ABSTRACT
In higher education, dissatisfaction is triggered by excessive student loan debt, limited access, low graduation rates, long completion times, and poor job placements. When organizations, like universities, have multiple customers and offer a knowledge-intensive service, they need a different approach—one that can rapidly adapt to new ideas and meet the needs of all customers. This chapter describes an organizing paradigm and discusses customers and product design issues. Service dominant logic (SDL) is a model of exchange from economics, and it is based on the exchange of "goods" that emphasizes transactions and uses tangible resources and limited information about customers to create embedded value. Higher education is consistent with SDL because it is intellectually rich, has a highly educated workforce, and faces multiple customers. The mission and goals of universities identify activities that consume resources: instruction, research and innovation, service to the academy, and outreach and engagement.
