Leonard A. Schlesinger is Baker Foundation Professor at the Harvard Business School where he serves as Chair of the School’s Term and Practice based faculty. He has served as a member of the HBS faculty from 1978 to 1985, 1988 to 1998 and 2013 to the present. During his career at the School he has taught courses in Organizational Behavior, Organization Design, Human Resources Management, General Management, Neighborhood Business, Entrepreneurial Management, Leadership and Service Management in MBA and Executive Education programs. He has also served as head of the Service Management Interest Group, Senior Associate Dean for External Relations, and Chair of the School’s 1993-94 MBA program review and redesign process.
Throughout his career Professor Schlesinger has transitioned between academic and managerial roles in educational and business settings. He served as President of Babson College from 2008-2013, held a number of key executive and operating positions (ending as Vice Chairman and Chief Operating Officer) at Limited Brands (now L Brands) from 1999-2007, was a Professor of Sociology and Public Policy and Senior Vice President and Counselor to the President at Brown University from 1998-1999, and was Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at Au Bon Pain from 1985-1988.
His writings on entrepreneurship, service management and organizational management have been widely published and influenced. His work on “The Service Profit Chain” has been recognized as one of the most researched management concepts of the last 25 years. He is the author or co-author of 12 additional books, including What Great Service Leaders Know and Do: Creating Breakthroughs in Service Firms (Berrett-Koehler, 2015), Just Start: Take action, Embrace uncertainty, Create the future (Harvard Business School Press, 2012), The Value Profit Chain (Free Press, 2002), The Service Profit Chain (Free Press, 1997) and The Real Heroes of Business ... and Not a CEO among Them (Doubleday Currency, 1994), and has written numerous articles for academic audiences as well as for The New York Times, Fast Company, and Harvard Business Review. He has served on the editorial boards of five major academic journals and has published numerous management case studies that have sold well over one million copies. He also has completed three video series on service management.
Schlesinger has lectured and consulted on strategy, service quality, customer satisfaction, entrepreneurship, human resources and organizational change for over 250 major corporations, non-profit organizations, governments, and international leadership organizations around the world.
Schlesinger currently serves as a Director of Viewpost LLC, Next Level Pizza, Inc., MassChallenge and RH, Inc. (Chair of Compensation Committee), a Trustee of Wheaton College (MA), and member of the President’s Council of the Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering. He serves on the Advisory Boards of The College for Social Innovation, The Center for Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership (Babson College), Datapoint Capital and the Institute for Nonprofit Practice. He also serves as an advisory council member of Goldman Sachs' 10,000 Small Businesses Initiative, and as a member of both the Council on Competitiveness and the Council on Foreign Relations.
Schlesinger holds a Doctor of Business Administration from Harvard Business School, an MBA from Columbia University, a Bachelor of Arts in American Civilization from Brown University and an Honorary Doctor of Laws from Babson College.
Based on decades of collective field experiences, the authors present anecdotal evidence in support of eight things that great service leaders know and do. Great service leaders know that (1) leading a breakthrough service is different, and they take steps to ensure repeated memorable service encounters; (2) customers buy results and excellent experiences, not services or products, so leaders focus on the few things that produce results and experiences for the right customers; (3) the best service operating strategies don't require tradeoffs, so leaders foster "both/and" thinking in designing winning operating strategies; (4) great service starts with the frontline employee, and as a result leaders hire for attitude and train for skills; (5) effective operating strategies have to create value for employees, customers and investors, so leaders ensure the achievement of the leverage and edge that produce win, win, win results—the "service trifecta"; (6) the best uses of technology and other support systems create frontline service heroes and heroines, so leaders use technology to elevate the most important and eliminate the worst service jobs; (7) satisfying customers is not enough, so leaders take steps to develop a core of customers who are "owners"; and (8) knowing that their current beliefs about the future of services are wrong, great service leaders build agile service organizations that learn, innovate, and adapt. The book explores the ideas and leadership needed to achieve breakthrough service.
