The Truth About Customer Experience
Sales & Marketing Magazine ArticleCompanies have long emphasized touchpoints--the many critical moments when customers interact with the organization on their way to purchase and after.... -
Competing on Customer Journeys
Sales & Marketing Magazine ArticleAs digital technology has enabled shoppers to easily research and buy products online, sellers have been scrambling after them, trying to understand and... -
The Most Common Mistake People Make In Calculating ROI
Financial analysis Digital ArticleProfit is not the same as cash. -
Stop Trying to Delight Your Customers
Sales & Marketing Magazine ArticleThe notion that companies must go above and beyond in their customer service activities is so entrenched that managers rarely examine it. But a study... -
No-Nonsense Guide to Measuring Productivity
Strategy & Execution Magazine ArticleAn essential step in improving productivity is measuring it appropriately. But managers have trouble working with the experts who design and implement... -
Power of Virtual Integration: An Interview with Dell Computer's Michael Dell (HBR OnPoint Enhanced Edition)
Strategy & Execution Magazine ArticleThis interview offers a deeper look inside Dell's highly publicized success and offers managers a model of how traditional relationships in a value chain... -
The Globalization of Markets
Costs Magazine ArticleMany companies have become disillusioned with sales in the international marketplace as old markets become saturated and new ones must be found. How can they customize products for the demands of new markets? Which items will consumers want? With wily international competitors breathing down their necks, many organizations think that the game just isn’t worth […] -
Values in Tension: Ethics Away from Home
Global Business Magazine ArticleWhat should managers working abroad do when they encounter business practices that seem unethical? Should they, in the spirit of cultural relativism,... -
Customer Intimacy and Other Value Disciplines
Operations management Magazine ArticleThree paths to market leadership. -
Putting the Service-Profit Chain to Work
Financial management Magazine ArticleEditor’s Note: This article sets out a simple, elegant, and ultimately tough-minded way to build profitability in a service business. Originally published in 1994, it offers as much today as it did then and is a perennial best seller. ♦ UPDATE: Learn about companies that are applying this timeless advice today. Top-level executives of outstanding […] -
Six Myths of Product Development
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Magazine ArticleMany companies approach product development as if it were manufacturing, trying to control costs and improve quality by applying zero-defect, efficiency-focused... -
Office of Strategy Management
Strategy & Execution Magazine ArticleThere is a disconnect in most companies between strategy formulation and strategy execution. On average, 95% of a company's employees are unaware of,...
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Starbucks: Delivering Customer Service
Sales & Marketing Case Study8.95Starbucks, the dominant specialty-coffee brand in North America, must respond to recent market research indicating that the company is not meeting customer... -
HBR Guide to Project Management Ebook + Tools
Strategy & Execution Book79.95On the hook to lead a big project? Your job just got easier. Save time and effort with HBR's Guide to Project Management Ebook + Tools. Whether you're... -
Creating Business Plans (HBR 20-Minute Manager Series)
Strategy & Execution Book12.95A well-crafted business plan generates enthusiasm for your idea and boosts your odds of success--whether you're proposing a new initiative within your... -
HBR Tools: After-Action Reviews
29.95Want to get it right from the start? Learn how to successfully mitigate risks in your current and future projects through open communication between stakeholders... -
Design Thinking and Innovation at Apple
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Case Study8.95Describes Apple's approach to innovation, management, and design thinking. For several years, Apple has been ranked as the most innovative company in... -
GE's Two-Decade Transformation: Jack Welch's Leadership
Leadership & Managing People Case Study8.95GE is faced with Jack Welch's impending retirement and whether anyone can sustain the blistering pace of change and growth characteristic of the Welch... -
Toyota Motor Manufacturing, U.S.A., Inc.
Technology & Operations Case Study8.95On May 1, 1992, Doug Friesen, manager of assembly for Toyota's Georgetown, Kentucky, plant, faces a problem with the seats installed in the plant's sole... -
Commerce Bank
Technology & Operations Case Study8.95Commerce Bank has become one of the fastest growing banks in the country, despite having defied conventional wisdom about how to grow deposits. Banks... -
HBR's 20-Minute Manager Ebook Boxed Set (10 Books)
110.00You'll get up to speed fast on the most essential business skills with this set of concise, practical primers. "Finance Basics" explains the fundamentals... -
HBR Guide to Project Management
Strategy & Execution Book19.95MEET YOUR GOALS--ON TIME AND ON BUDGET. How do you rein in the scope of your project when you've got a group of demanding stakeholders breathing down... -
Medisys Corp.: The IntensCare Product Development Team
Organizational Development Case Study8.95Key topics include designing teams, managing teams, managing conflict, group dynamics, project management, product development, interdepartmental relations,... -
Mastering Project Management Collection 2nd Edition
Leadership & Managing People Special Offer59.00How many projects in your organization have come in on time and on budget? Are you panicking because you've been asked to lead a project and are not sure... -
IDEO Product Development
Technology & Operations Case Study14.00Describes IDEO, the world's leading product design firm, and its innovation culture and process. Emphasis is placed on the important role of prototyping... -
Applichem (A) (Abridged)
Technology & Operations Case Study8.95Applichem manufactures the same chemical product in four plants, each of which is located in a different country. The company has completed a major study... -
ZARA: Fast Fashion
Strategy & Execution Case Study8.95Focuses on Inditex, an apparel retailer from Spain, which has set up an extremely quick response system for its ZARA chain. Instead of predicting months... -
Netflix
Strategy & Execution Case Study8.95Reed Hastings founded Netflix with a vision to provide a home movie service that would do a better job satisfying customers than the traditional retail... -
Henry Tam and the MGI Team
Leadership & Managing People Case Study8.95Within a short time frame, seven diverse team members assemble to write a business plan for a new company and struggle to define their roles, make decisions... -
Cirque du Soleil
Organizational Development Case Study8.95Retaining talent is an issue for any company whose success relies on the creativity and excellence of its employees. This is especially true for Cirque... -
Shouldice Hospital Ltd.
Technology & Operations Case Study8.95Various proposals are set forth for expanding the capacity of the hospital. In assessing them, serious consideration has to be given to the culture of... -
IKEA's Global Sourcing Challenge: Indian Rugs and Child Labor (A)
Technology & Operations Case Study8.95Traces the history of IKEA's response to a TV report that its Indian carpet suppliers were using child labor. Describes IKEA's growth, including the importance...