University of Debrecen Faculty of Economics and Business Administration
Spring semester, academic year of 2017/18
Department name: Department of Marketing
Program name: BA in Business Administration and ManagementWork schedule: full-time
Specialisation name: -
Course name, Neptun code(s):Services Marketing, KTE11450-K3, GT_AGMNE090, GT_AGMN708,KTA60450-K3
Weekly hours: 0+2credits: 3
Prerequisite(s): -
- Instructors
Dr. Marietta Kiss, assistant professor
Contact: office hours: odd weeks Wednesday 10.00-12.00; room TVK116
even weeks Tuesday 12.00-14.00; room TVK116
e-mail:
homepage: oktato.econ.unideb.hu/kissmarietta
phone: (52) 526963
- Course Objectives
The aim of this course is to provide an up-to-date and comprehensive overview of the services marketing industry focusing strongly on customer satisfaction, service quality and customer service. The fundamentals of services marketing presented in a strategic marketing framework, however, the examples of practical application of concepts help in bridging the gap between theory and practice.Real-world examples feature a wide array of businesses representing a variety of industries: education and health services, financial activities, government, information, leisure and hospitality, professional and business services, transportation and utilities, wholesale and retail trade, and “other services.”The courseintroduces services marketing not only as an essential focus for service firms, but also as a source of competitive advantage for companies that market tangible products. The course aims to give you valuable insights and skills to help you understand – and succeed in – today’s business environment.
- Schedule and Teaching Materials
Week, date / Topic / Study materials
Week 1: 7 February 2018 / Orientation, Course Overview
How to prepare a case presentation?
New Perspectives on Marketing in the Service Economy / Chapter 1
Week 2: 14 February 2018 / Consumer Behavior in a Services Context / Chapter 2
Week 3: 21 February2018 / Positioning Services in Competitive Markets
Case1 / Chapter 3
Week 4: 28February2018 / Developing Service Products: Core and Supplementary Elements
Case2 / Chapter 4
Week 5: 7 March 2018 / Distributing Services Through Physical and Electronic Channels
Case5 / Chapter 5
Week 6: 14 March 2018 / Setting Prices and Implementing Revenue Management
Case4 / Chapter 6
Week 7: 21 March 2018 / Promoting Services and Educating Customers
Case6 / Chapter 7
Week 8: 28 March2018 / Designing and Managing Service Processes
Case7 / Chapter 8
Week 9: 4April2018 / Balancing Demand and Productive Capacity
Case8 / Chapter 9
Week 10: 11 April 2018 / Crafting the Service Environment
Case9 / Chapter10
Week 11: 18 April 2018 / Managing People for Service Advantage
Case10 / Chapter 11
Week 12: 25 April2018 / Managing Relationships and Building Loyalty
Complaint Handling and Service Recovery
Case3 / Chapters
12, 13
Week 13: 2 May 2018 / Improving Service Quality and Productivity
Striving for Service Leadership
Case11 / Chapters
14, 15
Week 14: 9 May 2018 / Midterm exam
- Course and exam requirements
Attendance is expected and is taken at the beginning or the end of each class. More than three absences from class for any reason will result in denial of the signature for the class.
Course requirements involve the analysis of a chosencase in small groups (4-5 students) at home and presenting the findings in class (using Power point slides) in at least15 minutes. The concerning cases are indicated in the table above (the presentation is obligatory at the dates above), and are allocated in the first class. In case of late presentation, grade will be decreased by 50%. The groups have to prepare and submit a hand-outabout the presentation (in the form of printed PPT slides) before their presentations. In case of late submission, grade will be decreased by 10% every day after the deadline.
Beside this, after each class students are provided with onlinequiz questions(homework) relating to the actual lesson. The questions have to be answered online, and can be submitted only once (be careful before submission!). The link of quizzes can be accessed via my homepage, the quiz page requires registration with your Neptun code and email address. Each homework will be available after the related seminar. The deadline of submitting the answers is the next seminar, in case of late submission, scores will be decreased by 10% each day after the deadline. The answers definitely cannot be submitted after this extended deadline.
The midterm exam will contain multiple choice, true or false and short essay questions.Taking the midterm exam on 9 May is compulsory, it can be retaken once in the last week of the study period of the semester (the exact date and place will be announced later in the class and via the Neptun).In the event of absence on 9May, the midterm exam can be taken only in the last week of the study period of the semester, however, a physician’s confirmation will be required (the exact date and place will be announced later in the class and via the Neptun). In this case, the midterm exam can be retaken once in the 1st week of the exam period (the exact date and place will be announced later in the class and via the Neptun).
If a student does not fulfil all of the requirements above, the signature will be denied.You should note that make-up assignments will not normally be given. The only exception will be natural disaster, documented serious emergency or illness of the student or immediate family member. In all relevant cases physician’s confirmation will be required. Make-ups will absolutely not be given because the date of assignment happen to clash with student’s travel plans, sports activities or work schedules. All requests for make-up assignments will need to be thoroughly documented and confirmed by independent third party.
There is a zero tolerance cheating policy during this course. Students caught violating the academic honesty policy will face severe penalty. Any offense will result in a 0 on an assignment or test.
- Assessment
The calculation of the final grade is as follows:
case presentation+hand-out10+5%
online homework quizzes15%
midterm exam70%
The final result will be evaluated according to the following schedule:
0–50%failed (1)
51–62%satisfactory (2)
63–74%average (3)
75–86%good (4)
87–100%excellent (5)
- Compulsory readings
Lovelock, C. H. – Wirtz, J. (2011): Services Marketing: People, Technology, Strategy. Pearson, Boston, 7th edition, Global edition
- Recommended readings
Baron, S. – Harris, K. – Hilton, T. (2009): Services Marketing: Text and Cases. Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, 3rd edition
Hoffmann, K. D. – Bateson, J. E. G. –Wood, E. – Kenyon, A. J. (2010): Services Marketing: Concepts, Strategies and Cases. South-Western, Cengage Learning, Andover
- Other information
Day, time and place:Wednesday 16.00-17.40room: TVK10
Debrecen, 24thJanuary 2018
Dr. Marietta Kiss
Assistant professor
The Regulation of Studies and Examinations, additions by the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, and the Code of Ethics of the University of Debrecen apply to all questions related to the courses and requirements.