It used to be that if you studied and worked hard, you could be assured of an extremely satisfying career. But in a world of constant layoffs and dying industries, it has become increasingly difficult to "plan" your way to success. So what is the solution? Well, when it comes to dealing with uncertainty, nobody handles it better than successful entrepreneurs. That's why you want to take the same approach they do! Based on extensive research and interviews, Own Your Future shows how to apply the simple model they use—Act. Learn. Build. Repeat—to reinvent the way you maneuver in an unpredictable job market. Here's how it works. Instead of picturing your perfect career and working backwards, simply begin with the direction you want to go and take a small step. Thinking alone will never change your life—you must ACT. Then evaluate the lessons you learn from that first step, build on them, and take another step in your desired direction. Repeat this process until you have achieved your goal. When you consider that your job—perhaps even your industry—may disappear, you have no choice but to take control. Filled with stories of professionals of all kinds who have profited from this proactive approach, Own Your Future gives you the tools you need to succeed—no matter what comes your way.
Schlesinger, Leonard A., Charles Kiefer, and Paul B. Brown. Action Trumps Everything: Creating What You Want in an Uncertain World. Duxbury, MA: Black Ink Press, 2010.
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Schlesinger, Leonard A. and Tom Chase, eds. The Ecology of Work: Improving Productivity and the Quality of Work Life: Readings for the fourth Ecology of Work Conference. Arlington, VA: NTL Institute for Applied Behavioral Science, 1981.
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In a predictable world, getting a new initiative off the ground typically involves analyzing the market, creating a forecast, and writing a business plan. But what about in an unpredictable environment? The authors recommend looking to those who are experts in navigating extreme uncertainty while minimizing the risk: serial entrepreneurs. These business leaders act, learn, and build their way into the future. Managers in traditional organizations can do the same, starting with smart, low-risk steps that follow simple rules: Use the means at hand; stay within an acceptable loss; secure only the commitment needed for the next step; bring along only volunteers; link the initiative to a business imperative; produce early results; and manage expectations. Momentum is gained by continuing to act based on what is learned at each step. The launch of Clorox's Green Works product line is discussed as an example.
Leonard A. Schlesinger, Peter C. Verhoef, Katherine N. Lemon, A. Parasuraman, Anne Roggeveen and Michael Tsiros
Retailers, such as Starbucks and Victoria's Secret, aim to provide customers a great experience across channels. In this paper we provide an overview of the existing literature on customer experience and expand on it to examine the creation of a customer experience from a holistic perspective. We propose a conceptual model, in which we discuss the determinants of customer experience. We explicitly take a dynamic view, in which we argue that prior customer experiences will influence future customer experiences. We discuss the importance of the social environment, self-service technologies and the store brand. Customer experience management is also approached from a strategic perspective by focusing on issues such as how and to what extent an experience-based business can create growth. In each of these areas, we identify and discuss important issues worthy of further research.
Several characteristics of academic health centers have the potential to create high levels of internal conflict and misalignment that can pose significant leadership challenges.
In September 2000, the positions of Ohio State University (OSU) senior vice president for health sciences, dean of the medical school, and the newly created position of chief executive officer of the OSU Medical Center (OSUMC) were combined under a single leader to oversee the OSUMC. This mandate from the president and trustees was modeled after top institutions with similar structures. The leader who assumed the role was tasked with improving OSUMC's academic, clinical, and financial performance.
To achieve this goal, the senior vice president and his team employed the service value chain model of improving performance, based on the premise that leadership behavior/culture drives employee engagement/satisfaction, leading to customer satisfaction and improved organizational performance. Implementing this approach was a seven-step process: (1) selecting the right leadership team, (2) assessing the challenges and opportunities, (3) setting expectations for performance and leadership behavior, (4) aligning structures and functions, (5) engaging constituents, (6) developing leadership skills, and (7) defining strategies and tracking goals.
The OSUMC setting during this period provides an observational case study to examine how these stepwise changes, instituted by strong leadership and teamwork, were able to make and implement sound decisions that drove substantial and measurable improvements in the engagement and satisfaction of faculty and staff; the satisfaction of students and patients; and academic, clinical, and financial performance.
Hallowell, Roger, Leonard A. Schlesinger, and Jeffrey Zornitsky. "Internal Service Quality, Customer and Job Satisfaction: Linkages and Implications for Managers." Human Resource Planning (fall 1996).
