This is an introductory module into the marketing and management discipline's applied aspects relevant to the service industries. Its specific emphasis is on the key issues and characteristics that differentiate services from products and the resulting management issues and challenges. It pays particular attention to the role of people in all aspects of services; customers, management and staff.
Overview of Services Marketing;
Understanding services and e-services
Understand the Fundamental differences between goods and services.
Introduce the concepts differentiating services from goods; intangibility, heterogeneity, perishability and inseparability. Identifying and delving into the issues which each of these characteristics may cause and the managerial solutions to these
Understand the consumer decision process in Services, identifying the consumer decision-making process incorporating the pre-purchase, consumption and post-purchase evaluation stages and the special issues pertaining to services.
Research services markets and future challenges
An overview of the sector in a national and International perspective.
Investigating such issues as industries in growth and decline, employment trends and continuity planning the importance of the sector to the economy.
Service Strategy:
Service development and innovation
Service delivery process and process management
Pricing of services
Developing the Service Communications mix
Managing the firm's physical evidence
Understanding people in services management;
Managing the service employee. The importance of contact personnel and the boundary-spanning role. The issues inherent in empowerment and enfranchisement.
Managing the service consumer. Understanding customers and their role as ‘partial employees and brand ambassadors’.
Customer relationship marketing. Understanding internal marketing and the impact of people and staff satisfaction on the service profit chain.
The module will be delivered through a series of lectures and case-related workshops. Students will be expected to actively participate in weekly discussions to broaden their understanding of the issues under scrutiny. Project work and individual assessment will form the assessment for the module.
| Module Content & Assessment | |
|---|---|
| Assessment Breakdown | % |
| Other Assessment(s) | 100 |