Competing in a Service Economy: How to Create a Competitive Advantage Through Service Development and Innovation [Hardcover]

“…a very useful book…” (Managing Service Quality, June 2004)

Competing in a Service Economy is a hands-on guide to creating services, with illustrative examples from service-oriented companies including Disney, Ericsson, IKEA, National Association of Convenience Stores, Ritz Carlton, Scandinavian Airline Systems, Sterling Pulp Chemicals, and Telia Mobile. This practical resource for executives, general managers, and managers in marketing, operations, and human resources reveals how to gain a competitive advantage by creating and implementing a strategic plan that will ultimately improve their organization's services. Written by the authors of the best-selling book Improving Customer Satisfaction, Loyalty, and Profit, this important new book will help business professionals to think and plan strategically to dramatically improve services, service development, and service innovation within their organizations.

Hands-on guide to creating services, with illustrated examples from service-oriented companies, including Disney, Ericsson, Scandinavian Airline Systems, and more.

The ability to develop and deliver high-quality service is critical to business strategy and success. Yet few organizations understand how to create a comprehensive service development program.

Competing in a Service Economy provides the building blocks organizations need to structure their new service development activities. This innovative strategy helps companies compete effectively in service development through three parallel processes: service maintenance, improving service performance, and service innovation.

Written by Anders Gustafsson and Michael Johnson— the authors of the best-selling book Improving Customer Satisfaction, Loyalty, and Profit — this next-step resource will help executives and managers to think and plan strategically to dramatically improve services, service development, and service innovation within their organizations. The book includes cases and illustrative examples from a wide range of international organizations that are noted for their excellent service strategies, including Disney, Ericsson, IKEA, National Association of Convenience Stores, Ritz Carlton, Scandinavian Airline Systems, Sterling Pulp Chemicals, and Telia Mobile.

Competing in a Service Economy is a hands-on approach for structuring and implementing new service development activities that will help any organization succeed in today's highly competitive business environment.

Competing in a Service Economy is a hands-on guide to creating services, with illustrative examples from service-oriented companies including Disney, Ericsson, IKEA, National Association of Convenience Stores, Ritz Carlton, Scandinavian Airline Systems, Sterling Pulp Chemicals, and Telia Mobile. This practical resource for executives, general managers, and managers in marketing, operations, and human resources reveals how to gain a competitive advantage by creating and implementing a strategic plan that will ultimately improve their organization's services. Written by the authors of the best-selling book Improving Customer Satisfaction, Loyalty, and Profit, this important new book will help business professionals to think and plan strategically to dramatically improve services, service development, and service innovation within their organizations.

Anders Gustafsson teaches service quality management at Karlstad University, Sweden. He is a research leader at the Service Research Center, working on topics such as technology readiness, user-driven service development, and customer orientation.

Michael D. Johnson is the D. Maynard Phelps Professor of Business Administration and professor of marketing at the University of Michigan Business School. He has been instrumental in the development of national satisfaction indices around the world. He teaches services marketing management in the Michigan MBA program.
Johnson and Gustafsson are the authors of UMBS best-selling book Improving Customer Satisfaction, Loyalty, and Profit, from Jossey-Bass.