IMIS

Bhubaneswar
COURSE MANUAL
Batch : 2016-18 Services Marketing (C-307)
Term : III Prof. Rakhi Dutta

Importance of Services

India's services sector contributes to about 66 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP),
35 per cent of employment, a quarter of the total trade, and over half of the foreign investment
inflows. The services industry is one of the largest and fastest-growing sectors in the global market.
Its contribution to the Indian economy is particularly significant, with regard to employment potential
and impact on national income. This sector covers a wide range of activities, such as transportation,
communication, trading, finances, real estate and health, among others. The services industry also
provides massive business prospects to investors.

Course Objectives

The course would help the students to develop their skill, knowledge and attitude towards creating,
managing and retaining service marketing strategies. Service marketing strategies would help meet
the challenges thrown up to marketers of services as services are intangible, variable and involve
customer participation which give rise to problems in service design, delivery and control. The course
aims at giving a holistic view of services marketing with respect to marketing, operations and human
resource management involved in managing services through class lectures, case studies, field work
and presentations. The students will get a varied exposure as the course will span several service
industries.

Session Plan

Session 1-2
Topic: Introduction to Services Marketing, Course Introduction, Role and Importance
of Services in the Indian/Global Economy, Evolution of Services Marketing,
Meaning and Scope of Services, Characteristics of Services as compared to
Goods, Classification of Services based on Search, Experience & Credence
properties.

Treatment: Class Lecture & Case Study

Case Study: Dabbawallahs of Mumbai

Suggested Reading:
Text Book: Services Marketing: Integrating Customer focus Across the Firm; Zeithaml, Gremler,
Bitner, Pandit, 5th edition (Ch 1, pg 4-24)
Adl. Reading: Services Sector Survey 2015 - 2016, extracted from http://indiabudget.nic.in

Session 3
Topic: Extended Marketing Mix of Services: the 7 Ps of Services Marketing

Treatment: Class Lecture

Suggested Reading:
Text Book: Services Marketing: Integrating Customer focus Across the Firm; Zeithaml, Gremler,
Bitner, Pandit (Ch 1, pg 25-28)
Session 4
Topic: Consumer Expectations, Meaning and Types (Ideal, Adequate) of Consumer
Expectations, Zone of Tolerance, Factors affecting consumer expectations, Issues
involving customer service expectation, Expectation management strategies,
Service encounter expectations, Consumer perceptions.

Treatment: Class Lecture and Case Study

Case Study: Naivedyam

Suggested Reading:
Text Book: Services Marketing: Integrating Customer focus Across the Firm; Zeithaml, Gremler,
Bitner, Pandit (Ch 4, pg 83-103 and Ch 5, pg 108-110)
Sessions 5-6
Topic: Understanding Service Quality & Establishing Service Standards, Service
Encounters or Moments of Truth, Measuring Service Quality through SERVQUAL,
The Gaps Model of Service Quality, Gap Reduction Strategies

Treatment: Class Lecture and Case Study

Case Study: HP Gas

Suggested Reading:
Text Book: Services Marketing: Integrating Customer focus Across the Firm; Zeithaml, Gremler,
Bitner, Pandit (Ch 5, pg 116-124 & Ch 2, pg 33-48)

Sessions 7-8
Topic: Service Development and Design, Blueprinting of Service Operations,
Components and benefits of blueprints, Building a Blueprint, Divergence and
Complexity in Service process

Treatment: Class Lecture and Case Study

Case Study: Adonis Mobile Hair Dressers

Suggested Reading:
Text Book: Services Marketing: Integrating Customer focus Across the Firm; Zeithaml, Gremler,
Bitner, Pandit (Ch 9, Pg 266-284)
Adl. Reading: Designing Services that Deliver; Harvard Business Review, January – February 1984

Session 9-10
Topic: Physical Evidence and the Servicescape, Meaning of Physical evidence, Effect of
Physical evidence on consumer expectations, Roles of servicescape, Responses to
Servicescape, Environmental Dimensions of Servicescape, Strategy for Service
Environment, Designing the Service Environment

Treatment: Class Lecture & Case Study

Case Study: Singapore Airlines

Suggested Reading:
Text Book: Services Marketing: Integrating Customer focus Across the Firm; Zeithaml, Gremler,
Bitner, Pandit (Ch 11, pg 327-350)

