Service Breakthroughs: Changing the Rules of the Game [Hardcover]

James L. Heskett (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 17, 1990

What do Citicorp, UPS, and Marriott have in common? They are "breakthrough" service providers, firms that changed the rules of the game in their respective industries by consistently exceeding customer needs and expectations, thus forcing their competitors to either adapt or fail. With detailed case studies of Nordstrom, American Airlines, McDonald's and dozens of other companies, service management experts Heskett, Sasser and Hart show exactly how breakthrough managers - with an intuitive understanding of the "self-reinforcing management cycle" have development a strategic service vision, built loyalty, and positioned their service more successfully than their competitors.

Editorial Reviews

Review

M. Anthony Burns Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer, Ryder System, Inc. Service Breakthroughs is beautifully illustrated with examples of the winning strategies which some of the country's most successful service companies have used to move out of the pack and into the leadership positions they now enjoy. -- Review

About the Author

James L. Heskett teaches at the Harvard Business School.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 306 pages
• Publisher: Free Press; 1st edition (September 17, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0029146755
• ISBN-13: 978-0029146750
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #554,732 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A very thorough view on sevice excellency, April 3, 2000

By 

Ricardo Consonni (Sao Paulo, Brazil) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Service Breakthroughs: Changing the Rules of the Game (Hardcover)

This is one of the first books that discuss the client-side of businesses. When this book was published, very few authors had thought of addressing this topic, and Heskett, Sasser and Hart did an excellent job in their analysis of the service industries. The market for banks, hotels, airlines and other service providers has changed dramatically in the last ten years, and the authors show what the leaders in each of these markets did to keep their customers coming back. They show that the main goal of the corporation is to 'achieve goals for the customers', not only perform services day in and day out. I have read many other books on this same subject after this one, but none with such wit and brilliance.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good book, March 6, 2008

By 

Jim Kayalar, CMC (Jersey city, NJ USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Service Breakthroughs: Changing the Rules of the Game (Hardcover)

Heskett and Sasser are from the Harvard Business School. Hart is the man with the practical experience. The book covers a lot of ground and there are numerous examples of how customer service oriented companies outperform competitors in similar indsutries that are more inward focused. Similar to Tom Peters "In search of Excellence" except that whereas more than half of companies chosen for their excellence by tom Peters are now gone, the companies showcased by heskett el al are still alive and kicking. There is a lot of empirical data and anectodal case studies from the airline, hotel and other industries. Start with this book and also buy "The Service Profit Chain" by the same writers to gain a complete understanding of how to design a competitive service process. These books are exec or MBA level. Nothing for the faint hearted. Don't let the age of the books fool you.Its all there, its all applicable, and better yet the solutions don't require dependence on high tech technology and can be implemented by small business as well as large. Jim Kayalar is a certified management consultant and has consulted with tourism development organizations, hotels and resorts. [...]

4.0 out of 5 stars Today we would call it 'service innovation', March 18, 2011

By 

Jackal (New Hampshire) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Service Breakthroughs (Paperback)

This is a pretty good book about how to innovate in service industries. The positive amazing thing is that this book was published over 20 years ago (1990 not 2008). The negative amazing thing is that we don't know much more today than we knew twenty years ago. This books is in the typical HBS style of doing a dozen case studies and then writing a book. These academic authors have done a good job in my opinion. If you don't like this style you can consider Service Innovation: How to Go from Customer Needs to Breakthrough Services, which is written by a consultant-practitioner. If you buy both books you will also notice how little progress we have done in this field during the last 20 years.