Best Practice Day hosted by the Institute for Industrial Management

The next Best Practice Day takes place on November 22. This time, our host is our member company FH JOANNEUM Kapfenberg in Styria. In addition to the presentation of completed diploma theses on the topics of “Service Pricing” and “Maturity of Industrial Services”, our participants will gain insights into the International Industrial Management programme. The studies combine management skills with expert knowledge. Their focus is on supply chain management and the future of production, putting the main focus on “Service Engineering”.

A lab of ideas: Students creating concepts for new business models @Marija Kanizaj | 2018

Do you speak service?

On October 24, 2019, the representatives of the 24 members of the Styrian Service Cluster got together for the organization’s 6th annual event in the Erzherzog Johann hall at the WKO Styria. Together with cooperation partner ICS Internationalisierungscenter Steiermark, around 50 participants heard more about the diverse influences on global service under the motto “Do you speak service?”. Some of the main focuses were cultural differences and variety of points of view, as well as the particular requirements of individual markets and customers in global customer service.

Top keynote speaker
Prof. Harald Friedl, FH JOANNEUM Health and Tourism Management
, who has been working as an international travel agent and journalist in tourism and development cooperation since the early 90s, gave a thrilling keynote speech entitled “Service challenges in times of digital globalisation” on the wider context and also contradictions between digitalization, communication and happy customers within service.

Interactive workshops and sharing best practices
Using the World Café method, the first workshop was dedicated to the topic “Which service business models and processes can be implemented in my country?”, led by Berndt Jesenko from FH CAMPUS 02. The next working group was entitled “What are the challenges that arise from linguistic and cultural differences?” and was chaired by Andreas Tauschmann from Binder + Co. The third task, led by Klaus Prem von Rosendahl Nextrom was to define “What does ‘service’ mean in different countries?”.
Service experts from Brazil, South Korea and Greece gave further fascinating insights. Service managers from Andritz, AVL List and KNAPP spoke in person and via video link about the challenges they face on a daily basis within international customer service.

Image video and #serviceonair première
In addition to the presentation of the results from the videos on the cluster’s own YouTube channel dedicated to different job profiles that showcased the diverse service careers represented within the cluster organisation, the Styrian Service Cluster’s new image film also premièred as well as the #serviceonair radio commercials that were produced as part of joint team-building exercises with the radio station Soundportal.

Service Engineering & Management study programme

We are delighted to report on another successful project of the Styrian Service Cluster. In autumn 2017, the part-time study programme “Service Engineering & Management” will launch. The three-term master’s programme at the FH CAMPUS 02 focusses on service business models, strategic service management and service controlling. The Styrian Service Cluster and the member company CAMPUS 02 Information Technologies & Business Informatics, is establishing an important milestone in the field of service education.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our member companies for their dedication and expertise during the planning of the study programme content: 19 companies who operate in an international sphere and who meet new challenges in the service division on a daily basis. An extremely practical approach and project-orientated work will be central in the study programme. “The students can expect a brand new type of service training that over three semesters will not only enable them to run service business models but to also develop technology-based business models based around smart services and Industry 4.0,” said the director of the study programme Stefan Grünwald, speaking about the core topics, adding “the master’s programme will train excellent specialists and managerial personnel with an understanding of the relationships between service business strategy, service processes, service technologies and operative service management with service controlling.”
Click here for further details on the study programme and the application process.