The Service Research Center (CTF)

Robots guiding tourists, textile garment renovation, and the Ängsbacka course center in Molkom were among the highlights of Customer Innovation Day 2025.

The Swedish Innovation Index is based on responses from customers who rank companies and organizations based on their innovation capabilities and how attractive these innovations are perceived to be. Customers evaluate offerings, delivery, service, and interactions.

Why is customer-based innovation interesting? asked Per Kristensson, Director of the Service Research Center (CTF) at Karlstad University, to the audience.

An intense and eventful half-year is coming to an end – and there is much to be proud of. Recently, I had the privilege of leading the international conference, QUIS19 – The 19th International Research Symposium on Service Excellence in Management, in Rome. Over 275 participants from around the world gathered to be inspired and to discuss how research can help address the major societal challenges of our time – such as AI development and sustainability. It was a meeting marked by engagement, optimism for the future, and important conversations.

On 3–6 June, over 275 conference participants gathered in Rome to attend QUIS19 – The 19th International Research Symposium on Service Excellence in Management. This international conference, now considered the foremost in service research, has its roots in Karlstad – and began as an idea at the Service Research Center (CTF).

“QUIS was born at a time when services were gaining importance but still remained a relatively unexplored research field,” says Per Kristensson. CTF’s founder, Bo Edvardsson, together with American research colleagues, saw the need for an international platform for dialogue and knowledge exchange on issues related to service development, innovation, and value creation."

When the Volvo Research and Education Foundation (VREF) celebrated its 40th anniversary with a global conference on sustainable mobility, Lars E Olsson, professor of psychology at the Service Research Center (CTF), was invited as one of the speakers.

As a Nordic expert, Lars presented groundbreaking research on how hope can function as a driving force for behaviour change and increased well-being in people’s daily travel – a perspective that is attracting international interest.

The concept of quiet quitting has become a hot topic of conversation in the workplace. According to a new study, it is not just about lazy employees or a demanding younger generation. Alexandre Sukhov, new docent in business administration at Karlstad Business School, is one of the authors behind the study.

Quiet quitting means that employees stop engaging more than necessary – they do their job, but nothing beyond that. The study “Exploring the role of information systems-induced depletion, boreout syndrome, social media use on quiet quitting among digital cohorts” shows that this is often a reaction to socio-technical stress in today’s digitalised work environments.

The study shows that two factors stand out:

Charlotte Bäccman and Alexandre Sukhov have been appointed associate professors at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at Karlstad University. Here, they share insights into their research, what drives them, and thoughts about the future.

Charlotte Bäccman, associate professor of Psychology at CTF – what is your research about?