About Dr. Richard J. George

Overview

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Richard George is a well-recognized and highly respected expert in the areas of food marketing, brand strategy, business ethics, and customer service. He has been interviewed by CNN, CN8, and NBC; he has been quoted in Business Week, Fortune, Time, Forbes, Woman’s Day, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, and the Philadelphia Inquirer; as well as food industry publications, such as Progressive Grocer, Grocery Headquarters, Supermarket Business, Supermarket News, Food and Beverage Marketing, Food People and Brand Week.

He has spent his entire professional career in the development of people. Over the course of his career, with his speeches in the U.S. and internationally, he has reached tens of thousands of students and food marketing industry leaders. He has an undergraduate degree in economics from Saint Joseph’s, Harvard MBA, and a Ph.D. from Temple University in Philadelphia, and has worked in marketing research and marketing management for Scott Paper Company. He is Professor Emeritus of Food Marketing, Haub School of Business, Saint Joseph’s University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

He is the previous holder of the Gerald E. Peck Fellowship, working on a project for the International Foodservice Distributors Association (IFDA).  The objective of the IFDA research project is to enhance collaboration between foodservice manufacturers and distributors.  Previously, he held the fellowship sponsored by FMI during which he produced three published research reports focusing on the future of food wholesaling.

A published author of several books, he has also been recognized with several awards for teaching and research excellence, including the prestigious Tengelmann Award for Distinguished Teaching and Research and the internationally recognized Lindback Award for Excellence in College Teaching.   He was one of nineteen professors nationwide named as their favorite undergrad business professor and profiled by Business Week in a feature titled “Class Acts.”  More recently, he was voted by students as the “Top Prof” in the Haub School of Business.  He was also selected by the Marketing Management Association as a winner of the Hormel Meritorious Teaching Award as well as receiving his third award for outstanding teaching from Saint Joseph’s University.

As an entrepreneur himself, he puts into practice the principles he teaches and continues to research. An ongoing research focus is on what really constitutes delightful customer service. Recently, he studied the food attitudes and behaviors of adolescents, particularly as it relates to childhood obesity. In addition, he has conducted research to determine the food retail and foodservice attitudes and behaviors of the older members of Generation Y, namely the “Mature Millennials.”

He has been a visiting professor at the University of Florida and has lived and taught in England at the University of London and in Ireland at the University College Cork.

He has co-authored seven books on topics such as strategy, customer service, focus groups, and trends. His latest book is Winning Customer Rules (RJG Associates 2009). In addition, he has written two consumer buying guides: The Ultimate Consumer Survival Guide (SLC Publishing 2004) and Customer Power: Seven Steps to Get What You Want (and Deserve) (RJG Associates 2000). Both consumer buying guides are available as a free down load from his web site www.rjgeorge.com. Currently, he is writing a new strategy book, Winning Marketing Strategy: The Rules.

A visit to his website (www.rjgeorge.com) details his books, speaking engagements, testimonials, quotes, etc. In addition, he has a Retail Wire blog (http://www.retailwire.com/BrainTrust/blog.cfm/rjgeorge) which highlights his thoughts on key marketing issues.

He has spoken on the topics of marketing strategy, customer delight, marketing trends, servant leadership, and business ethics in the Americas, Eastern and Western Europe, and the Pacific Rim. Articles on these topics have appeared in the Journal of Consumer Marketing, the Journal of Food Products Marketing, Marketing News, and the Journal of Business Ethics.

Books, Interviews, Consultancies, and Recent Speeches

Books

Dr. George has authored or coauthored he following:

  • Winning Customer Rules, 3rd Edition, RJG Associates, Avalon, NJ (2021)
  • Winning Customer Rules, 2nd. Edition, RJG Associates, Avalon, NJ (2015).
  • Winning Marketing Strategy: The Rules, Raphael Publishing, Atlantic City, NJ (2009).
  • Winning Customer Rules, RJG Associates, Avalon, NJ (2009).
  • Delightful Customer Service: 12 Steps to a Better Bottom Line, SLC Publishing, Sewell, NJ (2005).
  • A Focus Group Guide for Supermarkets, SLC Publishing, Sewell, NJ (2002).
  • A Customer Service Manual for the Environmental Protection Agency, Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C. (2000).
  • Success Leaves Clues, 2nd Edition, Silver Lake Publishing, Los Angeles, CA (1999).
  • Delight Me…The Ten Commandments of Customer Service, Raphel Publishing, Atlantic City, NJ (1997).
  • 21 Trends in Food Marketing for the 21st Century, Raphel Publishing, Atlantic City, NJ (1997).

