Abstract
The history of the Frontiers in Service Conference and its impact on the service research community was examined by content analyzing each of the 20 conference programs. The results were aggregated and examined for trends regarding program participation on several characteristics, including author, institutional affiliation, country affiliation, and practitioner/academic relationship. Insights regarding the role of the Frontiers Conference in nurturing service knowledge, fostering multinational research collaboration, and bridging the practitioner–academic gap are offered. These findings show strong growth in collaboration across the first 20 years. A total of 57 countries are represented in the data with significant research collaboration across those countries. Also, many corporations are represented in the data, especially International Business Machines (IBM). The value of the Frontiers in Service Conference as a vehicle for encouraging collaboration between service scholars and practitioners globally and for bridging the practitioner–academic gap is established.