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The still evolving discipline of total quality management (TQM) has left many human resource professionals confused about their role. The authors believe that the HR function personnel should spearhead company quality efforts, as well as assess the performance of their own function, by using the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Awards framework.
Enfranchisement is achieved through an integration of empowerment with methods of pay for performance. Evidence from Ito Yokado Group in Japan and Nordstrom in the US demonstrates the positive effects of enfranchisement. Successful efforts to enfranchise employees: 1. reflect the culture of the organization or individual department in which it is being implemented, 2. grant employees varying degrees of control over operating decisions and compensation, 3. involve efforts to encourage communication from lower to higher ranks of the organization, and 4. make an array of resources available to employees to help them succeed. Major challenges to implementation include: 1. the scarcity of unit managers with the human and technical skills to interpret policies associated with enfranchisement, 2. the unwillingness of middle management to support enfranchisement, 3. the perception of management as unfair by associates, and 4. the inadequate conditioning of participants' expectations.
Survey data from 1,277 employees and 4,269 customers of a personal lines insurance organization were analyzed with the following results: (a) employee perceptions of service quality are positively related to both job satisfaction and self-perceived service capability; (b) job satisfaction, service capability, and employee perceptions of service-quality rise over the employee-tenure cycle; (c) discrepancies between employee perceptions of service quality and actual customer satisfaction are negatively related to both job satisfaction and service capability; and (d) service capability is a key promoter of job satisfaction with a number of organizational attributes affecting both. Results are discussed from the perspective of promoting strategies which simultaneously manage both the delivery of high quality service and the achievement of high levels of job satisfaction. It is suggested that employee tenure significantly effects the nature of the strategies chosen.
Most managers recognize that good service is a direct result of having effective, productive people in customer contact positions. However, most service companies perpetuate a cycle of failure by tolerating high turnover and expecting employee dissatisfaction. This self-perpetuating cycle of failure seems to ensure continuing deterioration of service quality, managerial problems, and long-term decreases in sales and profits. Many managers have fallen into the cycle of failure trap because of their assumptions about the labor pool, their attitudes about technology, and the lack of relevant information about the cost of perpetuating the cycle of failure. Patterns that lead to a cycle of success include the underlying assumptions that managers bring to a task and the way that they go about setting in motion the cycle of success. Common elements of strategy in successful programs include careful selection, realistic previews of the job and organization, and concentration on quality at the service core.
Schlesinger, Leonard A., and James Heskett. "Breaking the Cycle of Failure in Services." MIT Sloan Management Review 32, no. 3 (spring 1991): 17–28.
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Schlesinger, Leonard A., and John P. Kotter. "Overcoming Fear and Change: A Professional Approach." Journal of Accountancy (March–April 1979).
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"From the frying pan into the fire," "let sleeping dogs lie," and "you can't teach an old dog new tricks" are all well-known sayings born of the fear of change. When people are threatened with change in organizations, similar maxims about certain people and departments are trotted out to prevent an alteration in the status quo. Fear of change is understandable, but because the environment changes rapidly, and it has been doing so increasingly, organizations cannot afford not to change. One major task of a manager, then, is to implement change, and that entails overcoming resistance to it. In this article, the authors describe four basic reasons people resist change. They also describe various methods for dealing with the resistance and provide a guide to what kinds of approaches will work when the different types of resistance occur.
This article presents the findings regarding the nature of the difficulties surrounding the supervisory role in participative work systems, a conceptualization of the supervisor/work group interface, and some action implications for the management of organizations. Supervisory roles within innovative work systems can be analyzed and improved by emphasizing task accomplishment through increased employee participation and self direction. As workplace innovations that promote employee participation and self-direction become more widespread, models of collaborative leadership are needed that can provide the operating manager with tools for the design and management of organizations capable of enhancing both employer productivity and the quality of working life.
Hallowell, Roger, and Leonard A. Schlesinger. "The Service Profit Chain: Intellectual Roots, Current Realities, and Future Prospects." In Handbook of Services Marketing and Management, edited by Dawn Iacobucci and Teresa A. Swartz. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1999.
