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: 
2021 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 and the service marketing stakeholders, how to create and develop sustainable services, factors affecting the people who deliver and perform services and how technology infusion creates new kinds of services that offer opportunities for service- and manufacturing organizations to enhance their relationships with customers.

More specifically the topics will cover;

  • 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
  • Creating and developing sustainable services and buisness models 
  • Digital service marketing
  • Servitization and challenges facing businesses transferring from good to services
  • Service innovation
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 understanding of the necessary ingredients to create service excellence
  4. Provide a theoretical basis for understanding service marketing and assessing service    performance
  5. Understand the characteristics and challenges of managing service firms
  6. Develop an understanding for 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. Use and explain common service marketing theories
  2. Provide an analysis of service performance through the use of frameworks, strategies, and tools
  3. Conduct a services audit plan for a service firm
  4. Present ideas and solutions to service marketing challenges and issues
  5. Adapt communication style to audience i.e. academic or managerial
General Competence

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
  • Creating and developing sustainable services and buisness models 
  • Digital service marketing
  • Servitization and Challenges facing businesses transferring from good to services
  • Service innovation
Teaching and learning activities

The course will require the students to participate 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.

Software tools
No specified computer-based tools are required.
Additional information

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.

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 starts.

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

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 spesific prerequisites and will assume that students have followed normal study progression. For double degree and exchange students, please note that equivalent courses are accepted.

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.

Exam categoryWeightInvigilationDurationSupport materialsGroupingComment exam
Exam category:
Submission
Form of assessment:
Written submission
Exam code:
GRA 64191
Grading scale:
Point scale
Grading rules:
Internal examiner
Resit:
All components must, as a main rule, be retaken during next scheduled course
40Yes 2 Hour(s)
  • Bilingual dictionary
Individual Written examination under supervision.
Exam category:
Activity
Form of assessment:
Presentation
Exam code:
GRA 64191
Grading scale:
Point scale
Grading rules:
Internal examiner
Resit:
All components must, as a main rule, be retaken during next scheduled course
30No 6 Week(s)Group (2 - 5)For the case analysis and presentation, student groups will be formed by the course responsible (maximum five students in each group). The cases are mandatory and come at an additional cost for the students.
Exam category:
Submission
Form of assessment:
Written submission
Exam code:
GRA 64191
Grading scale:
Point scale
Grading rules:
Internal and external examiner
Resit:
All components must, as a main rule, be retaken during next scheduled course
30No1 Semester(s)Group (2 - 3)For this final course work, the students must organise themselves into groups under the guidance of the course responsible (maximum three students in each group).
Exams:
Exam category:Submission
Form of assessment:Written submission
Weight:40
Invigilation:Yes
Grouping (size):Individual
Support materials:
  • Bilingual dictionary
Duration: 2 Hour(s)
Comment: Written examination under supervision.
Exam code:GRA 64191
Grading scale:Point scale
Resit:All components must, as a main rule, be retaken during next scheduled course
Exam category:Activity
Form of assessment:Presentation
Weight:30
Invigilation:No
Grouping (size):Group (2-5)
Support materials:
Duration: 6 Week(s)
Comment:For the case analysis and presentation, student groups will be formed by the course responsible (maximum five students in each group). The cases are mandatory and come at an additional cost for the students.
Exam code:GRA 64191
Grading scale:Point scale
Resit:All components must, as a main rule, be retaken during next scheduled course
Exam category:Submission
Form of assessment:Written submission
Weight:30
Invigilation:No
Grouping (size):Group (2-3)
Support materials:
Duration:1 Semester(s)
Comment:For this final course work, the students must organise themselves into groups under the guidance of the course responsible (maximum three students in each group).
Exam code:GRA 64191
Grading scale:Point scale
Resit:All components must, as a main rule, be retaken during next scheduled course
Type of Assessment: 
Continuous assessment
Grading scale: 
ECTS
Total weight: 
100
Student workload
ActivityDurationComment
Teaching
24 Hour(s)
Synchronous component
Student's own work with learning resources
12 Hour(s)
Asynchronous component
Prepare for teaching
80 Hour(s)
Includes preparing for final exam
Group work / Assignments
40 Hour(s)
Case study and service audit
Examination
3 Hour(s)
Final exam
Sum workload: 
159

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.