MIT Sloan Website




STORE
Search   
 
Home View Cart Check Out Contact Us Help/FAQs

Business Ethics and Public Policy
Corporate Strategy
Financial Management
Human Resources
Global Business
Leadership
Information Systems
Technology and Innovation
Managerial Economics
Marketing
Operations
Service and Quality
Miscellaneous
Back Issues
Sustainability
Collections
Breaking the Cycle of Failure in Services
By Leonard A. Schlesinger and James L. Heskett
Spring 1991
Reprint 3232
Volume 32, Number 3, pages 17-28, 12 pages
Primary Topic: Service and Quality
Secondary Topic: Operations

Summary

Most managers recognize that good service is a direct result of having effective, productive people in customer contact positions. You need winners at the front lines, not just warm bodies. But most service companies perpetuate a cycle of failure by tolerating high turnover and expecting employee dissatisfaction. Schlesinger and Heskett explore the reasons that so many managers have trouble breaking this cycle. They spotlight a number of companies that are developing winning customer service teams, including one that pays twice the industry average to its front-line employees while its sales and profits have soared. Instead of submitting to the cycle of failure, they argue, managers should take advantage of ways to break it, and get their organizations onto the cycle of success.

OR

Includes one pdf to copy from.
Pricing is based on # of
copies made.

Info on pricing and academic discounts.


 
 
Copyright © Massachusetts Institute of Technology
1977-2009. All rights reserved.
877-727-7170, mitsmr@pubservice.com