Preface: special QUIS 10 section of the International Journal of Service Industry Management

Citation

Ford, R.C. and Dickson, D.R. (2008), "Preface: special QUIS 10 section of the International Journal of Service Industry Management", International Journal of Service Industry Management, Vol. 19 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijsim.2008.08519baa.002

Preface: special QUIS 10 section of the International Journal of Service Industry Management

Article Type: Guest editorial From: International Journal of Service Industry Management, Volume 19, Issue 2.

With nearly 10 percent of the world's GDP now generated by the hospitality/tourism industry (WTO, 2005), it seemed fitting that QUIS 10 emphasized the importance of this business by location and content. In June 2007, over 150 service researchers from five different continents assembled in Orlando for this QUIS gathering. Serving as co-hosts were the University of Central Florida's Rosen College of Hospitality Management and the College of Business Administration. Attendees had the opportunity to learn the latest developments in research and practice while mixing with researchers from many other countries, renewing friendships, and hearing presentations by service exemplars from a variety of industries.

At QUIS 10 in Orlando, we had plenary presentations by service industry experts from banking, healthcare, restaurants, information services, and entertainment address the group. The attendees also had the unique opportunity to see applied Guestology^w in action via a field trip to Disney's Epcot where we heard from the leaders of this world famous exemplar of customer service. The meeting also had expert panels presenting symposia on current developments in service science, emerging topics in service management and marketing research, and the past, present, and future of the “Nordic School.” These sessions complimented the paper sessions by allowing participants to learn more about the current state-of-the-art of what they are researching and reaching.

This special section of IJSIM brings you some of the best papers presented at QUIS 10. We include here a group of papers that demonstrate the wide variety of topics covered at QUIS 10. Two of these won best paper awards and the others were selected because of their unique and important contributions the selection committee saw in their presentation. Authors of papers selected were invited to expand upon their conference papers to allow them to offer greater details and more elaborate development of their key arguments. All papers have been through a rigorous review process. We are proud of these papers and hope that readers will find useful and important new knowledge that can inform their own research.

The first paper by Oliva and Bean offers an extensive elaboration of their earlier work on the value and use of service simulations. The second by Kumar, Smart, Maddern, and Maull, does something else; it provides an empirical analysis of customer satisfaction using a bank environment. The third paper by Steinke offers an interesting approach to studying the impact of the service environment on the serviced experience. Finally, the last paper in this issue is written by one of this journal's Founders, Bob Johnston. This paper presents an excellent discussion of the application of production management techniques and thinking to the service experiences.

The papers offer a wide assortment of topics that represent the diversity and quality of this year's conference. We hope that this special issue informs your perspective and stimulates ideas for further study. While we are sorry, we missed you if you were unable to attend, we hope that these excellent articles give you an insight into the exciting discussions and presentations that those who did attend experienced. We hope that this also encourages you to attend the next QUIS Conference.

As the organizers of QUIS 10, we would be remiss if we did not recognize the contribution of the founders of QUIS for their invaluable support and guidance in producing the conference in Orlando. Without Steve Brown from Arizona State University, Bo Edvardsson of Karlstad University, and Bob Johnston from Warwick University, we would have been in great trouble. Their confidence and direction help create a (even if we do say so ourselves) wonderful event. Special kudos go to Bob Johnston who put the proceeding together. A monumental task that neither of us relished and Bob did seemingly without effort although we all know differently. We thank these three legends for their rapid response to our requests and wonderful advice.

Robert C. Ford and Duncan R. DicksonGuest Editors

Reference

WTO (2005), Tourism Highlights 2005 Edition, World Tourism Organization, Madrid.