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• Case | HBS Case Collection | 2013

  Zappos.com 2009: Clothing, Customer Service, and Company Culture (MM)

  Frances X. Frei and Robin J. Ely

  On July 17, 2009, Zappos.com, a privately-held online retailer of shoes, clothing, and other soft-line retail categories, learned that Amazon.com, a $19 billion multinational online retailer, had won its Board of Directors' approval to offer to merge the two companies. Amazon had been courting Zappos since 2005, hoping a merger would enable Amazon to expand and strengthen its market share in soft-line retail categories. While Amazon's interest intrigued Zappos' senior executives, they had not felt the time was right—until now. Amazon's offer—10 million shares of stock (valued at $807 million), $40 million in cash, restricted stock units for Zappos' employees, and a promise that Zappos could operate as an independent subsidiary—was on the table. Zappos' financial advisor, Morgan Stanley, estimated the future equity value of an IPO to be between $650 million and $905 million; this estimate skewed the Amazon offer—at least in financial terms—toward the high end of Zappos' estimated market value. Hsieh and Lin, Zappos' CEO and COO, respectively, knew that much of Zappos' growth, and hence its value, had been due to the company's strong culture and obsessive emphasis on customer service. In 2009, they were focusing on the three C's—clothing, customer service, and company culture—the keys to the company's continued growth. Hsieh and Lin had only a few days to consider whether to recommend the merger to Zappos' board at their July 21 meeting.

  Citation:

  Frei, Frances X., and Robin J. Ely. "Zappos.com 2009: Clothing, Customer Service, and Company Culture (MM)." Harvard Business School Video Case 612-701, January 2013.

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• Case | HBS Case Collection | 2012

  Pret A Manger

  Frances X. Frei, Rick Goldberg and Stephanie van Sice

  Pret A Manger, a London-based chain of sandwich shops, was known for its fast, genuine service and pre-packaged sandwiches prepared on-site daily. Instructed by its board to grow at 15 percent per year, Pret considered opening "twin" shops in locations too small to contain kitchens; these shops would receive sandwich deliveries throughout the day from a nearby "parent" shop. Would Pret's employees and customers accept twin shops or view them as counter to the Pret culture? Through this decision point, the case frames a discussion about how companies build service models to reliably deliver customer service excellence. The case also helps students understand the role of employee management systems in creating consistent service experiences and introduces a set of innovative employee management practices.

  Keywords: Customer Service Excellence; Growth Planning and Management; Employee Performance Management; Information Management; Production Planning; Employee Attitude Development and Empowerment; Employee Retention; Leadership Development and Career Planning; Service Delivery; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Model; Innovation and Invention; Employees; Performance; London;

  Citation:

  Frei, Frances X., Rick Goldberg, and Stephanie van Sice. "Pret A Manger." Harvard Business School Case 612-033, April 2012.

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• Book | 2012

  Uncommon Service: How to Win by Putting Customers at the Core of Your Business

  Frances Frei and Anne Morriss

  Citation:

  Frei, Frances, and Anne Morriss. Uncommon Service: How to Win by Putting Customers at the Core of Your Business. Cambridge: Harvard Business Review Press, 2012.

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