Dr. Christian Grönroos is since 1999 Professor of Service and Relationship Marketing (prior to that 1984-1999 Professor of International and Industrial Marketing) at Hanken School of Economics Finland (Svenska handelshögskolan) and chairman of the board of the research and knowledge centre CERS Centre for Relationship Marketing and Service Management of this business university. He is a Honorary Professor at Nankai University and Tianjin Normal University, P.R.China as well as at Oslo School of Management, Norway. Between 2001 and 2007 he served as Guest Professor of Service Management at Lund University (Campus Helsingborg), Sweden. He is a leading scholar developing the areas of relationship marketing and customer relationship management. He is also one of the scholars pioneering modern service marketing and the service logic and one of the earliest proponents of the term service management to describe market-oriented management based on a service logic in service and manufacturing firms. He is one of the early developers of the school of service management and marketing thought that internationally has been labelled The Nordic school of marketing thought.

Christian Grönroos on service business logic: Click on the box below to view eight videoclips on service management and marketing.

 

He is a CSL Distinguished Faculty at Center for Services Leadership, Arizona State University, USA and an International Fellow at Service Research Centre (Centrum för tjänsteforskning), University of Karlstad, Sweden. In Finland he is scholarly affiliated (docent) with Åbo Academy University, Helsinki University of Technology and University of Tampere. He is also a Honourary Member of the Italian Marketing Association and also a Guest Professor at Marketing Research Center of China.

He has published extensively in several languages on service marketing and management and relationship marketing issues. His most recent books on the service and relationship perspective in business are Service Management and Marketing. Customer Management in Service Competition (John Wiley & Co, 2007;  3rd edition) and In Search of a New Logic for Marketing. Foundations of Contemporary Theory (John Wiley & Co, 2007). For a complete list of publications (since 2000), see the Publications section.

Since 1986 he is a distinguished member of the Finnish Society of Sciences and Letters.

In two separate studies about the academic and societal impact of professors in business administration in Finland in 2007 Christian Grönroos came out as the professor with the highest impact.

According to information from Emerald in 2007, his articles “From marketing mix to relationship marketing: Towards a paradigm shift in marketing” (Management Decision, lead article, 32, 2, 1994, 4-20) is the by far most downloaded ever of all articles published in any Emerald scientific journal.

His article “The relationship marketing process: communication, interaction, dialogue, value” (Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 19, 2, 2004, 99-113) has annually been the most downloaded article among all articles published in the Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, an Emerald journal, and is the overall most downloaded article published in the journal. Moreover, it is the article with the highest immediate impact, meaning the article that has most downloads during the six months after the month of publication

In a study of the academic impact of scholars who had published in the A category Journal of Business Research in 2000 one of his articles (“Relationship Approach to Marketing in Service Contexts: The Marketing and Organizational Behavior Interface”, Journal of Business Research, 20, 1, 1990, 3-11) came out as the one with the highest impact.

In a citation index study from 1994 comparing Finnish scholars in business administration with those in sociology, political science and public law Christian Grönroos was found to the internationally by far most cited scholar in business administration and in terms of citations on the same level as the most prominent scholars in sociology and political science in Finland (the reference disciplines in the study). Quoting from the study, “In business administration Grönroos comes first, then no one, then no one, and then the rest”.

In 1999 he received the American Marketing Association’s Career Contributions To Services Discipline Award, as the first scholar ever from outside North America to receive this award.

In 2002 he was awarded the Pro Oeconomia Prize for best business book published in Finland.

In 2003 he was honoured with Emerald Literati Club’s Lifetime Achievement Award for contributions in the field of marketing.

In 2007 he received the JBIM Award for distinguished contribution to the business-to-business field.

In Scandinavia he has been awarded for his service management research: The Ahlsell Award for outstanding research into marketing and distribution, and the Erik Kempe Award for his textbooks on service management and marketing.

Between 1999 and 2008 he served as the chairman of the jury for the CERS Award for Excellence in Relationship Marketing and Management.

Since 2008 he serves a member of the jury for the Finnish Quality Award.

In 2008 he was elected member of the board of the Finnish Society of Sciences and Letters.

