SERVSIG members,

I hope you had an enjoyable (and productive) summer.  Now that we have our own website in place, my hope is that we can improve the flow of communication from the SERVSIG leadership team to the SERVSIG members.  In an attempt to accomplish this, I am initiating an electronic newsletter.  I would sincerely appreciate any feedback you would be willing to provide. 

For the first newsletter I asked three people who attended Services Marketing conferences this past summer to share the overall impressions of the conference they attended for those of us unable to attend.  Here are their thoughts...

Dwayne Gremler
SERVSIG Chair

 

QUIS 8 Quality in Service: Crossing Boundaries

by Amy R. Rodie (University of Nebraska-Omaha, USA)

“Crossing Boundaries” was a very appropriate theme for the eighth Quality in Service conference, QUIS 8, held in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada from June 11-14, 2002.  In the Preface to the conference proceedings, the editors note that, for the first time, the conference was held outside its founders’ homelands--Sweden and the U.S.A.  The audience on Day 1 included many members of the local business community, who joined with the University of Victoria’s Business Faculty to make the rest of us feel welcomed.  Victoria’s temperatures crossed into record territory during the conference—surely a coincidence and not attributable to all of our “hot air”??

The conference setting was the beautiful and historic Fairmont Empress Hotel and on Day 1, the Crystal Ballroom provided a perfect setting for thinking about top quality service.  Two of the four plenary sessions were lead by innovative leaders from progressive service firms, e.g., WestJet Airlines, Yellow Corporation, CIBC, and Volkswagen.  Leading scholars Leonard Berry, Neeli Benapudi, and George Day presented research and insights at the other two plenary sessions.  The day ended with a stroll through the lovely and refreshing Butchart Gardens, and we enjoyed a feast on the Garden grounds.

Concurrent sessions were held on the University of Victoria campus on Day 2.  Fifty-four papers were presented in fifteen tracks over the course of four sessions by authors from twenty-one countries on six continents (…the empirical portion of this review).  Papers covered theoretical and empirical work in basic and applied contexts addressing issues in HR, marketing, operations, and strategy.  That evening, we were treated to a most enjoyable and unique conference dinner. We had the Royal British Columbia Museum to ourselves, and were free to browse through exhibits and chat with colleagues while sipping favorite beverages and partaking of the buffet elegantly served from several stations located throughout the museum.  The banquet culminated with an array of desserts in a gallery filled with dramatic totem poles.  What an experience!

The final day of the Conference consisted of two plenary sessions presented by scholars recognized for their leadership in service research:  Richard Chase, Stephen Brown, Bo Bergman, and Ben Schneider.  A panel discussion concluded the conference and was led by conference organizers Stephen Brown, Bo Edvardsson, and Robert Johnston, Ian Stuart and Steve Tax.

 

The SERVSIG Services Marketing Consortium 2002 - The best from all continents!

by Sacha Knorr (Lucerne School of Business, Switzerland)

This year's Services Marketing Consortium was held in Maastricht, The Netherlands, on June 26-27, 2002.  Because of the European location the Consortium was even more international than before; participants and speakers came from North and South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and from “down under.”

For doctoral students and young researchers it was a great chance to meet the “big names” of services marketing on an informal basis and to profit from their experience as academics.  The Consortium was divided into the two main areas research and teaching. For each subject eight speakers shared their know-how and answered all emerging questions.

Quite a few “hot topics” in services marketing were addressed in the research panels. These included:

Ř    Market-oriented networks - relationships, trust and loyalty
Ř    A dynamic, instead of static, look on relationships in RM
Ř    The process how trust emerges
Ř    Is it really cheaper to retain customers than winning new ones?
Ř    Services innovation
Ř    B2B-Services

In the teaching panels Mark Gabbott encouraged young faculty members to keep track of their teaching activities and build up a teaching portfolio. This is very helpful for further application processes and should include all courses taught, course syllabi, and all other self-developed teaching materials.  Also; the results of course evaluation (if positive!?!) can be a valuable proof of teaching skills.

Other highlights were the presentations from Evert Gummesson, Steve Brown, and Christopher Lovelock. After we heard about general challenges of the “life of a services academic,” a specific problem was addressed by Steve Brown talking about “building relationships with the business community.”  Finally Christopher Lovelock spoke about “bungee jumping from the ivory tower,” suggesting to regularly visit the real world of service management for case study research.

What is left to say is that we also had a great dinner in Maastricht, a fruitful atmosphere, and that everything was organized very well. 

The 11th Frontiers in Services Conference is History

by Tor W. Andreassen (Norwegian School of Management, Norway)

Maastricht, Netherlands, is a city for more than just signing EU treaties. From June 27th to 29th, 2002, the eleventh annual Frontiers in Services Conference, co-sponsored by University of Maryland, University of Maastricht, and AMA's SERVSIG, took place in this beautiful city located along the river Maas. Bringing the leading service conference to Europe proved to be very successful.  A total of 165 participants from all over the world came for three days to communicate findings and ideas from the front.

Prior to the conference was a one-day doctorial consortium.  A large group of PhD-candidates in their early stages of their career had gathered at the invitation of SERVSIG’s professors Kevin Gwinner and Ray Fisk who had put together a challenging day.  Among the many interesting topics covered were: like life a researcher, doing research, current and emerging topics, and teaching.  (See earlier review by Sasha Knorr.)

At the opening of the frontiers conference professor Roland T. Rust, University of Maryland, discussed the rise of eService.  Rust raised two important issues: eGovernment and privacy.  A staggering 55% of the population in the US had visited various Government services homepage.  With increased use of the Net and new technological capabilities to store personal information the price for privacy would increase, according to Rust.  From the industry speakers, i.e. Klaus Chojnacki, President of Customer Club Volkswagen, and Axel Hinz, General Manager of Finance & IT Mercedes Benz, we learned about Mercedes and Volkswagen's efforts to bring new technology and services into the cars.  The planetary sessions concluded with a focus on service quality: past, present and future.  While professors Stephen W. Brown, Arizona State University, and Steven Brown, University of Houston, presented their findings from a major meta-analysis of the construct, Jim Duffy, VP Customer of Service Oce, discussed how business have benefited from research on service quality.

Following the planetary session were six sessions each with seven various topics presented in parallel. Of particular interest was Professor Christopher Lovelock’s concluding presentation on Friday afternoon, “Do we need to rethink services marketing?” This rhetorical question triggered a discussion that lasted well after the session and brought the participants into a nearby pub.

Day one ended with a grand award dinner at the old variety theatre Bonbonničre Maastricht.  Two SERVSIG awards were presented during the dinner, including (1) the Best Services Article (of 2000) to Chezy Ofir and Itamar Simonson, and (2) the Liftetime Achievement award to Roland Rust for his outstanding contributions to the field. 

Day two of the conference started with a focus on customer retention strategies. The session featured two great Dutch service companies, i.e. &Samhould and BEN. While Salem Samhoud, CEO &Samhoud, talked about how to bring heart and emotions into the production and delivery of services, Peter Dijks, Quality Manager Customer Service BEN, talked explicitly about recovery efforts at BEN.  Following the planetary session was seven sessions each with seven various topics presented in parallel. The conference was concluded with a plenary session discussing "Services at the Cross Roads."  Participants were Professors Ray Fisk (University of New Orleans), Evert Gummesson (University of Stockholm), and Roland T. Rust (University of Maryland).