Prof Ingo Karpen
Research Professor
School of Marketing
College of Business and Law
Eligible to supervise Masters and PhD as Principal Supervisor - email supervisor to discuss availability.
Ingo Oswald Karpen is Professor of Business and Design, with a passion for making lives and (eco)systems better. His interdisciplinary research revolves around reimagining and advancing service through designerly ways of thinking, working and being; and how this enables organisations to cocreate better strategies and improve the wellbeing of people and their (eco)systems alike. Multilevel and multimethod theorising is his favourite approach, connecting the essentiality and existentiality of individual human experiences with systemic innovation. As a faculty member at CTF - the Service Research Center at Karlstad University (Sweden) and Adelaide Business School, Adelaide University (Australia), Ingo seeks to engage with researchers and entrepreneurs for positive societal change across contexts.Ingo's research has been widely published including in the Journal of Service Research, Journal of Business Ethics, Journal of Product Innovation Management, Journal of Retailing, Journal of Business Research, Marketing Theory, Industrial Marketing Management, Journal of Service Management, Journal of Cleaner Production, Journal of Travel Research, Journal of Services Marketing, Journal of Service Theory and Practice and Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services among others. His research and education has also been internationally recognised, for example winning the SERVSIG Best Service Article Award twice (2013, 2023) for publications in the Journal of Service Research, and multiple Educator Awards across Australia/New Zealand. Seeking direct contributions to solving systemic problems, Ingo has won significant competitive research funding such as a prestigious Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Grant and successfully tendered Government funding for the purpose of service reform and societal wellbeing. Ingo also serves as an editorial review board member across service journals and has managed special issues across academic disciplines. Leveraging the nexus of business and design, Ingo works as a Strategic Designer and consults with private and public organisations.
Interdisciplinary in nature, my research mainly revolves around human-centred and systemic design, and its various forms that emerged across disciplines. This includes, for instance, service design in the marketing and design domains, as well as design thinking in the management domain. Combining human and systemic needs, I also pursue the notion of strategic design, which I investigate from an academic perspective (see publications) as well as from a practitioner perspective with my co-edited book titled Strategic Design.
In recent years, I have been focusing on understanding, measuring and managing organisations from a design and strategy perspective. For instance: drawing on service and designerly thinking to better understand and inform value cocreation and innovation strategies; unpacking and measuring the interplay of service-driving organisational design and customer experience design; managing service systems and human relations towards more engaging experience processes and sustainable experience outcomes.
The term ‘strategic’ reappears across my research areas as I am interested in studying, explaining and predicting phenomena that define the essence, priorities and evolution of people and the (eco)systems they are embedded in. For this purpose I am also a mixed methodologist using a variety of qualitative and quantitative research approaches.
| Date | Institution name | Country | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| University of Melbourne | Australia | PhD |
| Year | Citation |
|---|---|
| 2026 | Currenti, B., Conduit, J., Karpen, I. O., & Russell-Bennett, R. (2026). Convenient for me is not convenient for us: A collective-centric convenience mindset for a more sustainable future. Ams Review, 16(1). |
