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: 
2023 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 business 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 and sustainable services
  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 business 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. Please note that while attendance is not compulsory, it is the student’s own responsibility to obtain any information provided in class.

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.

All parts of the assessment must be passed in order to get a grade in the course.

The examination for this course has been changed from autumn 2023. It is not possible to resit the old version of the examination.

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.

Disclaimer

Deviations in teaching and exams may occur if external conditions or unforeseen events call for this.

Assessments
Assessments
Exam category: 
Submission
Form of assessment: 
Written submission
Invigilation
Weight: 
40
Grouping: 
Individual
Support materials: 
  • Bilingual dictionary
Duration: 
3 Hour(s)
Comment: 
Written examination under supervision.
Exam code: 
GRA 64192
Grading scale: 
ECTS
Resit: 
Examination when next scheduled course
Exam category: 
Submission
Form of assessment: 
Written submission
Weight: 
60
Grouping: 
Group/Individual (1 - 3)
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 64193
Grading scale: 
ECTS
Resit: 
Examination when next scheduled course
Type of Assessment: 
Ordinary examination
All exams must be passed to get a grade in this course.
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)
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.