Telenor research partner NHH receives grant
Article:
Grant of 80 million Norwegian kroner goes to the creation of a Centre for Service Innovation.
The Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration (NHH), a Telenor research partner, recently received a grant from the Research Council of Norway to establish a Centre for Service Innovation. With 80 million kroner over eight years, NHH and their partners will conduct research within service innovation.
Research to improve customer care
This research partnership supports Telenor’s work to improve brand experience and drives the company’s goal to deliver memorable customer experiences. Telenor took an active role in helping NHH prepare the application for the grant from the Research Council of Norway.
“This grant is great news for us! Innovation in customer facing processes is crucial in order to constantly develop our business, and working with partners is at the core of our Open Innovation strategy,” said Dagfinn Myhre, SVP Research Agenda, Telenor Corporate Development. “This grant confirms that NHH has developed a very competent research environment, one that relies on close cooperation with other innovative companies. As Telenor is one of the driving forces in this research, I view this grant as an acknowledgement of our competence as well.”
Developing an arena for knowledge sharing
Telenor and NHH defined two main areas in their research collaboration: brand experience and management, and customer co-creation. Dagfinn Myhre is responsible for this partnership, with Annita Fjuk, also from Corporate Development, serving as Head of the Program that focuses on brand and customers. Along with other major service providers, NHH and Telenor have already started to develop an important arena for knowledge development and sharing.
“Eager to get started, we actually kicked off a common project on customer excellence with NHH, Posten, Tryg, Storebrand and DnBNor in September. Customer Care in Telenor Norway is a very valuable partner in kick-starting this collaboration, giving much energy and support to the work,” said Annita Fjuk, Head of Program, Telenor Corporate Development. “These partners are different in nature, but we also see similarities that may inspire further improvements. A main issue that distinguishes us from our competitors is probably our focus on creating innovations in the customer facing processes.”
A coordinated effort to strengthen focus on innovation
NHH’s research program within service innovation is a coordinated effort to strengthen focus on innovation as a general research area and innovation in service-related businesses and functions. The program is led by professor Per Egil Pedersen through the Institute for Strategy and Leadership, and involves researchers from all of NHH’s institutes.
Related information:
The Research Council of Norway: Centers targeting the future
Telenor’s Dagfinn Myhre discusses innovation
In Norwegian