A marketing logic is becoming more common in universities, as higher education is becoming increasingly competitive and marketized. Universities develop strategies for differentiation, compete in rankings, and seek to attract the best and brightest students. As a result, concepts that are familiar to us service researchers, such as value, experience, and customer orientation, have become…
The survival guide to the conference journey
From Hanken to the QUIS17 symposium (and back) Before getting further, I wish to share some tips for reading this blog text. The following provides key learnings from my first academic conference presentation at the 17th International research symposium on service excellence in management (QUIS17) in Valencia. Take this as a subjective journey and self-reflection…
Impressions from the QUIS symposium on Service Excellence in Management
The 17th International research symposium on service excellence in management (QUIS17) was arranged on 12-15 January in Valencia, Spain. In 1988 a small group of researchers from Sweden and US decided that they would meet and talk about their challenges in terms of research on service organizations. Service was, back then, a niche topic with…
The Covid-19 pandemic – A friend or foe?
The Covid-19 pandemic is the accelerator in both good and bad.
The Marketing Archipelago – a reflection on how we understand the concept of marketing
If somebody would ask you to explain marketing what would you say? Those of you who are marketing students, scholars, or professionals probably have an understanding of what marketing is, grounded in your own experiences and use of marketing. But marketing has some meaning for many others too, including consumers. Here is the problem: marketing…
The service robot may watch you when you do bad things
More robots are expected in the not too distant future and this includes service robots sharing the same environment with humans. My personal prediction is that they are more likely to appear in workplace environments, such as offices, before they enter our homes; the coming generations of such robots will be expensive and, unfortunately, unable…
Why do people not get along with technology? – an unpopular opinion
A while ago, one of my colleagues asked me if I could give her some references about the “threats” of artificial intelligence (AI). It was a pleasure to share thoughts and materials about the so-called dark side of this unprecedented phenomenon. However, as someone who is into AI and smart technologies and usually thinks about…
What do you mean, “consume less”?
Our high levels of consumption in Western, affluent countries is contributing to environmental problems, such as climate change and biodiversity loss. Efforts to make consumption “greener” have so far been unable to halt environmental degradation, spurring a growing number of researchers to argue for a need for substantial change in consumption patterns for high-consuming classes,…
CERS Research Seminar with Magnus Söderlund: Student Perspectives
The human-to-robot service encounter (and robot-to-robot encounters) On Tuesday, the 2nd of March 2021, Magnus Söderlund, Senior CERS Fellow, and Professor at Stockholm School of Economics held a seminar on recent empirical findings in human-to-robot and robot-to-robot interaction in the service sector. During this seminar, Söderlund talked about how such research can be conducted, some…
Why I squat every day – and why you should too
Upon reading that title, you might think that I will use this post to explain how squatting daily will give you a butt hard as stone. Although that is indeed a nice benefit, it is not the main idea. Because it is good for your health? Nice bonus. Because it is the most badass exercise…