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Schlesinger, Leonard A., and James Heskett. "Leading the Performance-Oriented Culture." Chap. 11 in The Leader of the Future: New Visions, Strategies, and Practices for the Next Era, edited by F. Hesselbein, M. Goldsmith, and R. Beckhard. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1996.
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Hallowell, Roger, and Leonard A. Schlesinger. "Taco Bell Corporation: A Case of Service Leadership." In QUIS 3 Proceedings, edited by Eberhard E. Scheuing. New York: International Service Quality Association, 1994.
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Hallowell, Roger, and Leonard A. Schlesinger. "Putting the Service Profit Chain to Work." In The Service Quality Handbook, edited by William F. Christopher and Eberhard E. Scheuing. New York: AMACOM, 1993.
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Schlesinger, Leonard A., and John J. Gabarro. "Some Preliminary Thoughts on Action Planning." In Managing Behavior in Organizations, edited by Leonard A. Schlesinger, Robert G. Eccles, and John J. Gabarro. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1983.
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Schlesinger, Leonard A., and Richard E. Walton. "Work Restructuring in Unionized Organizations: Risks, Opportunities and Impacts on Collective Bargaining." Industrial Relations Research Association, March 1977. (Presentation was prepared as an article for the proceedings and published in the National Quality of Work Center Memorandum in January 1977.)
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In 2008, Goldman Sachs started the 10,000 Small Businesses program to help small businesses in the United States by providing education and a network of support—at no cost —and access to capital. It required the firm to create a new business ecosystem with a wide variety of partners including community colleges, city governments, and national and local support organizations. In 2018, the program had graduated 7,300 scholars—just 2,700 shy of the 10,000 target. The case examines the creation of the 10,000 Small Businesses ecosystem and asks students to judge the merits of the program and if the program should be sustained beyond 10,000 scholars and, if so, how to fund the program moving forward.
Schlesinger, Leonard A., and Aldo Sesia. "Goldman Sachs: The 10,000 Small Businesses Program." Harvard Business School Case 319-005, November 2018.
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Pho Hoa is a traditional, family-owned Vietnamese restaurant in Dorchester, Massachusetts that opened in 1992. As he approached retirement in recent years, the founder/owner has scaled down his involvement in the day-to-day operations, leading to a number of operational and financial issues, including variable food quality and deficient wait staff service. The restaurant is about to transition from 1st to 2nd generation ownership, and Tam Le, the son of the founder, realizes that major operational and financial changes are required to maintain the restaurant’s long-term viability. This case is intended to provide students with a better understanding of the personal, professional and cultural challenges facing small business owners. Using the context of a family-owned Vietnamese restaurant, it examines the operational changes associated with transitioning ownership from the founder to his son, including formalizing equity stakes and internal processes, establishing a clear organizational structure and improving customer service. It also explores the personal motivations and ambitions of Tam Le, who is simultaneously assuming control of the restaurant and exploring a number of other commercial ventures unrelated to the legacy family business.
The Chairman of the Priceline Group is considering the actions he must take to confront an evolving external environment, new direct competition, disintermediation and substitute offerings. Does his response require an increased coordination of each historically autonomous division or some other approach?
A review of the process utilized by the Obama administration to create the Health Care.gov exchange and the problems that resulted from the implementation effort. This case provides the follow on strategy and processes utilized to get the site up and running after the initial failures of implementation.
A review of the process utilized by the Obama administration to create the Health Care.gov exchange and the problems that resulted from the implementation effort. There is a B case that provides the follow on strategy and processes utilized to get the site up and running after the initial failures of implementation.
Team Rubicon, a military veteran volunteer disaster relief organization, has experienced significant success in attracting attention and support in its first four years of operation. The challenges of managing the volunteer base, the cost of responding to disasters, and the evolution of the organization raise significant strategic and organizational issues for the founding team.
The development and utilization of an intentional Field learning strategy developed for the Obama for President campaign in 2012 following an after action Review calling for it after the 2008 elections
Details the actions of John Martin, newly named CEO, as he leads Taco Bell through a decade of incremental and radical changes. By the end of the case, total system sales within Taco Bell, a Mexican style fast-food restaurant chain and a division of PepsiCo, have grown from $700 million in 1983 to $3.9 billion in 1994, and the company is managing over 10,000 eat-in restaurants and a wide variety of other retail sites around the world.
