'Do something different' to make service profitable

Erasmus Management Lecture 2011: Serving Customers Profitably, May 31 & June 1

“Start something! Do something different!” encouraged Roland Rust, distinguished Professor in marketing, at the first edition of the Erasmus Management Lecture. On May 31 and June 1, the Professor led a series of four PhD-level lectures and discussions on cutting-edge research issues, under the general theme of making the provision of service into a profitable part of business. The lecture was hosted by ERIM.

Serving customers profitably

“If you want to provide better service, that will involve more labour and therefore more cost – how to manage that is an ongoing research topic,” said Professor Rust.

The attendees were treated to an in-depth examination of Rust’s research over the past two decades. Working through some of his award-winning papers, the Professor offered contextual insights, technical explanations and encouraged critical analysis of his research with the aim of stimulating ‘a paradigm shift’ in the participants.

“I look at my research as being broad, strategic and conceptual, so I want to give people a view of that world... a different paradigm,” he said.

The four lectures covered the issues of getting a return on investment in service quality improvements, the use of customer equity as a strategic management tool, customer lifetime value and customer relationship management, and finding the optimal level of service productivity.

PhD candidates from a range of disciplines were invited to attend the Erasmus Management Lecture. Vincent Schoots, a doctoral candidate at ERIM, is a neuroscientist investigating the neural basis of economic decision-making. He was pleased to find links between the material presented and his own work.

“I will be able to make some matches between what is out there in management and marketing literature,” he said. “For example [matching] the customer lifetime value literature and what I do.”

Publishing strategies

Schoots also gained from the practical career advice offered by Professor Rust, in particular the comprehensive advice on getting published was “very useful,” he said.  “One thing you have to get used to as a scientist is which article to direct your efforts. [This can be] a bit daunting” admitted Schoots.

Professor Rust offered the benefit of his wealth of experience in submitting, reviewing and editing academic papers. On the process of formulating a topic for a paper, the Professor encouraged participants, “not to be afraid to be different.”

“Pay attention to your own life, what is important from your own point of view and commonsense” he said.

Inspiration

Attendees were already feeling the benefits of the lecture series by the time of the closing ceremony. Peter Sparreboom, an external doctoral candidate in marketing at Erasmus University, said that the Professor’s enthusiasm was “very inspiring” and had already triggered new thoughts and approaches to his work.

Leiming Ma of the University of Amsterdam thought the impact would be far-reaching for all who had attended. Ma predicted that the experience of engaging so closely with a “leading scholar with breakthrough ideas” will make “a longer impact on [participant’s] career[s] whether they be in academia or consultancy.”

Looking forward

In addition to regular open and invitation-only events, ERIM plans to host another edition of the Erasmus Management Lectures next year. Again, the aim will be to encourage direct and valuable networking contacts and profound discussions between doctoral students and a renowned management researcher.