Harvard Business Review

MARCH 29, 2013

While a focus on lowering costs, improving quality, and providing consistent, reliable service will continue to be important, I see a shift in the coming decade to combining operational excellence with customer intimacy: tailored solutions for individual customers based on a deep understanding of their needs.

Customer Intimacy 8

Customer Intimacy Operations Supply Chain Transportation 8

Six Disciplines

OCTOBER 19, 2011

Key findings from the IBM study: Today’s complexity is only expected to rise, and more than half of CEOs doubt their ability to manage it. Seventy-nine percent of CEOs anticipate even greater complexity ahead. Creativity is the most important leadership quality, according to CEOs.

Creativity 82

Creativity CEO Customer Intimacy Chief Executive Officer 82

Harvard Business Review

AUGUST 8, 2011

Newly appointed CEO Lou Gerstner logged thousands of hours visiting customers, industry experts and analysts. He then set about transforming the company to rekindle IBM's historic commitment to customer intimacy, to make the organization much more integrated, and to streamline operations.

Customer Intimacy 14

Customer Intimacy How To Mass Marketing System 14

Harvard Business Review

JUNE 17, 2015

In this article we look at three very different organizations – IBM, Rich Products, and Intuit – and the three different paths they have taken in reconfiguring their operations for more customer intimacy, by changing methods, reengineering processes, and transforming culture. IBM: Applying a Hybrid Design-Thinking Approach.

Productivity 8

Productivity Products Customer Intimacy Software 8

Harvard Business Review

JUNE 24, 2013

having sacrificed customer intimacy for increased operational excellence gains through widespread cost cutting, are well documented. Tesco now has a new CEO , but these mechanisms are still in place — if he chooses to use them. In recent years, Tesco stumbled in launching new stores in the U.S. Not anymore.".

Organization 8

Organization Supply Chain Customer Intimacy Stress 8

Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 2, 2018

It also puts a fundamental question back on the agendas of CEOs in other industries: Will software eat the world, as Marc Andreessen famously quipped? Customer intimacy. Industrial giants have well-established brands, built strong customer relationships, and signed long-term service contracts.

Industry 8

Industry Software Six Sigma Engineering 8