The CSL Continues to be at the Vanguard of Service Education with the Groundbreaking Strategic Service Institute

“This was the best management training program I have ever attended. The faculty and speakers were both knowledgeable and inspirational! I couldn’t help but imagine all the areas where the tools we learned would help our organization better service our customers. I came away feeling even more passionate about the work I do every day.” Jessica Lemus, Technical Support Supervisor, Lutron Electronics

Strategic Service Institute &

Advanced Service Leadership Alumni

March 13-17, 2017

In March, the Center for Services Leadership welcomed over 40 professionals to the first Strategic Service Institute (SSI). The Institute is a high-impact service education experience that brings new knowledge, frameworks, and approaches into an actionable learning journey specifically around service foundations and strategic service leadership. The development of this new program was born out of the desire to provide the most relevant and leading approaches in services from both practitioners and faculty experts.  

SSI’s format is both modular and versatile. Participants acquire the solid foundational knowledge for achieving excellence in service management.  They can then swiftly bring that knowledge from the first module into the next, where the essentials of advanced service strategy are gained. Upon completion of the program, participants can apply the tools and knowledge right away in their jobs and within their organizations to advance service leadership.

Many of the Center’s member firms were at the forefront in sending teams from their companies to attend the March program. This provided the opportunity for common knowledge and strategies to be shared across their organizations. Douglas Olsen, SSI Faculty Director and Associate Professor of Marketing, shared the experience: “SSI proved to work well for individuals, but we found that it really has an immense impact when members of an organization can come and work together as a team. The teams involved were able to gain new insights as a group and face-to-face. This provided a retreat where key individuals could work together to craft their solutions and develop a specific action plan moving forward.” 

There are many unique elements to SSI that provide differentiation from the typical executive education experience. Participants are tasked with bringing a specific challenge that is addressed and worked on over the course of the program. Team-based project work time is provided for all, with renowned faculty experts available for guidance. Participants also benefit from working directly with an executive coach on their specific challenges, which provides real-time feedback.  CSL Co-Executive Director and AT&T Professor of Service Leadership, Wolfgang Ulaga, notes: “Beforehand, we work with participants and teams to formulate their service challenge, bring it to SSI and work on and define an action plan that they will continue to implement when they return to work the following week, and beyond.” 

In celebrating the success of this first run of the program, we are extremely excited to announce the next Institute will be held September 11-15, 2017.  If you were not able to be part of the inaugural program, we hope to you can participate with us in September!  Visit wpcarey.asu.edu/institute for more details and information.