Discussion questions for all assigned readings and cases can be found in the Assignments section of this course. Students must read all the assigned case studies, but are required to complete write-ups for only three of their choosing. A list of optional reading materials can be found in the Syllabus.
| SES # | TOPICS | READINGS |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Introduction to service operations |
Frei, Frances. "Breaking the Trade-off Between Efficiency and Service." Harvard Business Review 84, no. 11 (2006): 92-101. Case Sasser Jr, W. Earl, and John R. Klug. "Benihana of Tokyo." Harvard Business School Case. Harvard Business School Publishing. Case: 9-673-057, Rev. July 10, 2004. |
| 2 | Process design: Order fulfillment |
Pink, Daniel H. "Who Has the Next Big Idea?" Fast Company Magazine, August 31, 2001. Hammer, Michael. "The Process Enterprise: An Executive Perspective." Hammer and Company, June 2001. Case McAfee, Andrew. "Pharmacy Service Improvement at CVS (A)." Harvard Business School Case. Harvard Business School Publishing. Case: 9-606-015, Rev. October 20, 2006. |
| 3 | The role of the employee in service operations |
Hemp, Paul. "My Week as a Room-Service Waiter at the Ritz." Harvard Business Review 80, no. 6 (2002). Case Sucher, Sandra J., and Stacy McManus. "The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company." Harvard Business School Case. Harvard Business School Publishing. Case: 9-601-163, Rev. July 11, 2002. |
| 4 | The role of the customer |
Frei, Frances X. "The Four Things a Service Business Must Get Right." Harvard Business Review 86, no. 4 (2008): 70-80. Case Frei, Frances X. "Zipcar: Influencing Customer Behavior." Harvard Business School Case. Harvard Business School Publishing. Case: 9-605-054, Rev. June 30, 2005. |
| 5 | Refining retail business models |
Cases Upton, David M. "McDonald's Corporation (Abridged)." Harvard Business School Case. Harvard Business School Publishing. Case: 9-603-041, Rev. June 16, 2005. Moon, Youngme, and John A. Quelch. "Starbucks: Delivering Customer Service." Harvard Business School Case. Harvard Business School Publishing. Case: 9-504-016, Rev. Februrary 3, 2004. |
| 6 | Clockspeed and disruptions |
 Fine, Charles H. Clockspeed: Winning Industry Control in the Age of Temporary Advantage. Basic Books, 1999. ISBN: 9780738201535. |
| 7 | Disruptive service models |
Case Heskett, James L., and Early Sasser Jr. "Southwest Airlines: In a Different World." Harvard Business School Case. Harvard Business School Publishing. Case: 9-910-419, Rev. June 15, 2010. |
| 8 | Process design: Health care systems |
Spear, Steven J. "Fixing Health Care from the Inside, Today." Harvard Business Review 83, no. 9 (2005). Case Hallowell, Roger, and James L. Heskett. "Shouldice Hospital Limited (Abridged)." Harvard Business School Case. Harvard Business School Publishing. Case: 9-805-002, Rev. January 21, 2005. |
| 9 | Service operations frameworks I | Bitran, Gabriel R., and Maureen Lojo. "A Framework for Analyzing Service Operations." European Management Journal 11, no. 3 (1993): 271-282. |
| 10 | Service operations frameworks II | |
| 11 | Retailing and logistics capabilities I |
Lee, Hau. "The Triple-A Supply Chain." Harvard Business Review 82, no. 10 (2004): 102-112. Case Chopra, Sunil. "Seven-Eleven Japan Co." Kellogg School of Management Case. Case: KEL-026, Rev. February 14, 2005. |
| 12 | Retailing and logistics capabilities II |
Cases Bradley, Stephen P., Pankaj Ghemawat, and Sharon Foley. "Wal-Mart Stores, Inc." Harvard Business School Case. Harvard Business School Publishing. Case: 9-794-024, Rev. November 6, 2002. Rosegrant, Susan. "Wal-mart's Response to Hurricane Katrina: Striving for a Public-Private Partnership." Harvard Kennedy School Case. Harvard Kennedy School Case Program. Case: C16-07-1876.0, August 28, 2007. |
