Learning Objectives

           The U.S., as well as much of the world economy, is dominated by services. In the U.S., approximately 78% of the labor force, 73% of the GNP, 45% of the average family's budget, and 32% of the exports are accounted for by services. In spite of this, traditional business school courses have focused on the manufacturing sector of the economy. Additionally, advances in information technology have created new services, e.g., online retailing, and offered opportunities for service and manufacturing organizations to enhance relationships with customers. This course is designed for students with career interests in service industries, e.g., consulting, entertainment, internet shopping, even banking, as well as in ""goods" industries with high service components, e.g., industrial and high tech products, consumer durables.
            The objective of this course is to supplement Marketing Management, MKT 555, by focusing on problems and strategies specific to service businesses. Problems commonly encountered in service businesses (such as inability to inventory, difficulty in synchronizing demand and supply, difficulty in controlling quality) will be addressed. Strategies used will be discussed. Textbook chapters have technology highlights and cases and examples of information technology used to enhance customer service. The emphasis on lectures will be on services in general rather than on any particular industry. However, concepts will be illustrated using cases, examples and exercises in industries such as banking, health care, information technology, financial planning, consulting, the professions, non-profits and communications.

DELIVERING AND PERFORMING SERVICE

GRADE ALLOCATION:

Website reviews                    20%
Service diary analysis             30%
Term project                         30%
Term project presentation       10%
Class participation                 10%

CLASS FORMAT:

Class sessions will consist of lectures, case discussions and exercises.

WEBSITE REVIEWS:

You can select from any of four types of websites: entertainment, online shopping, service business or non-profit organization. You should then select four sites within the category you choose. Review each of the four you select on the following dimensions:
    a. reliability
    b. responsiveness
    c. assurance
    d. empathy
    e. tangibles
These dimensions of service quality were developed using traditional service companies, so you will have to interpret them for a cyber-space offering. Do these dimensions relate to cyber-services? If not, what dimensions would you suggest as alternatives?
This paper should be no more than 5 pages, double spaced, 12 pt. Font, 1" margins. It will be due week 5, and you should be prepared to discuss one of your reviews in class.

SERVICES DIARY ANALYSIS:

        Students frequently comment that good service is just "common sense." I might argue that it is "uncommon sense," yet people often lament the lack of "good" service. The purpose of your service diary assignment is to analyze the service encounters you experience. For three weeks, beginning Week 3, you should keep a diary of 5 of your service encounters with both for-profit and not-for-profit organizations per week, a total of 15 encounters. Include in-person, telephone and even cyber-space encounters, but do not use your website experiences from the web analysis assignment. You should record factual information as well as your perceptions and feelings about each service encounter. It is essential that you make your diary entries on the same day as you experience the service. Your diary should be comprehensive, detailed, and organized in a consistent, business-like manner, and it should be typed. Keep your diary through Week 5.
        After you complete the diary, and before you turn it in during class in Week 7, type up to 5 pages (double spaced, 12 pt. Font, 1" margins) of service diary analysis and append your entries. Do the diary entries demonstrate that the service provider adopted the concepts from the class and text materials? If so, explain which concepts were demonstrated in your service encounter. If not, explain how the service provider violated these concepts, and what should have been done instead.
        Speculate as to why the service provider did not demonstrate "common sense." Throughout the analysis, you should demonstrate your knowledge of the class and text materials by using appropriate vocabulary and concepts.

CASE ANALYSIS:

        Each case in the course was chosen to illustrate or reveal key concepts and issues important to this service framework. Remember this: marketing is not an exact science! There is rarely a single right answer…the idea is to improve effectiveness and efficiency.
        Meaningful class participation will be rewarded based on content and quality not frequency alone! Be prepared to offer thoughts, but also to build on what other people contribute in the discussions.

TERM PROJECT:

        You can work in this by yourself or with one of your classmates. Regardless, it should be no more than 10 pages long (double spaced, 12 pt. Font, 1" margins) plus relevant exhibits. In addition to the options given below, I am open to listening to a project that meets your individual interests based on where you work. By Week 3, you should submit an abstract of 100-150 words of your proposed project. The projects are due Week 9.

Option 1: New Service Idea Marketing Plan on any idea worthy of being a business venture. This can be a new idea or modification of an existing one. You should define the service concept, research the market potential, select the targets, and develop a plan.