Applegate, Lynda M., Leonard A. Schlesinger, and Dave DeLong. "Taco Bell Inc. (1983-1994)." Harvard Business School Case 398-129, May 1998. (Revised October 2001.)
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Overview of the Marketspace Bookmall Competition project for the Managing Marketspace Service Interfaces course.
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Rayport, Jeffrey F., and Leonard A. Schlesinger. "Marketspace Bookmall Competition." Harvard Business School Background Note 898-167, January 1998.
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Deals with Northwest's financial crisis between the fall of 1992 and the following spring. Northwest's leaders face the problem of how to meet an impending $600 million payment on the 1989 LBO loan when the airline had run out of cash. Concludes by outlining options for Northwest to avert disaster, and it includes a brief background note on financial restructuring.
Describes the strategic position of Northwest Airlines in 1996 and discusses its financial rebound and changes and improvements since the 1993 restructuring agreement. Describes the company's new strategy and its management of principal strategic assets, focusing at length on the strategic alliance between Northwest and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines. Describes how the alliance was formed, how it obtained antitrust immunity from the U.S. Department of Transportation, and how that ruling facilitated operating cooperation between the two partners. Concludes by considering strains in the alliance and the impact of competitive alliances formed in 1996 by leading U.S. and European airlines.
Taco Bell CEO, John Martin, boldly proclaims a growth goal of 200,000 points of access by the year 2000 (the company had approximately 3,600 in 1991). To realize such growth, Martin embraces a philosophy of continual change. The implications for Taco Bell are dramatic changes in organizational structure, culture, human resources, technology, and communications. In redefining its market and "thinking outside the box" in all aspects of its business, Taco Bell hopes to become a "super brand"--transcending not only categories but industries as well.
Schlesinger, Leonard A., Jamie O'Connell, and Dena Votroubek. "Cash America International, Inc." Harvard Business School Case 395-124, November 1994. (Revised December 1994.)
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Describes the three business segments of PepsiCo (beverages, snack foods, and restaurants). It then explores the competitive environment within each segment and the response of PepsiCo's businesses. It seeks to show how PepsiCo CEO, D. Wayne Calloway, in a very "hands-off" and decentralized manner, achieves high growth rates in each segment through a process of "continual transformation." Calloway strives to hold together a fast-growing and rapidly changing business through shared values (instead of implementing tighter controls and increasing supervision).
Air Miles Canada both increases customer loyalty by rewarding shopping frequency at specified merchants, and enables its sponsors to develop a new, more complex understanding of their customers' (and potential customers') shopping habits, thus making future customer acquisition more efficient.
Schlesinger, Leonard A., and Roger H. Hallowell. "Ambulette, Inc." Harvard Business School Case 693-063, December 1992. (Revised September 1994.)
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Schlesinger, Leonard A. "Willow Creek Community Church, Teaching Note." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 692-092, March 1992. (Revised February 1994.)
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Schlesinger, Leonard A., and Roger H. Hallowell. "Au Bon Pain: The French Bakery Cafe, The Partner/Manager Program, Teaching Note." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 692-090, March 1992. (Revised December 1993.)
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The Walt Disney Co. theme parks historically have thrived on the basis of a formula stressing excellent customer service and a magnificent physical environment. The formula has proven successful in Japan, as well as the United States. With the controversial opening of Euro Disney in France, however, there has become reason to doubt the international appeal of the formula. The case documents issues involved with Euro Disney. Examines the transferability of a successful service concept across international boundaries.
Sunday River is a ski area in Bethel, ME which has been run by entrepreneur Les Otten since 1980. The year before Otten purchased the area, it posted a loss of $235,000 on revenues of $541,000. Under Otten's leadership, however, Sunday River posted year after year of growth and profit to become one of the leading Eastern ski areas. Its strategy focused on providing the best snow surface possible. Sunday River's success is particularly impressive in the overall context of the ski resort industry which has been plagued by losses and bankruptcy.