| 13 | Employee involvement and data mining |
Case Ton, Zeynep. "IBM Retail Business Assessment at Dillard's, Inc.: Managing Staffing Levels to Improve Conversion." Harvard Business School Case. Harvard Business School Publishing. Case: 9-610-051, February 26, 2010. |
| 14 | The last ten yards of supply chain delivery |
Case Ton, Zeynep, and Simon Harrow. "Mercadona." Harvard Business School Case. Harvard Business School Publishing. Case: 9-610-089, Rev. April 14, 2010. |
| 15 | Consumer insurance |
Loveman, Gary. "Diamonds in the Data Mine." Harvard Business Review 81, no. 5 (2003): 109-113. Case Frei, Francis X. "Innovation at Progressive (A): Pay-As-You-Go Insurance." Harvard Business School Case. Harvard Business School Publishing. Case: 9-602-175, Rev. April 29, 2004. |
| 16 | Internet as disruptive vs. sustaining |
Cases Farhoomand, Ali, and Minyi Huang. "Citibank's e-Business Strategy for Global Corporate Banking." Harvard Business School Case. Harvard Business School Publishing. Case: HKU797, October 24, 2008. Burgelman, Robert A., and Philip Meza. "The Charles Schwab Corporation in 2007: Fixing and Redefining the Core Business." Stanford Graduate School of Business Case. Case: SM-35C, January 03, 2008. |
| 17 | Business-to-Business (B2B) supply chain platforms |
Magretta, Joan. "Fast, Global, & Entrepreneurial: Supply Chain Management, Hong Kong Style." Harvard Business Review 76, no. 5 (1998): 102-114. Eisenmann, Thomas, Geoffrey Parker, and Marshall W. Van Alstyne. "Strategies for Two-sided Markets." Harvard Business Review 82 (2006). Case Wulf, Julie M. "Alibaba Group." Harvard Business School Case. Harvard Business School Publishing. Case: 9-710-436, Rev. April 26, 2010. |
| 18 | Information technology outsourcing and consulting |
Case Burgelman, Robert A., and Aneesha Capur. "Infosys Consulting in 2006: Leading the Next Generation of Business and Information Technology Consulting." Stanford Graduate School of Business Case. Case: SM-151, May 16, 2006. |
| 19 | Web services, cloud computing and digital media |
Overby, Stephanie. "The End of IT Outsourcing As We Know It." CIO, August 11, 2010. Case Huckman, Robert S., Gary P. Pisano, and Liz Kind. "Amazon Web Services." Harvard Business School Case. Harvard Business School Publishing. Case: 9-609-048, October 20, 2008. |
| 20 | Disruptions and servicization in the auto industry |
Watch: CBS. "Making the World a 'Better Place'." March 19, 2009. YouTube. Accessed February 10, 2011. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXfqGL3C2uI&NR=1&feature=fvwp. TEDtalksDirector. "Shai Agassi: A Bold Plan for Mass Adoption of Electric Cars." April 13, 2009. YouTube. Accessed February 10, 2011. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcoJt2KLC9k&feature=related |
| 21 | Homebuilding: A complex network of services | |
| 22 | Supply chain systems: Social responsibility |
Cases Bartlett, Christopher A., Vincent Dessain, and Anders Sjoman. "IKEA's Global Sourcing Challenge: Indian Rugs and Child Labor (A)." Harvard Business School Case. Harvard Business School Publishing. Case: 9-906-414, May 3, 2006. ———. "IKEA's Global Sourcing Challenge: Indian Rugs and Child Labor (B)." Harvard Business School Case. Harvard Business School Publishing. Case: 9-906-415, May 3, 2006. |
| 23 | Organizational change; Government services |
Case Edmondson, Amy C. and Frances X. Frei. "Transformation at the IRS." Harvard Business School Case. Harvard Business School Publishing. Case: 9-603-010, Rev. November 12, 2002. |
| 24 | Student project presentations and wrap-up |