| 2025 | Danatzis, I., Hill, T., Karpen, I. O., & Kleinaltenkamp, M. (2025). Curating the Crowd: How Firms Manage Social Fit to Stage Social Atmospheres. JOURNAL OF MARKETING, 90(2), 20 pages. Scopus6 WoS6 |
| 2025 | Muskat, B., Xia, H., Anand, A., Li, G., Tan, A. H. T., & Karpen, I. O. (2025). Aesthetic signals in organizational space: AI-driven visual contrast analysis of coworking and open-plan offices. JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT & ORGANIZATION, 32(1), 18 pages. |
| 2024 | Altschwager, T., Conduit, J., Karpen, I., & Goodman, S. (2024). Event Engagement: Using event experiences to build brands. Australasian Marketing Journal, 32(1), 31-44. Scopus4 WoS1 |
| 2024 | Baldassarre, B., Calabretta, G., Karpen, I. O., Bocken, N., & Hultink, E. J. (2024). Responsible Design Thinking for Sustainable Development: Critical Literature Review, New Conceptual Framework, and Research Agenda. Journal of Business Ethics, 195(1), 25-46. Scopus38 WoS28 |
| 2024 | Gemser, G., Calabretta, G., & Karpen, I. (2024). Co-creating the future through design thinking: Deconstructing the consumer co-creation process. JOURNAL OF PRODUCT INNOVATION MANAGEMENT, 42(3), 29 pages. Scopus10 WoS6 |
| 2023 | Nørfelt, A., Kock, F., Karpen, I. O., & Josiassen, A. (2023). Pleasure Through Pain: An Empirical Examination of Benign Masochism in Tourism. Journal of Travel Research, 62(2), 448-468. Scopus31 WoS24 |
| 2023 | Becker, L., Karpen, I. O., Kleinaltenkamp, M., Jaakkola, E., Helkkula, A., & Nuutinen, M. (2023). Actor experience: Bridging individual and collective-level theorizing. Journal of Business Research, 158, 1-13. Scopus26 WoS23 |
| 2023 | Laud, G., Conduit, J., & Karpen, I. (2023). Member (Co)creativity in Open Innovation Communities. European Journal of Marketing, 57(8), 2021-2047. Scopus13 WoS12 |
| 2023 | Conduit, J., Karpen, I., & Willmott, T. (2023). User Circularity Practices: Adopting a User Stewardship Perspective for a Circular Economy. Academy of Marketing Science (AMS) Review, 13(3-4), 211-231. Scopus22 |
| 2023 | Karpen, I., Edvardsson, B., Tronvoll, B., Jaakkola, E., & Conduit, J. (2023). Circular Service Management: Toward Conceptual Understanding and Service Research Priorities for a More Sustainable Future. Journal of Service Management, 34(6), 50-69. Scopus14 WoS13 |
| 2023 | Kleinaltenkamp, M., Kleinaltenkamp, M. J., & Karpen, I. O. (2023). Resource entanglement and indeterminacy: Advancing the service-dominant logic through the philosophy of Karen Barad. Marketing Theory, 24(4), 611-641. Scopus27 WoS24 |
| 2022 | Klenner, N. F., Gemser, G., & Karpen, I. O. (2022). Entrepreneurial ways of designing and designerly ways of entrepreneuring: Exploring the relationship between design thinking and effectuation theory. Journal of Product Innovation Management, 39(1), 66-94. Scopus87 WoS66 |
| 2022 | Danatzis, I., Karpen, I. O., & Kleinaltenkamp, M. (2022). Actor Ecosystem Readiness: Understanding the Nature and Role of Human Abilities and Motivation in a Service Ecosystem. Journal of Service Research, 25(2), 260-280. Scopus46 WoS42 |
| 2022 | Pallant, J. L., Karpen, I. O., & Sands, S. J. (2022). What drives consumers to customize products? The mediating role of brand experience. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 64, 102773. Scopus34 WoS25 |
| 2022 | Kleinaltenkamp, M., Karpen, I. O., & Kleinaltenkamp, M. J. (2022). A sense-based perspective on market shaping: Theorizing strategies for the origination and propagation of new resource linkages. Industrial Marketing Management, 100, 145-156. Scopus13 WoS12 |
| 2022 | Tierney, K. D., Karpen, I. O., & Westberg, K. (2022). Brand meaning and institutional work: The light and dark sides of service employee practices. JOURNAL OF BUSINESS RESEARCH, 151, 244-256. Scopus7 WoS8 |
| 2022 | Popa, T., Karpen, I., Wright, M., & Dean, O. (2022). Procedural Justice in A Tribunal Context: An Exploration and Extension of the Concept from a Human-Centred Design Perspective. UNSW Law Journal, 45(4), 1657-1692. Scopus1 WoS2 |
| 2021 | Koskela-Huotari, K., Patrício, L., Zhang, J., Karpen, I. O., Sangiorgi, D., Anderson, L., & Bogicevic, V. (2021). Service system transformation through service design: Linking analytical dimensions and service design approaches. Journal of Business Research, 136, 343-355. Scopus61 WoS42 |