In addition to his academic career he frequently lectures on service management and marketing as well as customer relationship management and relationship marketing in university-level executive programmes as well as in in-house seminars in service and manufacturing firms in Europe, North America, Latin America, China and Australasia.

Service marketing; relationship marketing; Ph.D and Master's thesis supervising; executive education in Hanken MBA and in-house programmes

Developing marketing based on a service logic: promise management and marketing; transforming manufacturing into service business

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Publications 2000 onwards in all languages:

Books and Monographs

Management e markting dei servizi. La gestione del cliente nel mercato dei servizi. In Italien. Torino: isedi, 2009

Marketing gerenciamento e servicos. In Portuguese. 3rd edition. Rio de Janeiro: Elsevier Editora Ltda, 2009

Palvelujen johtaminen ja markkinointi (Service management and marketing). In Finnish. 3rd edition. Espoo: WSOYpro, 2009

Service management och marknadsföring (Service management and marketing). In Swedish. 3rd edition. Malmö, Sweden: Liber, 2008

Fú wù guanli yu yíngxiao. Jiyu guke qunxi guanli celue (Service management and marketing. Customer management in service competition). In Chinese. 3^rd edition. Beijing: Publishing House of Electronics Industry, 2008

Service Management and Marketing. Customer Management in Service Competition. Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Co, 2007

In Search of a New Logic for Marketing. Foundations of Contemporary Theory. Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons, 2007

Fu wu mei guan li yu xing xiao (Service management and marketing). In Chinese. Taipei: Chuan Wei Book Company, 2005

Marketing. Gerenciamento e Servicios. Traducao da segunda edicao. In Portuguese Elsevier Editora Campus, 2004

Fú wù guanli yu yíngxiao. Jiyu guke qunxi guanli celue (Service management and marketing. Customer relationship management approach). In Chinese. Beijing: Publishing House of Electronics Industry, 2002

Management e marketing de servizi. Un approccio al management dei rapporti con la clientele (Management and marketing of services. A customer management approach). In Italian. Torino: ISEDI, 2002

Service management och marknadsföring – en CRM ansats. In Swedish. Malmö: Liber, 2002

Palveluiden johtaminen ja markkinointi (Service management and marketing). In Finnish. Espoo: WSOY, 2001

Palvelut ja asiakassuhteet. Markkinoinnin polttopisteet (Services and customer relationships in the focus of marketing) (co-edited together with Raija Järvinen). In Finnish. Helsinki: Kauppakaari, 2001

Service Management and Marketing. A Customer Relationship Management Approach. Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Co, 2000

Scholarly articles

Service as Business Logic: Implications for Value Creation and Marketing (together with Annika Ravald). Journal of Service Management, Vol. 22, No. 2, 2011 (forthcoming)

Rethinking Marketing Communication: From Integrated Marketing Communication to Relationship Communication (together with Åke Finne). Journal of Marketing Communication, Vol. 15, No. 2-3, 2009, pp. 179-195

Promise Management: Regaining Customer Management for Marketing. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, Vol. 24, No. 5/6, 2009, pp. 351-359

Service Logic Revisited: Who Creates Value? And Who Co-creates? European Business Review, Vol. 20, No. 4, 2008, pp. 298-314

Wei Ying Xiao Li Lun Fa Zhan Xun Zhao Xin De Lu Biao (On definition of marketing: finding a new roadmap for marketing). Journal of Tianjin University of Commerce, Vol. 28, No. 1, 2008, pp. 56-61

Love at First Sight or a Long-Term Affair? Different Relationship levels as Predictors of Customer Commitment (together with Maria Sääksjärvi, Katarina Hellén and Johanna Gummerus). Journal of Relationship Marketing, Vol. 6, No. 1, 2007, pp. 45-61

Är alla företag tjänsteföretag? Tjänsteperspektiv på kunders värdeskapande och i företags affärslogik. (Are all firms service firms? Service perspective on customers’ value creatin and firms’ business logic). In Swedish. Ekonomiska Samfundets Tidskrift (The Journal of the Economic Society of Finland), 3/2007, p. 113-122