Option 2: Service Organization Evaluation in which you select an organization, research it to find out how it curently handles four of the following:
        a. customer defections
        b. relationship marketing
        c. employee recruitment, selection and training
        d. managing demand
        e. the Servicescape
        f. pricing
You must identify your information sources, and you will need to document the way strategies are currently handled, then critically evaluate their effectiveness based on learning in this course. You must also propose effective service strategies for areas where the firm's current operation are inappropriate.

Option 3: Service Quality Gap Analysis (pp. 481-498 in the text) using the conceptual model in the text of service quality. This report must examine a firm's ability to deliver high quality service that matches customer expectations. You must identify sources, observations, etc., and you will need to propose effective service marketing strategies for the gaps. Each paper must propose a plan for understanding and monitoring customer expectations (Gap 1), a plan for developing customer-based standards (Gap 2), a blueprint for improving service performance (Gap 3), and a plan for managing customer expectations.

You will make a presentation of the important points of your paper on the night normally reserved for the final exam ( we won't have one!)
 

Student Case Preparation Questions:

Week 2: Virgin Atlantic Airways
a. How did Virgin Atlantic develop from 1984 to 1994?
b. What customer value do they offer?
c. What drives the delivery of customer value at Virgin?
d. Where are they vulnerable? e. What are possible actions for the future?

Week 3: AT&T (A)
a. Discuss Falcone's formation and management of his services salesforce
b. What did Falcone's services salesforce do to break into the small business market?
c. How do the skills needed for small versus large markets differ, and what did Falcone do to bridge the gap?
d. Using Exhibit 2, what kind of results do you think the Employee Satisfaction Survey will reveal? On the 0-7 scale, indicate what you consider the difference is between salespeople's "desired" working conditions for each of the 11 items and their "actual" experience (use "x's for " actual" and +'s fpor "desired"
e. Do you think Falcone was successful? What would you do next or differently?

Week 5: Custom Research (A)
a. How does a company like this make profits?
b. Why not serve all customers who make a contribution to profitability?
c. Do we know profitability of each project?
d. Do they have any alternatives?

Week 7:   The Quality Improvement Customers Didn't Want (Ernst & Young)
a. Describe the concept behind "Ernie" (customer benefits, market segment, positioning with E&Y's service offerings, goals). What services are offered through "Ernie?"
b. How was Ernie developed? Compare the process used to the new service development steps described in chapter 8.
c. What are some of the challenges in marketing a totally new concept like Ernie? What lessons did E&Y learn along the way?
d. Examine the pricing strategies for Ernie. How do you believe prices for this type of service should be determined?
e. Describe the basic situation in the Quality Improvement case. What decision is Alan Moulter facing? What are the issues, challenges and tradeoffs?
f. Information technology is a powerful force in shaping service strategies. Used appropriately it can increase customer satisfaction, improve efficiency, reduce costs, support front line staff and even radically change how services are delivered. Compare and contrast the use of technology in the Ernst & Young case with the proposed computerized reception system in this case.
g. What would you do if you were Moulter
h. How can E&Y sustain its competitive advantage and differentiation? What's the role for marketing?

Week 8:   North Pittsburgh Telephone Company
a. What are the various choices facing Greg Sloan?
b. What must be considered to make a good decision?
c. What would you recommend as a pricing strategy? Why?
d. How would you implement your approach?
 
 

Class Procedures and/or Policies

Academic Dishonesty Code from Student Handbook:

1. Cheating: Cheating is any action that violates university norms or instructor's guidelines for the preparation and submission of assignments. This includes but is not limited to unauthorized access to examination materials prior to the examination itself; use or possession of unauthorized materials during the examination or quiz; having someone take an examination in one's place; copying from another student; unauthorized assistance to another student; or acceptance of such assistance.

2. Plagiarism: Plagiarism is a major form of academic dishonesty involving the presentation of the work of another as one's own. Plagiarism includes, but is not limited to the following:

a.The direct copying of any source, such as written and verbal material, computer files, audio disks, video programs or musical scores, whether published or unpublished, in whole or part, without proper acknowledgment that it is someone else's

b.Copying of any source in whole or part with only minor changes in wording or syntax, even with acknowledgment.

c.Submitting as one's own work a report, examination paper, computer file, lab report or other assignment that has been prepared by someone else. This includes research papers purchased from any other person or agency.

d.The paraphrasing of another's work or ideas without proper acknowledgment.

Plagiarism, like other forms of academic dishonesty, is always a serious matter. If an instructor finds that a student has plagiarized, the appropriate penalty is at the instructor's discretion. Actions taken by the instructor do not preclude the college or the university from taking further punitive action including dismissal from the university.