2017-2018 / MARK0786-1

Services Marketing and Management

Duration

30h Th

Number of credits

 Master in management (120 ECTS)5 crédits 

Lecturer

Cécile Delcourt

Language(s) of instruction

English language

Organisation and examination

Teaching in the first semester, review in January

Units courses prerequisite and corequisite

Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program

Learning unit contents

Services dominate western economies. In many countries the majority of the workforce is employed in services jobs, and the projected growth for the next decades is overwhelmingly dominated by services. Therefore it seems imperative to study the marketing of services. The specific problems of marketing of organizations that provide services form the central focus of this course.
- Foundations for services marketing and management - Understanding customer requirements - Aligning service design and standards - Delivering and performing services - Managing service promises

Learning outcomes of the learning unit

Explain what services are and identify important trends in services
Explain the need for special services marketing concepts and practices and why the need has developed and is accelerating
Explore the profound impact of technology on service
Outline the basic differences between goods and services and the resulting challenges and opportunities for service businesses
Introduce the expanded marketing mix for services and the philosophy of customer focus, as powerful frameworks and themes that are fundamental to the rest of the text
Introduce the servuction system model and the concept of the services triangle
This course contributes to the following Intended Learning Outcomes :
 
ILO-2 : Gaining the knowledge and understanding of one of the proposed fields of concentration or to gain deep knowledge in the field of the management being already specialized through a first University Master Degree.
ILO-4 : To acquire the capacity to research autonomously and methodically the information needed to solve a complex, transversal management problem.
ILO-5 : Integrate autonomously researched information, tools, knowledge and context to build and propose, either individually or as part of a team, original, creative and viable solutions to concrete complex management problems, whether real or simulated, taking into account, when necessary, the human, social and legal context.

ILO-7 : Being capable of professional team work.
ILO-9 : Developing a critical sense (arguing).
ILO-10 : Developing a transversal, global vision. 
ILO-11 : Creative conception of solutions.
ILO-12 : Professional capacity for oral communication.
ILO-13 : Professional capacity for written communication.  

Prerequisite knowledge and skills

Principles of Marketing/Introduction to Marketing

Planned learning activities and teaching methods

Business cases Conferences by service managers           
Students' presentations Group work on the field Visit of point of sales

Mode of delivery (face-to-face ; distance-learning)

10 face-to-face sessions of 3 hours each

Recommended or required readings

Required textbook: Wilson, Zeithaml, Bitner, Gremler (2012), Services Marketing: Integrating Customer Focus Across the Firm, 2nd edition, McGrawHill
OR
Wilson, Zeithaml, Bitner, Gremler (2016), Services Marketing: Integrating Customer Focus Across the Firm, 3rd edition, McGrawHill
+ a collection of ad hoc scientific articles published in top-tier journals in services.

Assessment methods and criteria

  • Group work: 40%
  • Final written examination: 60%
  • Bonus for active and constructive participation
TO PASS THE COURSE, you need at least 10/20 for the final written examination. 
IMPORTANT: Given the importance of taking part in the activities, theArticle 37(§2) from the 'Academic and Examination Regulations' of the University of Liege (available here: http://bit.ly/2bMA71B) is applicable. According to this article, the teaching staff may declare students inadmissible for exams if they did not submitted their work in due time.

Work placement(s)

Organizational remarks

Full English All ad hoc documents will be available on Lola

Contacts

Cécile DELCOURT, Ph.D.
Cecile.Delcourt@ulg.ac.be