Gamla och nya metaforer för företags marknadsföring – från kock till scout. (Old and new metaphors in marketing – from cook to scout). In Swedish. SPHINX Finska Vetenskaps-societetens årsbok (annual publication of the Finnish Society of Science and Letters) 2007, pp. 33-39

On Defining Marketing: Finding a New Roadmap for Marketing. Marketing Theory, Vol. 6, No. 4, 2006, pp. 395-417

Adopting a Service Logic for Marketing. Marketing Theory, Vol. 6, No. 3, 2006, pp. 317-333

Marketing otnoshenij: Diapazon strategij (Relationship marketing: strategic range). In Russian. Marketing Uslug (Service marketing), No. 4 (08), 2006, pp. 262-267

Conceptualising Communication Strategy from a Relational Perspective (together with Kirsti Lindberg-Repo). Industrial Marketing Management, Vol. 33, 2004 , pp. 229-239

The Relationship Marketing Process: Communication, Interaction, Dialogue, Value. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, Vol. 19, No. 2, 2004, pp. 99-113

Service Productivity: Toward a Conceptualization of the Transformation of Inputs into Economic Results in Services (together with Katri Ojasalo). Journal of Business Research, Vol. 57, No. 4, 2004, pp. 414-423

Tongguo Guke Guanxi Fuwuhua Qinghua Guke Joanzhi Guocheng: Guke Guanxi Shidai DeYingxiao Xin Mingti (Value support of customer relationships: New theses in the age of marketing). In Chinese. Nankai Business Review, Vol. 6, No. 4, 2004, pp. 4-18

Taking a customer focus back into the boardroom: can relationship marketing do it?. Journal of Marketing Theory, Vol. 3, No. 1, 2003, pp. 171-173

Contemporary Marketing: A Comparison of Practices in New Zealand, Scandinavia and Thailand (together with Roderick Brodie and Tiina Helenius). The Asian Journal of Marketing. Special Millennium Issue, No. 1, 2001, pp. 72-81

The Perceived Service Quality Concept – A Mistake. Managing Service Quality, Vol. 11, No. 3, 2001, pp. 150-152

Communication, interaction et “valeur-consommateur” dans les services (Communication, interaction and value consumption in services). In French. Market Management, No 4, 2001, pp. 64-69

The NetOffer Model: A Case Example from the Virtual Marketspace (together with Fredrik Heinonen, Kristina Isoniemi and Michael Lindholm). Management Decision, Vol. 38, Vol. 4, 2000, pp. 243-252

Vad som är bra för företaget var också bra för samhället – hur är det idag? (What was good for the firm was also beneficial for society – how is it today?). In Swedish. Ekonomiska Samfundets Tidskrift (The Journal of the Economic Society of Finland), Vol. 53, No. 1, 2000, pp. 89-90

Il marketing dei servizi: consumo e marketing di processo (The marketing of services: comsumption and marketing of processes). In Italian. Problemi di Gestione, Vol. 23, No. 1, 2000, pp. 79-100

Creating a Relationship Dialogue: Communication, Interaction and Value. The Marketing Review, Vol. 1, No. 1, 2000, pp. 5-14

Il marketing dei servizi: consumo e marketing di processo (The marketing of services: comsumption and marketing of processes). In Italian. Problemi di Gestione, Vol. 23, No. 1, 2000, pp. 79-100

Relationship marketing: Interaction, dialogue and value. Revista Eusopean de Dirección y Economía de la Empresa, Vol. 9, Núm. 3, 2000, pp. 13-24

Book chapters, conference papers, working papers etc.

The Hybrid Consumer (together with Hanna Leppänen). Working paper 543. Hanken School of Economics Finland, 2009 

Relationship Marketing as Promise Management. In Maclaran, Pauline, Saren, Michael, Stern, Barbara & Tadajewski, Mark, eds.,  The SAGE Handbook of Marketing Theory. Los Angeles, CA: Sage, 2009, pp. 397-412

On Defining Marketing: Finding a New Roadmap for Marketing (published in the Marketing Theory, 6, 4, 2006). In Tajadewski, Mark & Jones, D.G. Brian, eds., History of Marketing Thought, Volume III. Los Angeles, CA: Sage, 2008, pp. 416-437