Schlesinger, Leonard A., and Roger H. Hallowell. "Prudential-Bache and Thomson McKinnon (A) and (B), Teaching Note." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 692-098, March 1992. (Revised April 1992.)
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Schlesinger, Leonard A., and Roger H. Hallowell. "Taco Bell Corp., Teaching Note." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 692-091, March 1992. (Revised April 1992.)
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Schlesinger, Leonard A. "Stockholder Systems, Inc. (A) and (B), Teaching Note." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 692-099, March 1992.
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Schlesinger, Leonard A., and Roger H. Hallowell. "Girl Scouts of the U.S.A. (A), (B), and (C), Teaching Note." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 692-097, March 1992.
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Schlesinger, Leonard A., and Roger H. Hallowell. "Nordstrom and Nordstrom: Dissension in the Ranks? (A), Teaching Note." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 692-085, March 1992.
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Schlesinger, Leonard A., and Roger H. Hallowell. "Integrating Human Resource and Service Delivery Strategies, Module Note." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 692-096, March 1992.
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Schlesinger, Leonard A., Roger H. Hallowell, and Sarah Ann Greene. "Gain Sharing at Star Cablevision Group, Teaching Note." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 692-013, March 1992.
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Schlesinger, Leonard A., and Roger H. Hallowell. "ServiceMaster Industries, Inc., Teaching Note." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 692-087, March 1992.
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Schlesinger, Leonard A., and Roger H. Hallowell. "Fairfield Inn (A), Teaching Note." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 692-086, February 1992.
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Describes the historic evolution and current positioning of a Christian church which focuses on the attraction of "unchurched" individuals. Describes the church's strategic service vision and its current growth and leadership problems.
John Martin, Taco Bell CEO, brings the company into line with its competitors through incremental change during the 1980s. In the early 1990s, he adopts breakthrough approaches to improve service levels while reducing prices, providing a distinct competitive advantage. Illustrates the power of breakthrough thinking in a service industry and demonstrates the importance of a coordinated, holistic approach to implementation.
Schlesinger, Leonard A., and Roger H. Hallowell. "Taco Bell Corp." Harvard Business School Case 692-058, November 1991. (Revised April 1994.)
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Describes Star's experiment with gain sharing over a three-year period. Background on the industry and company's history are provided to establish the context for the shift to pay-for-performance. Describes the three different gain sharing programs, the resulting payouts, and organizational impact.
Schlesinger, Leonard A. "Transformation at Ford, Teaching Note." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 390-129, February 1990. (Revised February 2006.)
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Schlesinger, Leonard A. "Oakland A's: Baseball's Great Transformation, Teaching Note." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 691-018, September 1990. (Revised February 1994.)
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The Oakland A's baseball team underwent a major turnaround during the 1980s, both on the field and in the business office. One of the most significant improvements came in the area of customer service. The A's management believed that if they took care of their fans, they would remain loyal through winning and losing seasons.
Schlesinger, Leonard A. "Ford Motor Co.: Dealer Sales and Service, Teaching Note." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 690-062, February 1990. (Revised March 1992.)
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Schlesinger, Leonard A. "Fidelity Transportation Management: Boston Coach Corp., Teaching Note." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 690-068, March 1990. (Revised March 1992.)
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Schlesinger, Leonard A. "Clayton & Dubilier and LBOs, Teaching Note." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 390-130, January 1990. (Revised March 1992.)
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Schlesinger, Leonard A. "Uniroyal-Goodrich Tire Co., Teaching Note." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 390-133, February 1990. (Revised March 1992.)
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Schlesinger, Leonard A. "Automobile Dealer Sales and Service: Critical Incidents, Teaching Note." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 690-063, February 1990. (Revised March 1992.)
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Schlesinger, Leonard A. "Target Sport Adventures, Teaching Note." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 690-057, January 1990. (Revised March 1992.)
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Heskett, James L., and Leonard A. Schlesinger. "Girl Scouts of the U.S.A. (A), (B), and (C), Teaching Note." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 690-072, May 1990.
