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 todays 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, discussions, case studies, group and individual work; when possible accompanied by guest lecture(s) by service marketing practitioners. As a part of the learning process students are required to participate in the class discussion by giving their opinions and practical examples and making a presentation of their project(s).
Students are required to use the learning platform It's Learning and the Internet.
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 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.
Some basic knowledge of marketing concepts may be beneficial, but it is not neccessary.
| Assessments |
|---|
Exam category: Submission Form of assessment: Written submission Weight: 20 Grouping: Individual Duration: 30 Minute(s) Comment: Individual assesment (assignment or a quizz/test). (The duration changed in course description 25.01.18) 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/Individual (1 - 3) Duration: 1 Month(s) Comment: Final project (group or individual 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.