Extending the Logic: Rethinking Value Creation and Co-creation and its Marketing Implications. Lusch, R., Vargo, S. & Leyton, R., eds., Proceedngs from the Forum on Markets and Marketing: Extending the Service-Dominant Logic. University of New South Wales, Sydney, 2008, pp. 348-375

Adopting a Service Business Logic in Relational Business-to-Business Marketing. Ballantyne, D., aitken, R. & Williams J., eds., Proceedings from Otago Forum 2: The Service-Dominant Logic of Marketing – From Propositions to Practice, Otago University, Dunedin, New Zealand, 2008 (25 pages; electronically published)

The Interaction Concept and Its Implications for Value Creation and Marketing in Service Businesses (together with Tore Strandvik). In Anttila, M. & Rajala, A., eds., Fishing with Business Nets – Keeping Thoughts on the Horizon. Helsinki School of Economics, Finland, 2008, pp. 51-64

Defining Service Marketing from a Value Creation and Promise Management Perspective. Wei Fuxieng, ed., Proceedings from the International Research Conference on Service Management, Tianjin Normal University, 2008 (addendum; 33 pages)

The Interaction Concept and Its Implications for Value Creation and Marketing in Service Businesses (together with Tore Strandvik). In Anttila, M. & Rajala, A., eds., Fishing with Business Nets – Keeping Thoughts on the Horizon. Helsinki School of Economics, Finland, 2008, pp. 51-64

The Four Dimensions of Value in Branding: Moving the Customer from Value Proposition to Value Fulfilment (together with Kirsti Lindberg-Repo). In Podnar, K. & Jancic, Z., eds., Corporate and Marketing Communications as a Strategic Resource: Response to Contemporary use, Challenges and Criticism. Proceedings from the 13^th International Conference on Corporate and Marketing Communications. University of Ljubljana 2008, pp. 363-367

A Dynamic Communication Model: A Tool in Relationship Communication. In Gopalakrishnan, G., ed., Integrated Marketing Communication. Concepts and Cases. Icfai Books, The Icfai University Press, India, 2008, pp. 103-124

Palvelyritykseksi muuntautumisen haasteet ja keinot (Becoming a service business: challenges and means). In Finnish. In Grönroos, C & al., Teollisuuden palveluista palveluliiketoimintaan (From industrial services to service business). Helsinki: Teknologiainfor Teknova, 2007, pp. 28-46

In Search of a New Logic for Marketing: The Multi-Faceted Service Logic. In Tyler, K., Martin, C.L., Harris, L.C., Jing Tan & Benamaraoui, A, eds., Service Science: Trans-disciplinary Approaches and Advances for the 22^nd Century – Taxi to the Chang Runway. Proceedings from the 21st Service Workshop, Academy of Marketing and University of Westminster, 15-17 November, 2007, London (addendum)

What Can a Service Logic Offer Marketing Theory?. In Lusch, R.F. & Vargo, S.L., eds., The Service-Dominant Logic of Marketing, Armonk, NY:M.E.Sharpe, 2006, pp.354-364

Towards a Dynamic Communication Model: A Useful Tool in Relationship Communication (together with Åke Finne). Podnar, K. & Jančič, Contemporary Issues in Corporate and Marketing Communications: Towards a Socially Responsible Future, 11^th Conference on Corporate and Marketing Communications, University of Ljubljana, 2006, pp. 191-199

Tavaralogiikasta palvelulogiikkaan – liiketoimintaosaamisen keskeinen muutostrendi (From goods logic to service logic – a key trend in management). In Liiketoimintaosaaminen kilpailukykymme keskiössä. (Business knowledge at the centre of our competitive advantage) In Finnish, eds. Lehtonen, U. & Mittilä, T., Jyväskylä: Kauppatieteellinen Yhdistys, 2006, pp. 235-241

Från varulogik till tjänstelogik (From goods logic to service logic). In Corvellec, Hervé & Lindquist, Hans (eds.), Servicemötet – Multidisciplinära öppningar (The service encounter – multi-disciplinary approaches). In Swedish. Liber, Malmö 2005, pp. 227-234

