90594 - MARKETING DEI SERVIZI

Learning outcomes

The objective of this course is to provide students with the concepts and tools that allow to manage the service offer of a manufacturing firm. The seminar aims at explaining the process of service infusion in manufacturing, that is the challenges that a firm has to face when shifting from a pure product logic to a product + service logic. At the end of the course the student will be able to: understand the changes that are involved when a manufacturing firm develops a service offer; understand the internal change processes that are necessary to develop a service offer in a manufacturing firm; know the factors that guide the management of service activities related to products.

Course contents

This course addresses a very current and relevant issue in the world economy landscape: the management of service activities. Perhaps it is not well-known that more than 70% of the GDP of advanced economies is generated by service activities and that more than 65% of jobs are in services. Health, education, after-sales services, consulting, financial services, tourism ... are just some examples of activities that involve the sale of a product associated with a service or the provision of a "pure" service.

But what are the managerial challenges associated to the production of a service? What are the implications of the intangibility, the perishability of service, the heterogeneity in its delivery, and the inseparability between the phases of production and consumption of a service?

This course aims to answer these questions by highlighting the specificities of service production and the theories and techniques that best manage these specificities.

At the end of the course, the horizon of the opportunities offered by the services activities will be extraordinarily wider.

The course is held in the months of September- October 

Syllabus

1. The service economy: facts and figures
2. Producing and delivering services: the servuction model
3. Customer role in services delivery. New technologies and participation
4. Contact employee role in service delivery
5. The design of service delivery
6. The definition and measurement of customer satisfaction
7. Measuring customer loyalty.
8. Service recovery and complaint management
9. Communication and word-of-mouth
   

Readings/Bibliography

Services Marketing by V. Zeithaml, M.J. Bitner, D. Gremler, & E. Bonetti 2012 McGraw Hill 

Teaching methods

Face-to-face and interactive teaching on topics covered by the program, Presentation and discussion of business cases, Business talks

Assessment methods

The exam aims at assessing two dimensions of learning: knowledge of concepts and theories on service management, and the ability to apply this knowledge to a real context and to present effectively to the audience.

To verify the first aspect, there is a written exam with open-ended questions on the slides delivered by the teacher. To verify the second aspect, the exam involves the preparation and the presentation of a group work during the course.

The overall rating is the arithmetic mean of the results of the two marks. Therefore, 50% of the mark is attributed to the individual exam and 50% to the group work.

For those who do not attend and / or do not participate in group work, the exam is limited to the written exam on the book chapters.

The test assessment grid will be as follows:

· <18 insufficient

· 18-23 sufficient

· 24-27 average/good

· 28-30 very good

· 30 cum laude excellent/outstanding

Teaching tools

Slides, readings and case studies

Students with disability or specific learning disabilities (DSA) are invited to make their condition known to find the best possible accommodation to their needs

Links to further information

http://www.unibo.it/SitoWebDocente/default.aspx?UPN=chiara.orsingher@unibo.it

Office hours

See the website of Chiara Orsingher