ISSIP AT THE 24TH COMPETE THROUGH SERVICE SYMPOSIUM
Earlier this month, I, together with several members of ISSIP senior leadership team, had the distinct pleasure of attending the very first ISSIP co-sponsored sessions at the Arizona State University, School of Business Center for Services Leadership, 24th Compete Through Service Symposium, in Phoenix, Arizona, USA.
This year’s theme was appropriately titled: “Intersection”, given the increasing interdisciplinary nature of services and innovation. Check out the symposium blog here and meet the brilliant people responsible for this great event.
The very first ISSIP Fellow Award was presented to Dr. Mary Jo Bitner, Edward M. Carson Chair in Service Marketing, CSL Executive Director, for her outstanding contributions to the field of services for over two decades. The award was presented during the opening plenary by Jim Spohrer, Director IBM Global Universities Program and ISSIP BOD Member, who invited ISSIP President, Ammar Rayes, to present the Award.
During the 3-day conference, more than two dozen of speakers and moderators covered diverse set of services related topics in technology, healthcare, retail, logistics, and more….
Professor Lou Freund of San Jose State University and Dr. Spohrer co-led a very engaging 3-hr pre-conference workshop introducing ISSIP My-T instrument, a tool designed to measure professional depth and breadth, to more than 30 attendees. The concept of “T-shaped person” or “T-shaped manager” has been discussed as an imperative for professional development in the 21st century by many including Tim Brown, CEO of IDEO, Henry Chesbrough, Professor at the Haas Business School, UC Berkeley, and executive director for The Center for Open Innovation.
ISSIP also held two panel discussions on the 2nd day of the conference as part of the Service Analytics Track titled “ISSIP Service Analytics – Empowering Service Innovations Through Smart Analytics.” Professor Haluk Demirkan, University of Washington moderated both sessions. Panel speakers were Charlie Bess (HP), Jim Spohrer (IBM), Ammar Rayes (CISCO), Yassi Moghaddam (ISSIP), and Don Allen (Cisco). This was a terrific first ISSIP event at a major services conference, and for that a few acknowledgements are in order:
First, we are indebted to Dr. Mary Jo Bitner for allowing us to co-create with her outstanding team. Many thanks to Dr. Haluk Demirkan, ISSIP Ambassador to CSL, and BOD Member did a fantastic job of designing the overall interactions with CSL, and leading the panel sessions; and to Dr. Lou Freund, ISSIP Advisor, for designing and leading a very engaging workshop. Last, but not least, we are grateful as always to the support of our institutional members: Cisco, IBM, and HP, namely Ammar Rayes, Distinguished Engineers, Cisco, Don Allen, Senior Manager, Cisco, Jim Spohrer, IBM, and Charlie Bess, HP Fellow.