Companies have gotten very good at getting customers to do free work—pumping their own gas, conducting their own checkouts, filling out online forms. In each case, the mutual benefit is clear, and customers tacitly agree to an exchange of value: “I’ll pump my gas if you give me a price break.” But some organizations are finding ways to tap people’s mental and physical energy on the sly, siphoning off a little extra value. Proponents typically say they’re capturing “wasted” energy; detractors argue there’s no such thing as a free lunch.
The Power of Unwitting Workers
Companies have gotten very good at getting customers to do free work—pumping their own gas, conducting their own checkouts, filling out online forms. In each case, the mutual benefit is clear, and customers tacitly agree to an exchange of value: “I’ll pump my gas if you give me a price break.” But some organizations are […]
Summary.
Reprint: F0910C
Organizations are tapping people’s mental and physical energy on the sly and using it to power lights, digitize books, and do other work. Are they simply putting “wasted” energy to good use or extracting value they should be paying for?
A version of this article appeared in the October 2009 issue of Harvard Business Review.
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New!
HBR Learning
Customer Focus Course
Accelerate your career with Harvard ManageMentor®. HBR Learning’s online leadership training helps you hone your skills with courses like Customer Focus. Earn badges to share on LinkedIn and your resume. Access more than 40 courses trusted by Fortune 500 companies.
Learn how to keep your customers—and their most important needs—front and center.