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Describes the "Leadership Through Quality" effort undertaken by Xerox in the 1980s. Includes the history of Xerox in the 1970s and its need to make major changes in quality by the 1980s. Most of the remainder of the case details the step-by-step process by which Xerox created and designed the strategy called "Leadership Through Quality" to change its basic culture and its performance on quality from 1983-86.
Pearson, Andrall E., and Leonard A. Schlesinger. "Note on Leveraged Buyouts." Harvard Business School Background Note 389-218, June 1989. (Revised March 1992.)
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Since Henry Ford founded Ford Motor Co., Ford vehicles have been sold and serviced the same way. By the late 1980s Ford began to consider making changes in its sales and service process. Two developments forced Ford to reconsider these processes. First, Ford found through various surveys that customers had very clear complaints about the way they were treated by car dealers. Second, with more rapid technology transfer among the automakers, product differentiation was declining. Therefore, the channels of distribution provided one of the final potential points of differentiation between automakers. This case gives the students all of the conclusions from the studies Ford had done and asks them to redesign the sales and service process to address customers' complaints and become a point of differentiation for Ford.
Pearson, Andrall E., and Leonard A. Schlesinger. "Clayton & Dubilier." Harvard Business School Case 389-217, June 1989. (Revised February 1992.)
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In 1980 Ford was near disaster. The company lost billions of dollars between 1980 and 1982. By 1988 the company had been transformed into one of the most successful corporations in the United States. Describes what happened and then examines how it happened. The major objective is to look at major change in a huge organization and the way the change was made.
Schlesinger, Leonard A., and Richard Pascale. "Transformation at Ford." Harvard Business School Case 390-083, November 1989. (Revised November 1991.)
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Pearson, Andrall E., and Leonard A. Schlesinger. "Uniroyal-Goodrich Tire Co." Harvard Business School Case 390-005, July 1989. (Revised October 1991.)
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Outlines the differences between convergent change, which is a process of incremental innovation and continuous improvement, and divergent change, which involves revolutionary changes. Discusses how to manage each type of change and the consequences associated with each. Organizational evolution typically involves longer periods of convergent change that are punctuated by short periods of divergent change in which managers realign the firm and react to external opportunities and challenges.
Describes the start up, strategy, organizational design, and operations over the first eighteen months of the airline. Focuses on the creative use of human resources as an integral part of the business strategy.
Schlesinger, Leonard A., and Debra Whitestone. "People Express (A)." Harvard Business School Case 483-103, April 1983. (Revised October 2000.)
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Presents a review of published data on the 1976 cheating scandal at West Point. Written from the perspective of the Academy Superintendent, it raises issues of ethics, organizational change and action planning in the face of conflicting stakeholder interests.
A review of the activities following the expose of the cheating incident at West Point and leading up to the Secretary of the Army's decision on the situation.
Schlesinger, Leonard A. Orientation for Viewing ""Twelve Angry Men"". Harvard Business School Background Note 480-073, April 1980. (Revised July 1995.)
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A checklist of suggested guidelines for managers embarking on action planning and implementation activities. Used as a supplement to assist in the preparation of case materials.
Schlesinger, Leonard A. Orientation for Viewing the Film ""Twelve O'Clock High"". Harvard Business School Background Note 480-072, April 1980.
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Kotter, John P., Richard E. Walton, and Leonard A. Schlesinger. "Century Paper Corp." Harvard Business School Case 477-076, January 1977. (Revised June 1978.)
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Kotter, John P., and Leonard A. Schlesinger. "Drug Fair, Inc. (A)." Harvard Business School Case 477-063, December 1976. (Revised September 1980.)
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Schlesinger, Leonard A., James Heskett, and W. Earl Sasser. "Achieving Breakthrough Service Teleseminar." Harvard Business Publishing, 1992. Video.
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Schlesinger, Leonard A., James Heskett, and W. Earl Sasser. "People, Service, Success: The Service Profit Link." Harvard Business Publishing, 1993. Video. (Volume 1 - The Service Profit Link, Volume 2 - Mobilizing People for Breakthrough Service, Volume 3 - The Lifetime Value of Customers, Volume 4 - Listening to Customers, Volume 5 - Saving Customers with Service Recovery.)
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