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The opening chapter takes the reader through three aspects of customer experience management (CEM) – the what of customer experience (CX), the why of CX and the how of CEM. The authors have collected, synthesised and presented information from research as well as practice in this chapter. It helps the readers build a perspective on CX, sieving through various notions, philosophies and terms that have come to mean CX. The chapter also establishes the need for understanding CEM and executing it using the framework presented in the ‘how’ section of the chapter. The chapter concludes with a short overview of each of the following chapters.

Employing the notion of balanced growth postulated by competence-based literature, the present study submits that a firm’s growth strategy can be understood as its ability to manage the interplay of building and leveraging existing competence within the business context. The synergistic effects resulting from the creation of a self-reinforcing cycle of competence building and leveraging initiatives then drive the achievement of superior performance. To examine the validity and usefulness of this conception, we conduct a systematic investigation on the strategy-performance link of contract electronics manufacturers based in Taiwan, who have emerged as the competitive global supply base in electronics and computer industries. Empirical results based on a panel of business-level operating data show that while building product-related competence is essential to the contract manufacturer’s achievement of higher profitability, leveraging competence between subcontracting services and own-brand business will significantly enhance both profitability and sale growth. The implications of formulating a sustainable growth strategy for contract manufacturers in the context of horizontally configured industries, and suggestions for future research endeavors on competence-based management are discussed.

A growing academic literature seeks to define corporate environmental management (CEM) and understand its implications for corporate behavior and environmental outcomes. However, the research questions are of more than just academic interest, as the answers have immediate consequences for business strategy, environmental quality, and the relationship between CEM and public policy. How does CEM differ from more general notions of corporate management? Are there incentives for CEM that go beyond improving the bottom line? Does CEM produce genuine improvements in environmental performance, or is it simply a public relations form of “green-washing”? To what extent, if any, does CEM serve as a complement or substitute for more centralized forms of environmental policy? Questions such as these are the focus of theoretical and applied research in a variety of disciplines, including, but not limited to, economics, sociology, psychology, political science, management, and industrial ecology.

In the tourism sector, the differentiation is difficult in the commoditized market. The main challenge for businesses is to design the experiences which would create awareness and difference. With this foresight, this chapter aims to show an experience-based service design path built around various elements such as sensations, emotions, human relations, innovations, and values.

This chapter is based on extensive literature review, including books, journals, articles, conference papers, and search reports. Furthermore, the Singapore Airlines web page was used as an important source of information to examine the instructional path built suggested in the literature review.

As it has been determined by the general review, experience-based service design contains different components, and with these evaluations the experience-based service design was established in this chapter within three steps: explore, design, and positioning. Furthermore, on the case study of Singapore Airlines, the tracks of these three steps have been investigated. Especially, explore and design dimensions have been identified to be used mainly during the experience design.

From the highlights of the literature review, an instructional path for experience-based service design and implementation process is highlighted in three parts and this instructional path would guide business managers/experience engineers.

As the experience-based service design has been increasingly receiving the attention of the business’ managers in the tourism sector, an overview examination of experience design, and being instructional guide will direct them to implicate the dimensions in practice.

This chapter brings all the key points from each of the earlier chapters together towards a framework for crafting and executing an effective customer experience (CX) strategy. We go back to the ‘how of customer experience management (CEM)’ discussed in the first chapter and connect the dots for the readers through the process and include the common roadblocks and challenges that come in the way to achieve CX results. In this chapter we also link up customer experience to the big ideas of customer centricity and customer engagement. Finally, we discuss the future of customer experience and how CXM/CEM continued to evolve during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In light of the data economy, data protection law is a key legal element for being able to leverage data-driven innovation and is often regarded as a limitation for businesses and service design. Contrasting this traditional view, this chapter argues why designing with privacy in mind is a win-win situation, not only, but especially in the context of data-based services. On the backdrop of new regulations around the globe setting incentives, we show how research in the domain of usable privacy can be leveraged to embed innovative privacy features for customers into digital services as competitive advantage. Building upon these insights, we argue that a well-designed privacy and/or data protection process should be a key element for customer experience management.

In this interview, Dr. Günter K. Stahl reflects on his career trajectory as a globally renowned educator and how he pivoted from being a global mobility scholar to one of the pioneers of the responsible global leadership domain. For Dr. Stahl, the ethical component is an integral – and essential – part of any meaningful definition of leadership, and he illustrates this conviction with several examples from his research and corporate practice. Building on his trailblazing work in this domain, Dr. Stahl also identifies critical areas for future research that can help address our societies' grand challenges. He further draws on his deep involvement in designing and delivering postgraduate and executive education programs to discuss how educators can better incorporate these ideas into impactful educational interventions, which he refers to as “consciousness-raising experiences,” thereby inducing lasting positive change in participants.

Dr. Stahl is a Chair and Professor of International Management and Director of the Center for Sustainability Transformation and Responsibility (STaR) at the Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU Vienna). Prior to joining WU, he served for eight years on the faculty of INSEAD, and he is an Academic Fellow and/or Visiting Professor of several renowned institutions, including the Centre for International HRM at Judge Business School, University of Cambridge, the Centre for Global Workforce Strategy at Simon Fraser University, Duke University's Fuqua School of Business, the D'Amore-McKim School of Business at Northeastern University, the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and Hitotsubashi University.

Dr. Stahl is an expert on purpose-driven leadership, the drivers of corporate responsibility and irresponsibility, grand societal challenges and their implications for strategy and management, and the changing nature of global work. His research has been published in leading academic journals, profiled in a wide range of media outlets including the Wall Street Journal and Financial Times, and been recognized by prestigious awards including the Carolyn Dexter Award of the Academy of Management, the JIBS/Palgrave Macmillan 2020 Decade Award for the most influential article in international business studies over the past decade, the SAGE/Journal of Leadership Award for the most significant contribution to advance leadership and organizational studies, and the Academy of Management Best Paper in International Ethics, Social Responsibility, and Sustainability Award.

Dr. Stahl is also an accomplished teacher who has won numerous Outstanding Teacher and Program Director awards, including six CEMS Course of the Year Awards for the most highly rated course in the CEMS network worldwide, the Award for Teaching Excellence in the Executive MBA Program of HEC Université de Genève, and the Outstanding Teacher Award of the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management Executive MBA Program. He serves on the advisory boards of several for-profit- and nonprofit organizations, and he has been involved in consulting and executive teaching for a variety of industrial and professional services companies, as well as for organizations in the nonprofit sector.