| 2021 | Kleinaltenkamp, M., Conduit, J., Plewa, C., Karpen, I., & Jaakkola, E. (2021). Engagement-driven Institutionalization in Market Shaping: Synchronizing and Stabilizing Collective Engagement. Industrial Marketing Management, 99, 69-78. Scopus26 WoS24 |
| 2021 | Karpen, I. O., & Senova, M. (2021). Designing for Trust: Role and Benefits of Human-Centered Design in the Legal System. International Journal for Court Administration, 12(3), 1-18. Scopus7 |
| 2021 | Karpen, I., Holmlid, S., & Yu, E. (2021). Service Design in the Context of Complexity: Moving between Plurality and Tension towards a Future Research Agenda. International Journal of Design, 15(3), 1-10. Scopus7 WoS3 |
| 2020 | Karpen, I., & Conduit, J. (2020). Engaging in times of COVID-19 and beyond: Theorizing customer engagement through different paradigmatic lenses. Journal of Service Management, 31(6), 12 pages. Scopus60 WoS55 |
| 2020 | Pallant, J. L., Sands, S., & Karpen, I. O. (2020). The 4Cs of mass customization in service industries: a customer lens. Journal of Services Marketing, 34(4), 499-511. Scopus38 WoS28 |
| 2020 | Windahl, C., Karpen, I. O., & Wright, M. R. (2020). Strategic design: orchestrating and leveraging market-shaping capabilities. Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing, 35(9), 1413-1424. Scopus33 WoS23 |
| 2020 | Baldassarre, B., Konietzko, J., Brown, P., Calabretta, G., Bocken, N., Karpen, I. O., & Hultink, E. J. (2020). Addressing the design-implementation gap of sustainable business models by prototyping: A tool for planning and executing small-scale pilots. Journal of Cleaner Production, 255, 120295. Scopus156 WoS111 |
| 2020 | Pallant, J., Sands, S., & Karpen, I. (2020). Product customization: A profile of consumer demand. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 54, 102030. Scopus105 WoS88 |
| 2020 | Karpen, I., & Plewa, C. (2020). From Muso to Academic and Back: A Time and Person-Based Acknowledgement of Michael Kleinaltenkamp. Journal of Service Management Research, 4(2-3), 75-83. |
| 2019 | Kleinaltenkamp, M., Karpen, I., Plewa, C., Jaakkola, E., & Conduit, J. (2019). Collective engagement in organizational settings. Industrial Marketing Management, 80, 11-23. Scopus100 WoS85 |
| 2019 | Conduit, J., Karpen, I., Plewa, C., & Kleinaltenkamp, M. (2019). Business Actor Engagement: Foundations, Developments and Opportunities. Industrial Marketing Management, 80, 1-3. Scopus14 WoS14 |
| 2019 | Conduit, J., Karpen, I., & Tierney, K. (2019). Volunteer Engagement: Conceptual Extensions and Value-in-Context Outcomes. Journal of Service Theory and Practice, 29(4), 462-487. Scopus27 WoS24 |
| 2019 | Kock, F., Josiassen, A., Assaf, A. G., Karpen, I., & Farrelly, F. (2019). Tourism Ethnocentrism and Its Effects on Tourist and Resident Behavior. Journal of Travel Research, 58(3), 427-439. Scopus124 WoS102 |
| 2018 | Chung, E., Farrelly, F., Beverland, M. B., & Karpen, I. O. (2018). Loyalty or liability: Resolving the consumer fanaticism paradox. Marketing Theory, 18(1), 3-30. Scopus35 WoS24 |
| 2017 | Kleinaltenkamp, M., Plewa, C., Gudergan, S., Karpen, I. O., & Chen, T. (2017). Usage center – value cocreation in multi-actor usage processes. Journal of Service Theory and Practice, 27(4), 721-737. Scopus41 WoS32 |
| 2017 | Wilden, R., Akaka, M. A., Karpen, I. O., & Hohberger, J. (2017). The Evolution and Prospects of Service-Dominant Logic: An Investigation of Past, Present, and Future Research. Journal of Service Research, 20(4), 345-361. Scopus176 WoS145 |
| 2017 | Laud, G., & Karpen, I. O. (2017). Value co-creation behaviour – role of embeddedness and outcome considerations. Journal of Service Theory and Practice, 27(4), 778-807. Scopus73 WoS61 |
| 2017 | Beverland, M. B., Gemser, G., & Karpen, I. O. (2017). Design, consumption and marketing: outcomes, process, philosophy and future directions. Journal of Marketing Management, 33(3-4), 159-172. Scopus16 WoS10 |
| 2017 | Karpen, I. O., Gemser, G., & Calabretta, G. (2017). A multilevel consideration of service design conditions: Towards a portfolio of organisational capabilities, interactive practices and individual abilities. Journal of Service Theory and Practice, 27(2), 384-407. Scopus98 WoS73 |