Interviews

Dr. George has been interviewed by CNN, NBC, WB17, and WYBE on Customer Service. In addition, he has been quoted in Fortune, Time, Forbes, Woman’s Day, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, and Philadelphia Inquirer as well as the traditional food industry publications such as Supermarket Business, Supermarket News, Food and Beverage Marketing, National Grocer, Pasta Journal, California Grocer, Brand Marketing, Grocery Headquarters, Grocery Marketing, Food People, Brand Week and Progressive Grocer.

Consultancies

Some of the organizations he has consulted for include Campbell Soup, Tenglemann, M&M Mars, Scott Paper, Tastykake, Herr’s, WAWA, Melitta, Geocel, AT&T, SmithKline-Beecham, Wyeth-Ayerst, Philadelphia 76ers, University of London, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Island Marine, Fairmount Park Commission, Del Monte, Pfizer, Mother’s Kitchen, Kozy Shack, Swiss Farms, Key Impact, Publix, Acme, Albertsons, Acosta, Hood Dairies, EPA, Uncle Ben’s, 3M, Talinvest, Musgraves, Consolidated Edison, and the Irish Food Board. In addition, I was the lead consultant in the creation and development of a chain of supermarkets in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Western Russia for an international investment group.

Recent Speeches

Dr. George has spoken to influential audiences including the US Environmental Protection Agency, Federal Reserve Bank, Prudential Securities, Merck, Smith Kline Beecham, Inc Magazine’s Customer Service Conferences, Ace Hardware, SEI, Wyeth-Ayerst, Deutsche Bank, Pfizer, 3M, Car Wash Association, Concierges Association, Atlantic City Special Improvement District, Monell Chemical Sensory Panel, Private Label Marketing Association, Future Marketers of America, A.C. Nielsen, CIES, Paper Industry Manufacturers’ Association, Southern Shore Human Resources Management Association, W.L.Gore, First Trust Bank, Irish Business and Employers’ Federation, National Association of Convenience Stores, National Confectioners Association, and the Philadelphia and Cape May County Chambers of Commerce.

He delivered several keynote marketing speeches at the National Grocers Association (NGA) Annual Meeting. He has spoken to dozens of industry organizations ranging from the Food Marketing Institute (FMI), the National American Wholesale Grocers Association (NAWGA), the International Mass Retail Association (IMRA), the National Association of Specialty Food (NASFT), the International Food Distributors Association (IFDA), the National Automatic Merchandising Association (NAMA), the Northern Ireland Food and Drink Association to the Institute for Food Technologists, the Tortilla Association, the Biscuit and Cracker Association, the Snack Food Association, the IGA-Coca Cola Institute, and others.

He has spoken to food marketing companies such as Fleming, Welch’s, Frito Lay, Del Monte, and McCormick’s. His audiences among retailers include Ace Hardware (corporate), Westlake Ace, Acme, Copp’s, Affiliated Food Stores, Coborn’s, Spar International, Fleming, Associated Wholesalers Inc., Shoprite, Spartan Stores, Clemens Markets, King’s Supermarkets, A&P, Roche Brothers, Wawa, Southern Gardens, and 7-Eleven.

He has also spoken to many international groups in Canada, England, Italy, Germany, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Russia, Estonia, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Trinidad, Brazil, Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, and China.

Contact Information

Richard J. George, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus
Food Marketing
Haub School of Business
Saint Joseph’s University
Philadelphia, PA 19131
484 431 0799 (cell) Email: rgeorge@sju.edu
Web: www.rjgeorge.com