APPLIES TO ACADEMIC YEAR 2013/2014

GRA 6419 Service Marketing

Responsible for the course
Line L Olsen

Department
Department of Marketing

Term
According to study plan

ECTS Credits
6

Language of instruction
English

Introduction
Knowing the field of service marketing is a prerequisite today for those who want to successfully pursue careers and manage businesses both in the private and public sector. However, knowing how services are different from products and what unique challenges they pose on marketing and managing is necessary, but not sufficient information. The rapid infusion of technology into various industries has created new kinds of services that offer opportunities for service and manufacturing organizations to enhance their relationships with customers. So has social media. Consequently, customers’ demands have changed. Customers now expect to interact with service providers in a multitude of ways in different channels posing new challenges on service marketing and managing.

Learning outcome
In this course students will learn how to deal with these challenges. In order to do so, the course provides in-depth knowledge about the key issues in service marketing, frameworks, strategies and tools to address the challenges of marketing and managing services, whether in a manufacturing or service context. How these concepts apply to social media and how social media will affect service marketing will be a red thread throughout the course. Central to this course is critical thinking and reflection. The course is different from courses in service management in that it has a marketing/psychological approach.

Prerequisites
Bachelor degree qualifying for admission to the MSc Programme. Course in marketing management or equivalent from Bachelor level is recommended.

Compulsory reading
Books:
Wilson, Alan ... [et al.]. 2012. Services marketing : integrating customer focus across the firm. 2nd European ed. McGraw-Hill. 576

Articles:
Course pack with selected articles and cases

Other:
During the course there may be hand-outs and other material on additional topics relevant for the course and the examination.


Recommended reading
Books:
Oliver, Richard L. 2010. Satisfaction : a behavioral perspective on the consumer. 2nd ed. M.E. Sharpe

Course outline
Introduction to services
What’s so special with service marketing and service organizations?
The service economy it’s history and raison d'être
Customer service

Customer focus
Consumer behavior in services
Technology readiness
Social media readiness

Customers evaluation processes
Customer expectations and perceptions
Service quality
Customer satifaction
Perceived value

Analyzing and understanding service organizations:
How to apply central models and analytical frameworks to improve performance:
1) The gaps model of service quality
2) The service triangle
3) The service-profit-chain

Listening to customers through research
Research in services marketing: methods, procedures and areas of application

Managing service delivery
The service encounter
The role of the employee, the customer and the technology in service delivery
Customers as co-producers/co-creators of services

Service recovery
The service recovery paradox
What makes unhappy customer happy and loyal?
Service recovery and social media

Customer loyalty
Defining the concept
The antecedents and consequences
Loyalty phases, types

Financial accountability of service marketing
Customer equity
Return on marketing and social media

Advanced topics in service marketing
The service-dominant logic/service science

Computer-based tools
It's learning will be used for distribution of course material. Cases for discussion in class are available from Harvard Business Review's web page: http://hbr.org/ at the cost of approximately 7 USD each.

Learning process and workload
A course of 6 ECTS credits corresponds to a workload of 160-180 hours.

The course will require the students to particpate actively as it is based on lectures, discussions, case analyses and presentations. Students need to be well-prepared for each session.

Please note that it is the student’s own responsibility to obtain any information provided in class that is not included on the course homepage/It's learning or text book.

Examination
Your final course grade will be based on the following activities and weights:

- Student projects: 20 % class participation
30 % case write-up, group
- Term paper: 30%, group
- Final exam: 20%, individual (3 hours)

In this course class attendence is mandatory. Unexcused absence can result in a lower score. Specific information regarding student evaluation beyond the information given in the course description will be provided in class. This information may be relevant for requirements for term papers or other hand-ins, and/or where class participation can be one of several elements of the overall evaluation.

This is a course with continuous assessment (several exam elements) and one final exam code. Each exam element will be graded using points on a scale (e.g. 0-100). The elements will be weighted together according to the information in the course description in order to calculate the final letter grade for the course. You will find detailed information about the point system and the cut off points with reference to the letter grades on the course site in It’s learning.

Examination code(s)
GRA 64191 continuous assessment accounts for 100 % of the final grade in the course GRA 6419.

Examination support materials
A bilingual dictionary.
Exam aids at written examiniations are explained under exam information in the student portal @bi. Please note use of calculator and dictionary in the section on examaids

Re-sit examination
It is only possible to retake an examination when the course is next taught.
The assessment in some courses is based on more than one exam code.
Where this is the case, you may retake only the assessed components of one of these exam codes.
Where this is not the case, all of the assessed components of the course must be retaken.
All retaken examinations will incur an additional fee.

Additional information
Honor Code
Academic honesty and trust are important to all of us as individuals, and represent values that are encouraged and promoted by the honor code system. This is a most significant university tradition. Students are responsible for familiarizing themselves with the ideals of the honor code system, to which the faculty are also deeply committed.

Any violation of the honor code will be dealt with in accordance with BI’s procedures for cheating. These issues are a serious matter to everyone associated with the programs at BI and are at the heart of the honor code and academic integrity. If you have any questions about your responsibilities under the honor code, please ask.