Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • February 2021
  • Background Note
  • HBS Case Collection

Jobs to Be Done: A Toolbox

By: Derek C. M. van Bever, Bob Moesta, Iuliana Mogosanu, Shaye Roseman and Katie Zandbergen
  • Format:Print
  • | Language:English
  • | Pages:65
ShareBar

Abstract

The Jobs to Be Done methodology is both a theory and a practical approach for understanding customer behavior and why people make the choices they make. Many practitioners, whether they work for startups or incumbent businesses, find Jobs to Be Done useful because it provides an uncommon solution to a common problem — understanding your customers as you start a new enterprise or losing touch with customers as your business grows. The theory of Jobs to Be Done is taught at Harvard Business School in the course “Building and Sustaining a Successful Enterprise (”BSSE,” in HBS shorthand), which was created by the late Professor Clayton Christensen. It is practiced by many alumni of the course, as well as by numerous industry practitioners. Beyond them, there is a wider circle of professionals who are familiar with the theory or curious about it, and who are interested in converting that curiosity into practice. This multimedia toolbox walks through all of the stages of understanding and implementing Jobs to Be Done, including the foundational theory and its benefits to businesses; how to recruit customers, interview them, and analyze results; and feed that analysis into product development and marketing. The toolbox is a collection of original content as well as existing resources aggregated from across the web. To illustrate the theory the authors conducted a Jobs to Be Done research project to understand why our students “hire” Harvard Business School.

Keywords

Customer Value and Value Chain; Decision Choices and Conditions; Knowledge Acquisition; Attitudes; Perception; Theory; Behavior; Customer Relationship Management

Citation

van Bever, Derek C. M., Bob Moesta, Iuliana Mogosanu, Shaye Roseman, and Katie Zandbergen. "Jobs to Be Done: A Toolbox." Harvard Business School Background Note 321-095, February 2021.
  • Educators
  • Purchase

About The Author

Derek C. M. van Bever

General Management
→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • January 2023
    • Faculty Research

    Adams + Beasley Associates

    By: Dennis Campbell and Iuliana Mogosanu
    • 13 Oct 2022
    • Faculty Research

    4 Business Ideas That Changed the World: Disruptive Innovation

    By: Amy Bernstein, Rita McGrath, Felix Oberholzer-Gee and Derek van Bever
    • April 2022 (Revised August 2022)
    • Faculty Research

    Antler

    By: Dennis Campbell and Iuliana Mogosanu
More from the Authors
  • Adams + Beasley Associates By: Dennis Campbell and Iuliana Mogosanu
  • 4 Business Ideas That Changed the World: Disruptive Innovation By: Amy Bernstein, Rita McGrath, Felix Oberholzer-Gee and Derek van Bever
  • Antler By: Dennis Campbell and Iuliana Mogosanu
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College