HBS faculty comprises scholars and practitioners who bring leading-edge research, extensive experience, and deep insights into the classroom, to organizations, and to leaders across the globe. We asked new faculty at HBS about their background, their new roles, and their interests.
Rob Markey, senior lecturer, Technology & Operations Management
What did you do before coming to HBS?
After completing my HBS MBA in 1990, I joined Bain & Company as a strategy consultant. An important motivation for going to Bain came from an HBR article we read in Jim Heskett’s section of Service Management on the importance of customer retention. Co-authored by Earl Sasser and a Bain partner, Fred Reichheld, it resonated deeply and I wanted to do that work. I founded Bain’s customer practice and led it for nearly 20 years. During that time, I guided customer-centric transformations at over 100 companies around the world. Under my leadership, our customer practice grew into a nearly $1 billion business.
How have you exercised leadership in business? My career has centered around a common dilemma: Why do smart, well-meaning leaders who profess customer-centricity often make choices that damage customer relationships? My mission has been to create metrics, analytics, and tools that help leaders make better tradeoffs between customer value and other business priorities. I co-developed the net promoter score (NPS). NPS is now a formal customer metric at over two-thirds of the Fortune 1000 companies and has become the gold standard for gauging customer loyalty. (Unfortunately, it is also largely responsible for clogging your inbox with “How likely are you to recommend us?” emails, for which I am deeply sorry!)
Fred Reichheld and I co-authored "The Ultimate Question 2.0" to help businesses implement the net promoter system at scale. In my HBR article, “Are You Undervaluing Your Customers?,” I pushed for better measurement and management of customer value. Since then, I’ve been helping companies adopt these principles and advocating for disclosure rules to make customer base value drivers more consistently available and transparent to investors.
What will you be teaching?
Managing Service Operations.
What would you be doing if you weren’t a professor?
I’ve always thought I would be a ski instructor somewhere in the Rockies. Realistically, I’d almost certainly be running workshops and delivering speeches on making customer value the north star for businesses. I would be advocating for financial accounting rules that require standardized accounting and securities disclosure of the most important drivers of customer value.
Where are you from?
I grew up in northeastern Ohio, outside of Cleveland. I attribute my patience, persistence, and high tolerance for pain to being a Cleveland sports fan.
What is something you like to do outside of your academic work?
I’m happiest when skiing with my family. I also enjoy tinkering with home automation tech, although it drives my wife and kids a bit crazy.
What’s your favorite book, movie, or piece of art?
I’m fascinated by Sol LeWitt’s Wall Drawing 305, also known as “the location of 100 randomly placed specific points.” It’s a captivating conceptual piece that I can stare at for hours.
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