The 22nd Annual SERVSIG Doctoral Consortium, preceding the Frontiers in Service Conference, was held at the San Jose State University campus in California July 8-9, 2015. The consortium began with a welcome reception on Wednesday, July 8th, 2015 and continued with full day sessions on Thursday, July 9th, 2015.
The consortium, co-chaired by Professor Lerzan Aksoy (Fordham University) and Associate Professor Bart Lariviere (Ghent University), provided 37 doctoral students from 14 countries a wonderful opportunity to interact with the field’s leading service scholars and for the students to get feedback regarding their research. Arranged around three main themes, the faculty fellows shared their experiences and insights.
Kick Start and Manage Your Career: Sertan Kabadayi (Fordham University), Ray Fisk (Texas State University), Janet McColl-Kennedy (University of Queensland), and Javier Reynoso (Monterrey Institute of Technology) shared their personal accounts of their career paths and guiding philosophies. Starting with preparing for the job market, the presenters emphasized the need to stay focused and build a reputation in an area, but also to see the bigger picture. They also reminded the participants to remember to take time for themselves to recharge.
Publishing Relevant and Rigorous Research: In this second session, editors or past editors of some of the top journals in the service research field shared their insights into what it means to publish relevant and rigorous research. Ed Malthouse (Northwestern University and past co-editor of Journal of Interactive Marketing), Steve Baron (University of Liverpool and co-editor of Journal of Services Marketing), Mary Jo Bitner (Arizona State University and editor of Journal of Service Research), Paul Maglio (UC Merced and editor of Service Science), and Marianna Sigala (University of the Aegean and co-editor of Journal of Service Theory and Practice) participated in this second session. The presenters in this session clearly highlighted the large number of strong outlets for service research and highlighted some of the differences between the journals.
Creating Impact through Teaching and Service: Lisa Brüggen (Maastricht University), David Bowen (Thunderbird School of Global Management), Parsu Parasuraman (University of Miami), and Allard Van Riel (Radboud University Nijmegen) presented in this last session. A large part of being an academic is sharing knowledge with others and having an impact on our students’ lives—the business leaders of tomorrow. This was the message of the session. The presenters reminded participants about the importance of teaching for an impactful academic career and to view service as something we should engage in the further along we are in our career.
One of the most prized sessions was the two hour break-out session where doctoral students were assigned to two or more faculty fellows and other fellow doctoral students to receive feedback on a research project of their choice. This longer format with feedback from multiple faculty and participants was introduced for the first time this year based on feedback from prior years. Doctoral students received guidance on how to develop their ideas, to get their paper published, and to disseminate their ideas.
Participating doctoral students were also encouraged to apply for The Liam Glynn Scholarship awarded to four doctoral students with the support of Arizona State University Center for Services Leadership: Anna Girard, Francisco Villaroel-Ordenes, Anne Grego Nagel and Kristina Lindsey Hall. Each received a framed certificate and a cash prize this year. Congratulations to the winners!
The consortium was made possible by the generous support of Arizona State University Center for Services Leadership, IBM, HEC Montreal, International Society of Service Innovation Professionals, (ISSIP), San Jose State University, Fordham University Gabelli School of Business, and Ghent University Center for Service Intelligence.
Selected photos from event (fullscreen view)
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