Professor John Murphy from Manchester Business School (MBS) has been appointed as the new O2 Chair of Customer Management. Professor Murphy took up his new position in January 2009 for a five year period.
In his new role Professor Murphy will work closely with the Board and senior management team at Telefónica O2 UK. He will bring the very latest thinking in customer service theory and practice, based on rigorous and validated research by himself and colleagues at the School.
Professor Murphy said: “Telefónica O2 UK is an exciting company to be working with; it’s a market leader in the UK with a young and dynamic management team in place to drive the company forward. In addition, the company is very commercially aware and customer focused and, with its strong emphasis on customer management, there is a real synergy between my professional work and Telefónica O2 UK’s aims.
“This five year investment really demonstrates how committed the company is to customer service. In this time by working with the Board and other senior people in the organisation I will be able to make a positive impact which will have time to filter right through the company, which employs 12,000 people in the UK alone. It’s the visible ways in which I can further enhance the company’s offering which has encouraged me to take on this role.”
Cheryl Black, Customer Service Director of Telefónica O2 UK, said she was delighted to be funding the chair of customer management commenting, “Manchester Business School has a worldwide reputation for research and Telefónica O2 UK is also recognised as a leader in the field of customer management. This partnership absolutely underpins our whole strategy of winning in the marketplace through understanding customer needs and delivering a great customer experience.
“I worked previously with Professor Murphy as a member of the MBS Customer Management Leadership Group and I know that he and MBS share our views about the focus that customer service plays in the success of any organisation. Telefónica O2 UK’s business model is based on focussing on the customer; we know if we get that right, everything else will fall into place.
“To have access to Manchester Business School and Professor Murphy will be extremely beneficial to us from a learning and development point of view, which will ultimately benefit our customers and our people.”
Professor John A Murphy is currently a board member of the British Quality Foundation. He chairs and directs the Customer Management Leadership Group at MBS. CMLG is a network of senior executives from public and private sectors, leading academics in customer management-related fields and experienced practitioners in the implementation of customer centric change. At MBS he has established a unique cohort of PhD scholarship students in conjunction with leading UK companies, the largest doctoral research group in this specialist area in Europe.
For further press information, please contact:
Kate Jeffery: 0161 275 7090, Kate.jeffery@mbs.ac.uk
Laura Mashiter: 0161 817 6600, laura.m@tangerinepr.com
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