Celebrating 10 Years of the Organizational Frontline Research Symposium
Join the 10-year anniversary of the Annual Organizational Frontlines Research (OFR) Symposium and explore the latest scholarly research and industry trends related to organizational frontlines. This event will take place on February 13-14, 2025, in Phoenix, AZ, before and in conjunction with the 2025 AMA Winter Academic Conference.
Over the past decade, research on the frontlines of organizations—where organizations connect, engage and service their customers—has fully established itself within the marketing academy. The annual OFR Symposium has primarily driven this accomplishment, which has integrated disparate fields exploring organizational boundaries, boundary-spanning roles, interface technologies, exchange platforms, customer contact touchpoints, interactions and service.
The 2025 event will be a celebration of the initiative’s 10th anniversary. Toward that end, we will reflect on and draw new insights from the progress made in researching organizational frontlines – and we will look ahead to managerial and academic priorities in the years to come.
Mark your calendar for this engaging pre-conference that brings together thought leaders in academia with industry leaders to share insights, discuss challenges and develop a productive path forward for organizational frontline research and practice.
Pricing
Academic Professionals
$225
Doctoral Students
$199
Are you interested in attending the AMA Winter Academic Conference right after this pre-conference?
AMA Event Policies
Thursday, February 13, 2025 (All Times in MST)
Introductions and Welcome
Executive Perspectives
Research Presentations
Break
Research Skills Workshop
Reception and OFR Awards
Friday, February 14, 2025 (All Times in MST)
Breakfast
Announcements and Introductions
Executive Perspectives
Young Scholar Finalists' Presentations
Young Scholar Breakouts
Break
Executive Wrap-Up
Closing Comments and Special Session Reminder
OFR 10th Anniversary Special Session I on Academic-Practitioner Perspectives on OFR at the 2025 AMA Winter Academic Conference
Frontlines of Marketing Action: New Technologies, Emerging Challenges – Practitioner Perspective
- R. Gary Bridge | ex-SVP Cisco, PhD, UCLA
- Doug Herman | Executive Director – Global Data Science, Ingram Micro, PhD, UC-Santa Barbara
- Sherry Sanger | EVP Strategy and Marketing, Penske Transportation Solutions, PhD, Case Western
- Aru Shastri | Principal, ZS Associates, PhD, Northwestern
Discussants:
- Ming-Hui Huang | Distinguished Professor, National Taiwan University; Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Service Research.
- Ajay Kohli | Gary T. and Elizabeth R. Jones Chair, and Regents Professor, Georgia Tech
- Xueming Lou | Charles Gilliland Distinguished Chair Professor, Temple University
- Rebecca Slotegraaf | Associate Dean for Research and Neal Gilliatt Chair and Professor of Marketing, Indiana University.Frontlines of Marketing Action: New Technologies, Emerging Challenges – Academic Perspective
This session is open to all OFR pre-conference registrants!
Attend more sessions at the 2025 AMA Winter Academic Conference. Secure your registration today!
OFR 10th Anniversary Special Session II on Academic-Practitioner Perspectives on OFR at the 2025 AMA Winter Academic Conference
Frontlines of Marketing Action: New Technologies, Emerging Challenges – Academic Perspective
- Ming-Hui Huang | Distinguished Professor, National Taiwan University; Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Service Research.
- Ajay Kohli | Gary T. and Elizabeth R. Jones Chair, and Regents Professor, Georgia Tech
- Xueming Lou | Charles Gilliland Distinguished Chair Professor, Temple University
- Rebecca Slotegraaf | Associate Dean for Research and Neal Gilliatt Chair and Professor of Marketing, Indiana University.
Discussants:
- R. Gary Bridge | ex-SVP Cisco, PhD, UCLA
- Doug Herman | Executive Director – Global Data Science, Ingram Micro, PhD, UC-Santa Barbara
- Sherry Sanger | EVP Strategy and Marketing, Penske Transportation Solutions, PhD, Case Western
- Aru Shastri | Principal, ZS Associates, PhD, Northwestern
This session is open to all OFR pre-conference registrants!
Attend more sessions at the 2025 AMA Winter Academic Conference. Secure your registration today!
Sheraton Phoenix Downtown
340 N 3rd St
Phoenix, AZ 85004
Phone: (602) 262-2500
Room Rate:
We’ve secured an AMA room block at a special rate of $279.00 for single/double occupancy per night (this rate does not include tax, which is currently 12.57%). An additional fee of $20/per person per night applies for triple and quadruple occupancy. These fees are subject to change.
To make reservations, Reserve online or call the Hotel at 602-262-2500 and reference the American Marketing Association Winter Academic Conference.
