Course Title : Services Marketing Course Code : MKT353/MKT3353 No. of Credits/Term : 3 Mode of Tuition : Sectional approach Class Contact Hours : 42 hours / 3 hours per week Category : Stream Elective under discipline of Marketing Prerequisite(s) : Marketing Management (BUS 2205) Course Instructor : Prof. Esther Ling-yee LI Email : estherli@ln.edu.hk Phone : 2616 8232 Office : SEK101/2 L1 Contact Hours : Wednesdays (15:30-17:00pm) and Fridays (16:30-18:00pm) L2 Contact Hours : Wednesdays (11:30-13:00pm) and Fridays (11:00-12:30pm) Office Hours : 1:30-3:00pm every Wednesday 5:00-6:30pm every Wednesday 3:30-4:30pm every Friday (I) Course Objectives: This course aims to provide students with an in-depth appreciation and understanding of the unique challenges inherent in managing and delivering quality services. Students will be introduced to and have the opportunity to work with tools and strategies that address these challenges. (II) Four Course-Intended Learning Outcomes (CILOs): Upon completion of this course, a student can: 1. Explain the nature of service, and demonstrate how consumer behavior relates to services, and how to position services. 2. Expand the traditional marketing mix (Product, Place, Price, and Promotion) to account for the specific characteristics of services, and to develop the service concept and its value proposition. 3. Have a solid understanding on how to manage the interface between customers and the service organization. It covers the additional 3 Ps (Process, Physical environment, People) that are specific to services marketing. 4. Address four key issues in implementing effective services marketing. They are building customer loyalty, complaint handling and service recovery, improving service quality and productivity, and, finally, striving for service leadership. (III) Main Text Christopher H. Lovelock and Jochen Wirtz (2011), Services Marketing, 7 th ed., Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall 1
(IV) Assessment Design and Measurement of Learning Outcomes: Assessment Methods/Tasks Weight Course-Intended Learning Outcomes (CILOs) 1 2 3 4 Four Case Studies and 25% X X X X Class Participation Group-Based assignment - 35% X X X Service Blueprinting Project Written Report and Oral Presentation Final exam 40% X X X X TOTAL 100% Measurement of Learning Outcomes Final Exam (40%) A final exam measures students level of understanding of the service marketing knowledge. Students shall be aware of the University regulations about dishonest practice in course work and the possible consequences as stipulated in the Regulations Governing University Examinations. Academic dishonesty and plagiarism will automatically result in a failing grade. Case Studies (25%) Cases are vehicles for learning diagnostic skills and for applying the concepts and frameworks that were introduced in the readings and lectures. There are four case studies in this course. Please refer to Appendix 1 for each case study s questions. The whole class is divided into 4 big groups with 5 to 6 students in each. While each big group will look after one case study, it will be further subdivided into a case presenter group and another case critique group. Whereas the former serves to address relevant case study issues and questions with their own answers, the latter functions to comment on potential views and facilitate the rest of the class in open discussion. 2
Group-Based Service Design Blueprinting Project (35%) This group project assesses students' understanding of the Service Blueprinting, servicescapes, and service delivery processes by examining the service processes of a given service company. Peer Evaluation will be used to evaluate each individual s contribution to the involved group assignment. Each team member is required to fill in a team evaluation form and to reflect his/her perceptions over how other group members vary in their respective contributions towards the group project. Written assignment requirements (20%). (1) Describe the service in terms of its positioning & target customers. (2) Develop a blueprint of the service that capture the processes graphically on paper, using hyperlinks and/or video clips to illustrate specific processes with digital images. (3) Analyze the blueprint (2-3 pages double-spaced) in terms of its alignment with the service brand positioning, and describe 3 potential fail points and/or bottlenecks; (4) Analyze the servicescape and/or other physical evidence of the service, turn in materials together with an analysis (2-3 pages double-spaced) of the servicescape, and comment on extent to which the services ape/physical evidence reinforce the brand position; and (5) Write a management memo to highlight key insights from the above analyses that reinforce or contradict the brand positioning, and suggest recommendations based on your analyses. The memo should be no longer than 2 pages (single-spaced). Oral presentation requirements (15%). All team reports will be presented in class. Both electronic and printed copies of the presentation should be provided at the same time. Plan on about 10-15 PowerPoint slides for your presentation. Due Date Each group has to deliver a 20-minute project presentation (10%) on 22 April (Friday) in SEK104. An individual project s written report (15%) is due on 27 April 2015 (Friday) (Report hardcopy to be submitted at the beginning of the lesson). The report must be double-spaced in 12 point font, with 2.5cm margins on four sides, must not exceed 10 pages, and must be within 2,800 words (excluding cover & content page, appendices and references). A word-count must be provided at the end of the report. No late submission will be accepted. 3
