Lecture Notes: Jochen Wirz's Journey and Insights in Services Marketing

Introduction

• Speaker: Jochen Wirz
• Position: Vice Dean Graduate Studies, NUS Business School, National University of Singapore
  • Overlooks MBA, Executive MBA, and MSc programs
  • Background in research, teaching, consulting, and services marketing
  • Role allows application of theory to real-world academic and administrative duties

Career Background

• Initially majored in Finance and Accounting
  • Fully licensed banker in Germany
  • Transitioned to marketing due to influence from a marketing professor
• PhD in Services Marketing from London Business School
  • Influenced by John Bateson, who emphasized the future of services
  • Worked with Logica Consulting, focusing on media and technology

Transition to Services Marketing

• Experience in consulting with a professor-owned firm, focusing on infrastructure services
• Impact of the fall of the Berlin Wall on business, especially in East Germany
• Personal life led to relocation to Asia
  • Took a leave from consultancy to join NUS as a visiting professor
  • Stayed at NUS permanently due to passion for teaching and academia

Contributions and Collaborations

• Collaborated with Christopher Lovelock, a Harvard professor, to adapt US-based textbooks for Asia
  • Lead author for Asian adaptations and US editions

Textbook Contributions

• Revised and updated textbooks on Services Marketing
  • Added chapters on managing people, customer loyalty, and service scapes based on evolving research
  • Joined as a permanent co-author with Lovelock
• Textbook revision process involves reviewing recent literature and updating chapters accordingly

Evolution of Services Marketing

• Innovations from academia have significant impacts on practice:
  • Concepts like service recovery and revenue management originated from academic research
  • CRM and lifetime value significantly influenced the field
  • Recent developments include mobile apps, customer journey design, process automation, platforms, analytics, AI, and robotics

Future of Services Marketing

• Ongoing technological advances will continue to transform the field
  • Analytics, AI, and robotics are current major influences
  • These changes will be increasingly reflected in future textbook editions