What did I learn @ Shelby Hunt University?

I have been fortunate enough to have taken Dr. Shelby Hunt’s Ph.D. course on marketing theory and interact with him on a regular basis at Texas Tech University. I learned a lot from my regular interactions with Dr. Shelby Hunt. As a person of discipline and diligence, there is scarcely a match. He is most generous with his time and always available to share his deep knowledge of marketing and philosophy of marketing science with his students. Here are some lessons I learned from Dr. Shelby Hunt, who has been honored as “Marketing Legend” by the American Marketing Association (AMA).

Passion and Persistence: Dr. Hunt is a pioneer in the application of theory and philosophy of science in marketing and is regarded as one of the greatest thinkers in marketing. With over 70,000 google scholar citations, he is one of the most highly cited scholars in business. One of Dr. Hunt’s greatest traits is his passion for the marketing discipline. As soon as I joined the Ph.D. program at Texas Tech, Dr. Hunt advised me “Kiran, work on the problems that you’re really passionate about. One of the most important qualities of a successful Ph.D. student is persistence. If you know deeply what you want and focus on questions that you’re passionate about, you will persist doing it."

Ask Big Questions: Dr. Hunt is not afraid to ask the big questions. Throughout his career, he asked foundational questions that have been quite influential in the marketing discipline – Is marketing a science? What is the nature and scope of marketing? Is a general theory of marketing possible? His book, "Foundations of Marketing Theory: Toward a General Theory of Marketing," is considered to be a classic in the marketing discipline. 

Be Critical and Objective: In one of the marketing theory classes, he shared an excellent work of 19^th century authored by Hans Christian Andersen – “The Emperor has no clothes.” This work provides several interesting insights into human behavior. He always stressed the importance of being critical and objective when examining marketing claims. He emphasizes that marketing knowledge must be objective, in the sense that its truth content must be intersubjectively certifiable.

Trust is Hard to Buy:  Dr. Hunt co-authored the most highly cited paper in the history of the Journal of Marketing – “The Commitment-Trust Theory of Relationship Marketing.” In this paper, he explained what really drives a long-term relationship between partners. After accepting a faculty position at the Indian School of Business (ISB) and knowing that I will teach B2B Marketing at ISB, I have gone to his office to seek his advice and blessings. He said "Kiran, please make sure that your students understand the importance of building trust in business relationships. Trust is hard to buy and you have to earn it. Believe me, it takes a very long time to build it."