MARK0786-1

Duration

30h Th

Number of credits

	Master in management (120 ECTS)	5 crédits
	Extra courses intended for exchange students (Erasmus, ...)	5 crédits

Lecturer

Cécile Delcourt

Language(s) of instruction

English language

Organisation and examination

Teaching in the first semester, review in January

Schedule

Schedule online

Units courses prerequisite and corequisite

Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program

Learning unit contents

(revised on 14/09/2022)

Approximately 78% of the Belgian GDP and 80% of employment are derived from services industries. Even product-dominant firms are now turning into service companies; services are indeed becoming critical for competitive advantage in companies across the globe and in all industry sectors. For instance, revenues and profits of manufacturers like GE, Michelin, and IBM are now primarily derived from services. Recent award-winning scientific articles even argue that "all businesses are service businesses".

Because service marketers need concepts and priorities that are relevant to their needs and business, we will look at marketing through a different lens. Services are different. Service organizations therefore require a distinctive approach to marketing. In this class, we will discuss how and why services are different. You will learn how quality is evaluated in service firms, why expectations are important to service consumers, why people (both employees and consumers) are essential to service success, how the physical environment and service design influence service delivery, and how services firms should recover from failure. In essence, you will be exposed to and learn a new way of thinking about marketing.

Learning outcomes of the learning unit

After taking this course, you shall be able to understand:

what services are, the differences between services and physical products, and how these differences translate into strategic direction
how service consumers' expectations are formed, how their perceptions are developed, and what quality means in service delivery
how to listen to your consumers and build relationships with them
the role of physical evidence in service delivery and how to best design services
the important roles of employees, consumers, and technology in service encounters, and how to manage them for a successful service delivery
the challenges of managing demand and capacity, as well as of service pricing

This course specifically contributes to the following Intended Learning Outcomes (ILO):

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.
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

You are responsible for checking whether you meet the following prerequisites. In case you do not meet them, you will NOT be allowed to take the course.
You should have followed at least one course of "Basics/Principles in Marketing" (course description: https://www.programmes.uliege.be/cocoon/20182019/en/cours/GEST3014-2.html) and of "Marketing Research" (https://www.programmes.uliege.be/cocoon/en/cours/MARK0793-1.html), and should master the concepts covered in these courses prior to taking the present course. For instance, you will be asked to collect, analyze, summarize, and report primary as well as secondary data as part of the "Service Challenge" (Group project); such knowledge and skills should have been obtained previously.
The "Principles in Marketing" and "Marketing Research" courses respectively rely on the following textbooks (COMPULSORY readings):

Lambin J.J., & de Moerloose Ch. (2016), Marketing stratégique et opérationnel, 9th Ed, Paris: Dunod. Students can download the complementary resources of this course here: http://lola.hec.uliege.be (check GEST3014)
Malhotra N., Nunan D., Birks D. (2017), Marketing Research: An Applied Approach, 5th Edition, Pearson Education. Complementary resources available on Lol@ (check MARK0783).

Finally, you are required to participate actively during the sessions. Accordingly, you need a good proficiency level in spoken and written English.

Planned learning activities and teaching methods

Class will consist of a combination of theoretical lectures, case studies, students' presentation of a scientific article, group project, guest lecture, and participative discussions/activities.

Mode of delivery (face to face, distance learning, hybrid learning)

Sessions will be face-to-face, each of 3 hours.

Work placement(s)

Organisational remarks and main changes to the course

Course registration deadline: September 26, 2022. Registration after the deadline is not allowed. Students who do not attend any of the first two sessions will not be assigned to any group for the Service Challenge.

Participation in learning activities: Given the importance of taking part in the activities, the Article 37(§2) from the 'Academic and Examination Regulations' of the University of Liege is applicable. According to this article, I may declare students inadmissible for exams if they did not (1) submit their work in due time, or (2) take part in the core learning activities. In particular: Students who did not actively participate in and present the "Service Challenge" (group project) are not allowed to take the final examination. Thus, students have to present the service challenge to take the final examination.

Classroom behavior: In the interest of common courtesy, you are expected to turn off your cell phone for class and show up on time.

Class attendance: Because class participation is key (and taken into consideration in the final evaluation), attendance is strongly recommended. The more participate in this course, the more you will reap the benefits of this course.

Contacts

Instructor:

Prof. Dr. Cécile DELCOURT
Department of Marketing
Office: Rue Louvrex 14 (Building N3d (new building), Office 4/82C, 4th floor)
Email: Cecile.Delcourt@uliege.be
Office hours: By appointment only.

Teaching Assistant

Jordan FLEISSIG
Email: jfleissig@uliege.be

Project management in marketing : a research and practice-based seminar