Cancellations must be made at least three business days prior to arrival to avoid a penalty of one night’s room and tax.
Please reserve your overnight accommodations early as there are a limited number of AMA special rates available. The discount rate cut-off date is January 20, 2025.
Please know that any hotel room booked outside the AMA negotiated block may not be eligible for the discounted rate. Those reservations may also have a different cancellation policy and will not be eligible for reimbursement in the case of event cancellation.
Transportation
Please visit Valley Metro Services for more information.
Area Attractions, Events and Tourism
- Please explore Sheraton Phoenix Downtown’s Experiences page for local events and highlights.
- For additional information on the area, please visit Downtown Phoenix’s Tourism Page.
ADA
The AMA is committed to providing equal access to our meetings for all attendees. If you are an attendee with a disability and require program accommodations, please contact the AMA Support Center at (800) AMA-1150. A member of our staff will ensure that appropriate access arrangements are made. If you have specific disability-related needs for your hotel sleeping room, please be sure to communicate those directly to the hotel when you make your reservation. In an effort to provide the highest quality of service to all attendees, we require that details of all access requests be communicated to our office at least 14 days in advance of the beginning of the meeting.
Organizational Frontlines Research (OFR) began as a grassroots initiative to unite scholars and practitioners from diverse disciplines, all sharing a common enthusiasm for innovations and opportunities at the organizational frontlines.
Ten years later, we invite you to join us in celebrating the 10th anniversary as we reflect on the past and look to the future, which will include several exciting activities to mark this milestone:
- The Journal of Service Research (JSR-SI) has dedicated a Special Issue to commemorate OFR’s 10th anniversary. We encourage OFR members interested in submitting their work to the JSR-SI to submit for consideration between March 31 and April 30, 2025. Authors interested in submitting to the JSR-SI should email todd.arnold@okstate.edu and jagdip.singh@case.edu with their submission.
- Authors planning to submit to the JSR-SI are invited to submit early drafts to the 2025 OFR Symposium for consideration for presentation and feedback. See the information below regarding the 2025 OFR Symposium call for papers.
- OFR members unsure about submitting to the JSR-SI are also welcome to submit their work for consideration at the OFR Symposium.
2025 OFR Symposium: Call for Research Presentations
Full Paper Presentations Intended for Journal of Service Research Special Issue
The symposium is intended to promote scholarship in the area of OFR. We welcome submissions from any field or discipline that tackles issues of organizational frontlines. To align with the call for the JSR-SI to commemorate the 10th OFR anniversary, the call for Symposium presentations is as follows:
Submission Format
A double-spaced manuscript, no longer than 20 pages (all inclusive), detailing the authors’ study thesis, approach, and results/findings. Please also include a 2-page statement outlining the intended contribution to OFR theory and/or practice.
Presentation Format
Selected authors will make a brief presentation of their work, followed by a roundtable- feedback session. Participation in the symposium does NOT guarantee publication in the JSR special issue. The purpose is to provide feedback to interested authors to help increase the publication probabilities of their contribution (in the event they wish to do so).
How to Make a Submission
Interested authors should send their submissions per the above instructions to todd.arnold@okstate.edu and jagdip.singh@case.edu.
Submission Deadline
December 2, 2024
Participants will be notified by early to mid-January, 2025
2025 OFR Symposium: Call for Research Lightning Talks
Like in the previous symposium, we hope to include more OFR scholars in the program and invite you to submit a research proposal for consideration as a brief presentation at the OFR preconference event.
Submission Format
If you are interested in participating, please submit a brief PowerPoint proposal.
- Title Slide – identify the title of the presentation, all co-authors and their affiliations
- Problem/Research Questions – identify the problem and why it is important for OFR
- Approach – outline your approach (e.g., framework, research design, data)
- Results – highlight your key results
- Implications for Practice – specify how your results can help practitioners make decisions
Presentation Format
Our plan is that final presentations will be no more than 7 minutes and designed to encourage lively discussion among OFR attendees. All presenters will have the opportunity to revise slides before the event. Still, we plan to strictly enforce the 7-minute proposal requirement as it will help bolster confidence that all presenters are committed to the spirit of “lightning talks.”
Submission Guidelines:
Submissions should include the names of all co-authors and their university affiliations. Please note that submission to the conference does not preclude your work from being published by any journal.
How to Make a Submission
Submissions can be sent directly to this year’s pre-conference co-chairs: Colleen Harmeling (charmeling@business.fsu.edu) and Johannes Habel (jhabel@bauer.uh.edu) with any questions regarding the event or submissions.
Submission Deadline
December 2, 2024
Participants will be notified by early to mid-January, 2025