ELE 3773 Service Marketing
ELE 3773 Service Marketing
Today, service companies account for more than 75% of the gross national product in developed countries, employing more than 80% of the labor force. With a rapid development of technology, these numbers will further increase in the near future, making the world the service economy. Even goods manufacturing companies increasingly augment their products with services and move into service business. In a competitive environment dominated by service companies in stagnated markets and an increasing focus on customer service, knowledge about service marketing and management becomes a vital prerequisite of success in both the private and public sectors. This means that today's managers need to have in-depth knowledge about the unique characteristics of services and the challenges these characteristics pose on marketing and management of customer services and service companies. Those challenges are exacerbated through the increased use of social media and internet services which introduce new opportunities and challenges for building relationships between service providers and their customers.
This course focuses on practical examples and implementation of service marketing concepts and tools for improving managerial performance of service companies.
In this course students should acquire knowledge about fundamental theories, methods and concepts within the area of services marketing such as:
- Understanding of what challenges one faces when marketing and managing services and the consequences of these challenges for the employees, the customers and the management
- Knowledge about core models and tools that can be applied to handle these challenges when the overall goal is to create a loyal and profitable customer base
This course aims at teaching students to recognize burning strategic issues in a practical example and to apply the acquired knowledge to improve the business performance.
Through this course the students should be able to apply services marketing knowledge to solve practical and theoretical problems through an increased ability to:
- To apply relevant tools and techniques to meet and handle the various challenges and problems of service companies
- Develop an ability to evaluate, implement and manage effective marketing programs in service companies
We will do this by focusing strongly on the practical issues that companies face, looking at numerous real-life examples and diagnosing problems that companies in our environment face. In this course we aim to collaborate with companies to provide students with opportunities to diagnose relevant issues and propose adequate solutions.
Through this course the students should be able to communicate information, theories, ideas, problems and solutions from service marketing by an increased focus on ethical problems and corporate social responsibility.
Throughout the course, students will gain understanding of different aspects of service marketing and requirements for successful management of service businesses. We start with understanding the main concepts of services and build up strategies looking at the most important elements for running a successful service business.
Specifically we address the following topics:
- Main foundations of service business and service marketing
- Understanding customer expectations and perceptions
- Service quality evaluation and management
- How to design a successful service
- The role of employees, customers and management in service delivery
- Service failures and service recovery strategies
- Impact of technology and social media
.
The course will be based on a combination of lectures, in-class learning exercises, field-work exercises and projects developed to foster group- and individual learning. Some lectures may be accompanied by guest lecture(s) by service marketing practitioners.
The final grade in course Service marketing, 7.5 credits, consists of three components:
- Individual in-class participation grade (20% of the final grade)
- Group based report (essay) on field exercise (mystery shopping assignment) (20% of the grade)
- Group based final project report (60% of the grade)
Each of the three components will be graded on the scale of 0-100 points.
Students will be graded for their inputs in the learning process through their participation in the classes (20% of the final grade). As a part of the learning process students are required to participate in the class exercises which have multiple forms designed to encourage discussion, apply theory in practice and present students’ project(s). Some examples of in-class exercises include discussions of examples, discussion of case-studies, in-class quizzes, solution exercises, Power-point presentation of findings etc. In-class learning exercise aim to engage students using both online and offline channels. At least one in-class quiz will test student's understanding of the main concepts and ability to apply them in practice.
During the semester, two (2) group based written reports are planned in which students should recognize/apply service marketing concepts in practice. In the first essay, the students (in groups up to three students) are required to conduct a mystery shopper evaluation of a service of their choice and write a short essay/report of their findings (which together accounts for 20% of the final grade). The group would present those findings in the class, as the part of the class exercise.
Lastly, 60% of the final grade is awarded to the final project (final paper) in which students in a group of maximum three (3) students need to apply assigned service marketing concepts and tools on practical business example(s). Note that the final project will be co-graded by an external examiner, a professor outside the BI, to secure the objectivity.
According to BI’s grading policy, the mapping from numerical grades to letter grades should be done at the end of the course using the following scale: 75-100= A; 65-74,99=B; 55-64,99= C; 45-54,99=D; 35-44,99= E; 0-34,99=F
Additional information on all aspects of the course will be given during the class and on It's Learning webpage of the course.
Partial grades the three components (in the form of 0-100 points) will be translated into the final grade according to the following calculation:
Points obtained at Quiz(0-100)*0,20 + Points obtained in First essay(0-100)*0,2 + Points obtained in Final project(0-100)*0,6 = Overall number of points (0-100),
The overall number of points is to be translated to letter grades as follows:
| Points Intervals | Letter grades |
| 75-100 | A |
| 65-74,99 | B |
| 55-64,99 | C |
| 45-54,99 | D |
| 35-44,99 | E |
| 0-34,99 | F |
All support materials and dictionary may be used for the assignments/project, in accordance to the anti-plagiarism rules at BI.
Students are required to use the learning platform It's Learning and the Internet.
At re-sit all exam components must, as a main rule, be retaken during next scheduled course.
For electives re-sit is normally offered at the next scheduled course. If an elective is discontinued or is not initiated in the semester it is offered, re-sit will be offered in the electives ordinary semester.
Higher Education Entrance Qualification
Covid-19
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, there may be deviations in teaching and learning activities as well as exams, compared with what is described in this course description.
Teaching
Information about what is taught on campus and other digital forms will be presented with the lecture plan before the start of the course each semester.
Some basic knowledge of marketing concepts may be beneficial, but it is not necessary.
| Assessments |
|---|
Exam category: Activity Form of assessment: Class participation Weight: 20 Grouping: Individual Duration: 1 Semester(s) Comment: Different forms of in-class excesses, quizzes, case-study discussions, homework assignments etc. to support the learning outcomes Exam code: ELE37731 Grading scale: Point scale leading to ECTS letter grade Resit: All components must, as a main rule, be retaken during next scheduled course |
Exam category: Submission Form of assessment: Written submission Weight: 20 Grouping: Group (2 - 3) Duration: 2 Week(s) Comment: Group assignment (in a form of a written essey) Exam code: ELE37731 Grading scale: Point scale leading to ECTS letter grade Resit: All components must, as a main rule, be retaken during next scheduled course |
Exam category: Submission Form of assessment: Written submission Weight: 60 Grouping: Group (2 - 3) Duration: 1 Month(s) Comment: Final project (group work) Exam code: ELE37731 Grading scale: Point scale leading to ECTS letter grade Resit: All components must, as a main rule, be retaken during next scheduled course |
| Activity | Duration | Comment |
|---|---|---|
Teaching | 36 Hour(s) | |
Prepare for teaching | 45 Hour(s) | |
Student's own work with learning resources | 36 Hour(s) | |
Group work / Assignments | 83 Hour(s) |
A course of 1 ECTS credit corresponds to a workload of 26-30 hours. Therefore a course of 7,5 ECTS credit corresponds to a workload of at least 200 hours.