GRA 6419 Service Marketing

GRA 6419 Service Marketing

Course code: 
GRA 6419
Department: 
Marketing
Credits: 
6
Course coordinator: 
Hannah Snyder
Course name in Norwegian: 
Service Marketing
Product category: 
Master
Portfolio: 
MSc in Strategic Marketing Management
Semester: 
2017 Autumn
Active status: 
Active
Level of study: 
Master
Teaching language: 
English
Course type: 
One semester
Introduction

A large percentage of business activity today relates to services. Services, therefore, dominate the global economy and are becoming critical for competitive advantage in companies across the globe and industry sectors. Thus, an understanding of the field of service marketing and its most recent advances is a prerequisite today for those who want to successfully pursue careers and manage businesses both in the private and in public sector.

This course allows students to examine the important issues facing service providers and the successful implementation of a customer focus in service-based businesses. Topics include an overview of services marketing; understanding the customer in services marketing; standardizing and aligning the delivery of services; the people who deliver and perform services; and, the rapid infusion of technology into various industries that has created new kinds of services that offer opportunities for service- and manufacturing organizations to enhance their relationships with customers.

Learning outcomes - Knowledge

On completion of the course, students will be able to:

  1. Understand and explain the nature and scope of services marketing
  2. Describe how to deal with the challenges faced by service and manufacturing organizations
  3. Develop a better appreciation of the necessary ingredients to create service excellence
  4. Provide a theoretical basis for assessing service performance
  5. Understand the characteristics and challenges of managing service firms
  6. Develop an appreciation of the key linkages between marketing and other business functions in the context of designing and operating an effective service system
Learning outcomes - Skills

On completion of the course, students will be able to:

  1. Conduct a services audit plan for a service firm
  2. Provide an analysis of service performance through the use of frameworks, strategies, and tools
  3. Present ideas and solutions to service marketing challenges and issues
  4. Adapt communication style to audience i.e. academic or managerial
Learning Outcome - Reflection

On completion of the course, students will be able to listen to diverse perspectives as well as critically reflect upon central issues in the field.

Course content
  • New paradigms and frameworks in service marketing
  • Understanding the service marketing stakeholders
  • Designing the service performance, experience and the service setting
  • Understanding the customer: co-creation, complaint management and service recovery
  • Social media and service marketing
Learning process and requirements to students

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. 

To facilitate discussion and learning for the case discussions students may be divided into two groups, if there is a need for that.

Please note that while attendance is not compulsory in all courses, it is the student’s own responsibility to obtain any information provided in class that is not included on itslearning or text book.

This is a course with continuous assessment (several exam components) and one final exam code. Each exam component is graded by using points on a scale from 0-100. The components will be weighted together according to the information in the course description in order to calculate the final letter grade for the examination code (course). Students who fail to participate in one/some/all exam elements will get a lower grade or may fail the course. You will find detailed information about the point system and the cut off points with reference to the letter grades when the course start.

At resit, all exam components must, as a main rule, be retaken during next scheduled course.

Software tools
No specified computer-based tools are required.
Qualifications

All courses in the Masters programme will assume that students have fulfilled the admission requirements for the programme. In addition, courses in second, third and/or fourth semester can have specific prerequisites and will assume that students have followed normal study progression. For double degree and exchange students, please note that equivalent courses are accepted.

Assessments
Assessments
Exam category: 
Activity
Form of assessment: 
Class participation
Weight: 
15
Grouping: 
Individual
Comment: 
Class participation is based on each students active course participation as well as their use of electronic tests and digital learning tools.
Exam code: 
GRA64191
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: 
35
Grouping: 
Individual
Duration: 
1 Semester(s)
Comment: 
Assignment
Exam code: 
GRA64191
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: 
Activity
Form of assessment: 
Presentation
Weight: 
20
Grouping: 
Group (2 - 5)
Comment: 
For the case analysis and presentation, student groups will be formed by the course responsible (maximum five students in each group).
Exam code: 
GRA64191
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: 
30
Grouping: 
Group (2 - 3)
Duration: 
1 Semester(s)
Comment: 
For this final course work, the Service Audit, the students must organise themselves into groups under the guidance of the course responsible (maximum three students in each group).
Exam code: 
GRA64191
Grading scale: 
Point scale leading to ECTS letter grade
Resit: 
All components must, as a main rule, be retaken during next scheduled course
Exam organisation: 
Continuous assessment
Grading scale: 
ECTS
Total weight: 
100
Sum workload: 
0

A course of 1 ECTS credit corresponds to a workload of 26-30 hours. Therefore a course of 6 ECTS credits corresponds to a workload of at least 160 hours.