Pret A Manger

Frances X. Frei; Rick  Goldberg; Stephanie  van Sice

Case | HBS Case Collection | April 2012

Pret A Manger

by Frances X. Frei, Rick Goldberg and Stephanie van Sice

Abstract

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;

Language: English

Format: Print

20 pages

Educators Purchase

Citation:

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

Provides a hotel context in which to explore the link between customer loyalty and financial performance, using four years of hotel data. Challenges students to find the extent of the relationship between loyalty and performance.

Provides a context in which students can explore managerial decision making that is critically informed by data analysis. The setting is a retail bank and the decision making relates to the bank's policy toward online banking. The management team is evaluating whether the bank should charge for access to online banking, provide incentives to use the service, or devise some other policy altogether. With thousands of customers already using the online site, the bank is well positioned to assess the impact of the service on customer profitability and retention before making final policy decisions. Told from the perspective of a recent MBA graduate who was charged with performing the necessary data analysis and ultimately coming up with policy recommendations.

Faculty & Research

Pret A Manger

Abstract

Citation:

About the Author

More from the Author