| 2016 | Plewa, C., Ho, W., Conduit, J., & Karpen, I. (2016). Reputation in higher education: a fuzzy set analysis of resource configurations. Journal of Business Research, 69(8), 3087-3095. Scopus128 WoS102 |
| 2016 | Hollebeek, L. D., Conduit, J., Sweeney, J., Soutar, G., Karpen, I. O., Jarvis, W., & Chen, T. (2016). Epilogue to the Special Issue and reflections on the future of engagement research. Journal of Marketing Management, 32(5-6), 586-594. Scopus68 WoS58 |
| 2016 | Tierney, K. D., Karpen, I. O., & Westberg, K. (2016). Brand meaning cocreation: toward a conceptualization and research implications. Journal of Service Theory and Practice, 26(6), 911-932. Scopus58 WoS43 |
| 2015 | Laud, G., Karpen, I. O., Mulye, R., & Rahman, K. (2015). The role of embeddedness for resource integration: Complementing S-D logic research through a social capital perspective. Marketing Theory, 15(4), 509-543. Scopus84 WoS71 |
| 2015 | Rahman, K., Karpen, I. O., Reid, M., & Yuksel, U. (2015). Customer-to-customer interactions and word of mouth: conceptual extensions and empirical investigations. Journal of Strategic Marketing, 23(4), 287-304. Scopus20 WoS17 |
| 2015 | Karpen, I. O., Bove, L. L., Lukas, B. A., & Zyphur, M. J. (2015). Service-dominant orientation: Measurement and impact on performance outcomes. Journal of Retailing, 91(1), 89-108. Scopus177 WoS142 |
| 2012 | Karpen, I. O., Bove, L. L., & Lukas, B. A. (2012). Linking Service-Dominant Logic and Strategic Business Practice: A Conceptual Model of a Service-Dominant Orientation. Journal of Service Research, 15(1), 21-38. Scopus319 WoS243 |
| 2011 | Josiassen, A., Assaf, A. G., & Karpen, I. O. (2011). Consumer ethnocentrism and willingness to buy: Analyzing the role of three demographic consumer characteristics. International Marketing Review, 28(6), 627-646. Scopus126 WoS96 |
| Year | Citation |
|---|---|
| 2016 | Calabretta, G., Gemser, G., & Karpen, I. (2016). Strategic Design: 8 Essential Practices Every Strategic Designer Must Master. BIS Publishers. |
| Year | Citation |
|---|---|
| 2025 | Karpen, I. O., & Stigliani, I. (2025). Making Sense of Design for Business: Towards an Umbrella Paradigm Moving Service Design and Its Allied Fields Forward. In Bloomsbury Handbook of Service Design Plural Perspectives and A Critical Contemporary Agenda (pp. 205-224). |
| 2022 | Tierney, K., Karpen, I., & Westberg, K. (2022). The Role of Brand-Facing Actors in Shaping Institutions through Brand Meaning Co-Creation. In S. Markovic, R. Gyrd-Jones, S. Von Wallpach, & A. Lindgreen (Eds.), Research Handbook on Brand Co-creation: Theory, Practice and Ethical Implications (pp. 122-137). Edward Elgar Publishing. DOI Scopus2 |
| 2022 | Karpen, I. O., Vink, J., & Trischler, J. (2022). Service Design for Systemic Change in Legacy Organizations: A Bottom-Up Approach to Redesign. In B. Edvardsson, & B. Tronvoll (Eds.), The Palgrave Handbook of Service Management (pp. 457-479). Springer International Publishing. DOI Scopus5 |
| 2016 | Conduit, J., Karpen, I., & Farrelly, F. (2016). Student engagement: a multiple layer phenomenon. In C. Plewa, & J. Conduit (Eds.), Making a Difference Through Marketing: A quest for different perspectives (pp. 229-245). Singapore: Springer. DOI Scopus29 |
| 2016 | Azabagic, N., & Karpen, I. (2016). Making it Count: Linking Design and Viability. In G. Calabretta, G. Gemser, & I. Karpen (Eds.), Strategic Design: Eight essential practices every Strategic Designer must Master. |
| 2016 | Tierney, K., Westberg, K., & Karpen, I. O. (2016). Co-Creation of Service Brand Meaning: Initial Findings from an Exploration of Bank Branding in the Vietnamese Retail Banking Sector. In Developments in Marketing Science: Proceedings of the Academy of Marketing Science (pp. 264). Springer International Publishing. DOI |
| Year | Citation |
|---|---|
| 2024 | Thi Diem, M., Willmott, T., Conduit, J., Karpen, I., Plewa, C., Kleinaltenkamp, M., & Jaakkola, E. (2024). Measuring collective engagement for a social purpose. In AM2024 Proceedings. Cardiff. |