Applying a Service Logic in Marketing. Otago Forum, Conference on the Service-dominated Logic in Marketing, Otago University, New Zealand, November 19-22, 2005

What Can a Service Logic Offer Marketing Theory?. Competitive paper. Frontiers in Service Conference, Arizona State University and American Marketing Association, Tempe Arizona, October 7-9, 2005

What Can A Service Logic Offer Marketing Theory? Working paper No. 508. Helsingfors/Helsinki: Hanken Swedish School of Economics Finland, 2005

Att kommunicera med kunden – dialog eller bara parallella monologer? (Communikating with customers – dialogue or parallel monologus only?). In Ekman, Bo (ed.), Bank, kund och samhälle i globaliseringens tid. (Bank, customer and society in an era of globalization) In Swedish. Ekerlids Förlag, Stockholm 2003, pp. 91-103

Asiakkaiden odotusten ylittäminen – paveluyrityksen johtaminen (Exceeding customer expectations - managing service firms). In Kilpailuetumme. Tutkimusmatka kehittyvään K-kauppiasyrittäjyyteen (Our competitiv advantage. An expedition into K-retailer entrepreneurship). In Finnish. Helsinki: K-kauppiasliitto, 2003, pp. 122-131

Implementing a CRM Perspective in Marketing: Servicizing the Customer Relationship to Support Customers’ Value Processes. Research report presented at the 2003 AMA Servsig Research Conference, Reims, France, June 12-14, 2003

Who Moved My Value? Customers, not companies, create value (together with Lawrence A. Crosby and Sheree L. Johnson). Marketing Management, Vol. 11, No. 5 (September-October), 2002, pp. 10-11

Marketing Theses in the Age of Customer Relationships: Servicizing the Customer Relationship to Support Customers’ Value Processes. Keynote speech, Forum on Service Management. Tianjin University of Commerce. Tianjin Economic and Technologal Special Development Area, P.R.China, 10-11 October 2002

From a Paradigm Shift to Implementation: Servicizing Customer Relationships. Invited plenary session invitation. Tenth International Colloquium in Relationship Marketing. Universität Kaiserslautern. Kaiserslautern, 1-3 October 2002

Servicising Customer Relationships: Supporting Customer Value Through Customer Relationship Management. Plenary session presentation. Seventh Research Conference on Service Management. IAE/Université Aix-Provence, La Londe les Maures, France 29-31 May 2002

Utveckling av en relationsdialog – en integrerad del av framgångsrik relationsmarknadsföring. (Developing a relationship dialogue – an integral part of successful relationship marketing). In Grönroos, Christian & Järvinen, Raija, toim., Palvelut ja asiakassuhteet. Markkinoinnin polttopisteessä (Services and customer relationships at the centre of marketing). In Finnish. Festbok till Uolevi Lehtinen. Vantaa: Kauppakaari, 2001, pp. 178-191

I Did It My Way. Contribution to Services Marketing Self-Portraits: Introspections, Reflections, and Glimpses from the Experts, edited by Fisk, Raymond P, Grove, Stephen J. & John, Joby. Chicago, IL: American Marketing Association, 2000, pp. 71-108

Service Productivity: Toward a Conceptualisation of the Transformation of Inputs into Customer Value in Services (with Katri Ojasalo). Working paper No. 419. Helsinki/ Helsingfors, Finland: Hanken Swedish School of Economics and Business Administration, 2000 (21 p.)

The Marketing of Services. In Blois, Keith, ed., The Oxford Textbook of Marketing, Oxford University Press, 2000, pp. 500-516

Relationship Marketing: The Nordic School Perspective. In Sheth, Jagdish N. & Parvatiyar, Atul, eds., Handbook of Relationship Marketing, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2000, pp. 95-118

Service Reflections: Service Marketing Comes of Age. In Swartz, Teresa A. & Iacobucci, Dawn, eds., Handbook of Services Marketing & Management. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2000, pp. 13-16

The Relationship Marketing Process: Interaction, Communication, Dialogue, Value. Interaction, Dialogue and Knowledge Generation in Relationship Marketing. Second WWW Conference on Relationship Marketing, Monash University, November 1999/ February 2000