(V) Class Schedule: * Chinese New Year Holiday (8-12 February 2015) ** Sports Day (24 February 2015) *** Easter Holiday (25 March 2015) Week Chapter In-Class Learning Acts Case Studies PART I: Understanding Services Products, Consumers and Markets 20/1 1 27/1 2 & 3 New Perspectives on Marketing in The Service Economy Consumer Behavior and Positioning in a Services Context Team formation Part II: Applying the 4 Ps of Marketing to Services 3/2 * 4 Developing Service Products 17/2 7 Promoting Services and Educating Customers Ch1 AQ3, Ch4 AQ2, Ch7 AQ3 CASE #1 on 19/2 (Friday) 24/2 ** 6 Setting Prices and Implementing Revenue Management 2/3 5 Distributing Services through Physical and Electronic Channels Ch5 AQ3 CASE #2 on 11/3 (Friday) Part III: Managing the Customer Interface (additional 3 Ps: Processes, Physical Evidences, People) 9/3 8 Designing and Managing Service Processes Application exercise on SB 16/3 9 Balancing Demand and Productive Capacity CASE #3 on 18/3 (Friday) 23/3 *** 10 Crafting the Service Environment 30/3 11 Managing People for Service Advantage Discussion on roles of customers in delivery CASE #4 on 1/4 (Friday) Part IV: Implementing Profitable Service Strategies 6/4 12 13/4 13 20/4 14 Managing Relationships and Building Loyalty Complaint Handling and Service Recovery Improving Service Quality and Productivity Group Project Presentations 22/4 (Friday) 27/4 15 Striving for Service Leadership Course Review and Exam Briefing 4
Appendix 1 CASE STUDY QUESTIONS Questions are to be prepared in advance of each case discussion; turn in your answers at the beginning of class, keeping a reference cope for yourself to use during the discussion. 19/2 1 st Case Study Dr. Beckett s Dental Office (PP. 470-474) 1. Which of the eight elements of the services marketing mix are addressed in this case? Give examples of each P you identify. 2. Why do people dislike going to the dentist? Do you feel that Beckett has addressed the problem effectively? 3. How do Beckett and her staff educate patients about the service they are receiving? What else could they do? 4. What supplementary services are offered? How do they enhance service delivery? 5. Contrast your own dental care experiences with those offered by Beckett s practice. What differences do you see? Based on your review of this case, what advice would you give (a) to your current or former dentist and (b) to Dr. Beckett? 11/3 2 nd Case Study Shouldice Hospital Limted (pp. 529-540) 1. What is the market for this service? How successful is Shouldice Hospital? 2. Define the service model for Shouldice. How does each of the elements contribute to Shouldice s success? 3. As Dr Shouldice, what actions if any would you take to expand the hospital s capacity and how would you implement such changes? 18/3 3 rd Case Study Hilton HHonors Worldwide: Loyalty Wars (pp.555-568) 1. What are the strengths and weaknesses of the Hilton HHonors program from the views of: a. Hilton Hotels Corp. and Hilton International b. member properties (hotels owned by franchisees licensed to use a Hilton brand) c. guests d. corporate travel departments 2. How does the value generated to Hilton by the program compare to its cost? 3. What is Starwood attempting to do and how should Jeff Diskin respond? 1/4 4 th Case Study Menton Bank (pp. 543-549) (1) Identify the steps taken by Menton Bank (MB) to develop a stronger customer orientation in its retail branches. (2) How would you compare and contrast the jobs of CAR and CSR? How important is each to (a) bank operations and (b) customer satisfaction? (3) Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of Karen Mitchell and other candidates for head CSR. (4) What action do you recommend for filling the head CSR position? 5
Case Studies (25%) Cases are vehicles for learning diagnostic skills and for applying the concepts and frameworks that were introduced in the readings and lectures. Case learning happens in two ways. The first part of the learning process is pre-class preparation, as follows: Read the case Analysis the information contained in the exhibits, tables, figures, and test Diagnose the case problems and apply the appropriate services marketing models and frameworks to solve Write a detailed answer to all assigned case questions. The deliverable for this part of the process is a hard copy (only 3 page single-spaced typed case analysis) that answers all case questions in details, due at the start of class. This accounts for ½ of the case grade. The second part of the learning process is case discussion. There is rarely a single right answer for a case. Understanding how others analyzed the case and developed their solutions is a valuable process for expanding your own ability to creatively develop multiple viable alternative solutions to marketing problems. The deliverable for this part of the process is prepared participation in the case discussions, this counts for the second ½ of the case grade. PLEASE NOTE: Because the case is discussed in class, no late cases can be accepted. Please do not submit by e- mail as a hard copy is required for me to review. 6