| Year | Citation |
|---|---|
| 2016 | Sharma, S., Conduit, J., Karpen, I., Rao Hill, S., & Farrelly, F. (2016). Co-creation in a Service Innovation Context. Poster session presented at the meeting of LOOKING FORWARD, LOOKING BACK: DRAWING ON THE PAST TO SHAPE THE FUTURE OF MARKETING. Melbourne, Australia: SPRINGER INT PUBLISHING AG. Scopus2 WoS1 |
Fight Food Waste CRC – Hospitals and Aged Care Project 2023-2024
ARC Discovery Project 2021-2024
Project title "Customer Engagement toward Social Purpose"
Victorian Government Tender 2019-2020
Project title "Human Centred Design Reform Project", in the legal sector
I fundamentally care about and work towards improving and innovating human experiences, and the (eco)systems where these experiences emerge. The design discipline that underlies this purpose and my daily practice is rather interdisciplinary, not being bound by rigid ideologies but open philosophies, integrating valuable insights from various perspectives for the betterment of the (eco)system. This challenges me to meaningfully combine human desirability (needs of people), with system-level feasibility (resources, processes), viability (relevant returns) and sustainability (long-term shared benefits).
As a practicing Strategic Designer, I apply design principles and practices to support positive change and innovation across product/service systems, business models, and (eco)systems. For this reason, I lead projects and trainings across government, industry and social enterprise sectors. This includes, for example, strategic design projects to redesign legacy organisations with traditionally less service-centred perspectives such as courts or hospitals; but can also include entrepreneurs and businesses that seek to make a difference to the wellbeing of people and the community, such as organisations driven by a responsible and/or a strong social purpose.
While engaging in these projects, I also seek to translate important (yet non-confidential) insights into academic publications and leverage these in my education. This creates a circular knowledge flow that my clients, students and partners benefit from.
Since completing my PhD in 2011 at The University of Melbourne and starting my academic position in full-time capacity, I have been passionate about inspiring students to interact with their peers, lecturers, and industry partners to cocreate exciting learning experiences and outcomes. This includes undergraduate, postgraduate and executive teaching. I view learning as a shared responsibility but put all my effort into engaging interactions in view of critical thinking and creative learning processes.
I teach courses at the nexus of business and design, such as Design Thinking for Business, Service Design for Entrepreneurs, or related Creativity and Innovation Management courses. Over the years I have built particular expertise in executive education and involve industry partners to design context-relevant strategy solutions together with students.
In terms of pedagogy, I have been recognised with school (department), college (faculty), overall university, national government and international teaching awards. I am also an ongoing Fellow of the Advance | Higher Education Academy, championing teaching innovation and excellence.
| Date | Role | Research Topic | Program | Degree Type | Student Load | Student Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Co-Supervisor | Collective Engagement Towards Social Purpose | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Miss My Le |
| Date | Role | Research Topic | Program | Degree Type | Student Load | Student Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 - 2026 | Co-Supervisor | Engaging with purpose: operationalising and exploring collective and individual engagement for social purpose and spiritual meaning | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Miss My Le |
| 2022 - 2025 | Principal Supervisor | A Convenient Lie: A Critical Appraisal of Convenience for a Balanced Conceptualisation | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Mrs Brittany May Currenti |
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