Professor Manfred Krafft, head of the Chair of Marketing Management at the University of Münster, has been appointed as "Honorary Professor" at the University of Auckland for a period of three years. Until recently, he was a part-time professor at this prestigious university in New Zealand, which he used in particular for regular one- to two-months research stays and to support the education of Auckland’s doctoral students.

Professor Krafft's collaboration with the University of Auckland started a few years ago, with special mention of the collaborations with Professor Leo Paas and Professor Laszlo Sajtos. Current research projects in cooperation with colleagues at the University of Auckland exist in the area of "Direct Selling" with Professor Leo Paas, Head of the Department of Marketing, and with Professor Kaj Storbacka in the area of "Relationship Configurations for Selling Servitized Offerings".

For the future, Professor Krafft plans to use his honorary professorship to advance ongoing research activities and to continue his commitment to doctoral supervision and training. In addition, he can very well imagine to support establishing an exchange program between the University of Auckland and the University of Münster.