CTF 25 years

- Young enough to be brave and creative, and old enough to be competitive and acknowledged, said Rector åsa Bergenheim as she opened the anniversary celebration, and she continued by congratulating CTF and welcomed the guests to Karlstad, the city of the sun.
Some reflections - looking ahead
Patrik Larsson, Professor and Director at CTF gave a brief reflection back in time and spoke of challenges and ground breaking research done in the past.
- Good relations, the fact that we gather and have coffee together, the strong support from the University and our partners are the three key factors that has contributed to building CTF, says Patrik Larsson, the cooperation with the students is also a valuable part of the operation.
The anniversary was less about nostalgia - even if a slideshow showing pictures through the years had many smiling in recognition- but more looking at the future. The last 25 years CTF has consciously built an operation and is today one of the worlds leading research centers in service research and service innovation. Professor Stephen Vargo, University of Hawaii, USA, spoke about how CTF has contributed to over 90 scientific papers, articles and dissertations in the field of Service Dominant Logic - which is the largest number in the world. Bo Edvardsson, Director at CTF quoted IKEA´s Ingvar Kamprad to catch the vision for the coming years:
-Most things are yet to be done - what a glorious future!
Passion - the road to success
The highlight was Micael Dahlén, well-known speaker, author and Professor at Stockholm School of Economics. In an astonishing pace he conveyed the recipe for success as well as thought-provoking reflections on time, space and place. 'What to do when what you do does not matter' was the topic and if it doesn´t matter what you do, then maybe it is a question and when, how and when? Above all - do what you do with passion!
During the event, CTF also presented some updates on the latest research within a field that is still growing, where new research is needed and where young researchers are becoming increasingly important. The presentations alternated between theory development and more practical examples, where the interaction with companies, including Christer Johansson from ICA Maxi, in Karlstad and Richard Lundmark, director of research at Ericsson, spoke about why the service perspective is becoming increasingly important and how it actually deals with a different way of mindset than the traditional production logic.
During the pause the guests got a chance to take a look at Eye-Tracking - a method CTF is using to evaluate how a customer is affected by how different merchandise are presented in a store.
Samot 5 years
It was not only CTF who celebrated - Samot also had a reason to celebrate. During the last five years Samot has conducted research on public transport from a service perspective and is a part of the research foundation Vinnova Vinn Excellence center. And as a part of CTF it was natural to celebrate together. Public transport was a distinct element in the anniverary with guests such as Lars Bull, CEO of Värmlandstrafik and Charlotte Wäreborn Schultz, CEO of Swedish Public Transport, on the stage.
Awards and honors
During the day a number of awards were presented. Almega, the employers- and trade organization for service companies presented the Service innovation promoter of the year to Charlotte Brogren, Directorgeneral of Vinnova.
New International Fellows of CTF were presented: Ronald Rust, Professor at University of Maryland, USA, Maria Holmlund, Professor at Hanken, Finland, David Bowen, Dean at Thunderbird, USA, Jay Kandampully, Professor at Ohio State University, USA, Irene Ng, Professor at University of Warwick, UK, Stephen Vargo, Professor at University of Hawaii, Manoa, USA and Jochen Wirtz, Associate Professor at University of Singapore. The award is given for 'long term and significant contributions to the service research field and to the development of CTF.'
CTF´s own 'Oscar', CTF Service Academy Award, presented annually to a promising, young researcher or Ph D. student was presented to Henrietta Huzell, Ph D in Working life science, who has done research on the service industries demands on appearance when hiring staff. Henrietta Huzell pointed out that her research has been published in more magazines and tabloids than in scientific journals. She has also been invited to several television talk shows, which has contributed to that the results has been debated in the society.
The CTF Anniversary was ended in the evening with a birthday celebration and a Silver Anniversary Dinner. And by judging the day and the praise, the next 25 years at CTF look bright.
See the slide show, pictures, interviews and presentations from the Anniversary here.