MID TERM EXAMINATION

Session 11
Topic: Role of Pricing, Approaches to Pricing Services and Price Determinants, B-to-B
Service Pricing; Differential Pricing, Price Bundling, Multiple-use Price
Discounts and Customer-focused pricing concepts.
Treatment: Lecture and Case Study
Case Study: Tata Sky-Modular Service Pricing

Text Book: Services Marketing: Integrating Customer focus Across the Firm; Zeithaml, Gremler,
Bitner, Pandit (Ch 17, pg 535- 561)

Session 12
Topic: Customers' Roles in Service Delivery, The importance of Customers in Service
Delivery as Productive Resources and Contributors to Service Quality and Satisfaction ,
Self Service Technologies- The Ultimate in Customer Participation, Strategies for
Enhancing Customer Participation

Treatment: Class Lecture

Suggested Reading:
Text Book: Services Marketing: Integrating Customer focus across the Firm; Zeithaml, Gremler,
Bitner, Pandit (Ch 13, pg 404-429)

Session 13-14
Topic: Delivering Service through Intermediaries and Electronic Channels
(Distribution) Service Distribution-Direct, Franchising, Agents and Brokers,
Electronic Channels, Issues involving Intermediaries, Strategies for effective
service delivery, Centralized vs. Decentralized Management Structure in Services

Treatment: Class Lecture and Case Study

Case Study: Lakme India Salons

Suggested Reading:
Text Book: Services Marketing: Integrating Customer focus Across the Firm; Zeithaml, Gremler,
Bitner, Pandit (Ch 14, pg 435-457)

Session 15
Topic: Concepts of Demand and Supply in Services, Capacity Constraints and Demand
Patterns, Matching Strategies Managing Demand and Capacity, Yield Management,
Management of customer waiting lines.

Treatment: Class Lecture and Case Study

Case Study: MTNL

Suggested Reading:
Text Book: Services Marketing: Integrating Customer focus Across the Firm; Zeithaml, Gremler,
Bitner, Pandit (Ch 15, pg 461-491)

Sessions 16-17 Student Presentations

Session 18
Topic: Customer Retention, The impact of Service Failure and Recovery, Customer
Complaining Behavior, Customers’ Recovery Expectations, Customer Defections,
Service Recovery Strategies, Service Guarantees

Treatment: Class Lecture and Case study

Case Study: September 11, 2001: Rebuilding a Firm-The Ultimate Service Recovery

Suggested Reading:
Text Book: Services Marketing: Integrating Customer focus Across the Firm; Zeithaml, Gremler,
Bitner, Pandit (Ch 7, pg 184-210) (Ch 8 pg 223-251)

Session 19-20
Topic: Promotional Strategies in Services Marketing, Integrated Services Marketing
Communications, Strategies to match Service Promises with Delivery

Treatment: Lecture and Case study

Case Study: The Incredible India Campaign

Suggested Reading:
Text Book: Services Marketing: Integrating Customer focus Across the Firm; Zeithaml, Gremler,
Bitner, Pandit (Ch 16, pg 501- 508)

Case Assignment
The written case assignment has to be submitted individually on the case assigned separately to
each student.

Project Details:
The student groups (groups of 4) shall study a service company/organization of their choice.
They will first do secondary/preliminary study on their own and then talk to the head/manager
of the organization during their visit to it. They will have to present a study report on the 7Ps of
Service Marketing, as applicable to/ followed by the company. They will have to also give
suggestions for improvement based on the gap found between their findings and the ideal (as
per their class room inputs). After submission, the study report has to be presented in the class.

The assigned project report needs to be submitted at least one session before the presentation
sessions.

Components for Evaluation Marks

Quiz test (2 nos.) - 10
Case Assignment - 10
Project Submission - 10
Classroom presentation - 10
Mid-term examination - 20
End-term examination - 40
Total - 100

Text Books
Services Marketing: Integrating Customer focus Across the Firm, Valarie A Zeithaml, Dwayne D
Gremler, Mary Jo Bitner, Ajay Pandit, Tata McGraw Hill, 5th E, ISBN 978-0-07-066007-6.

Service Marketing-People, Technology, Strategy; Christopher Lovelock, Jochen Wirtz, Jayanta

Chatterjee, Pearson, 6E, ISBN 978-81-317-2597-9

Services Marketing: Operation, Management and Strategy, 2nd edition: Kenneth E. Clow, David
L. Kurtz

Reference Books
Marketing of Services, Douglas Hoffman, John E G Bateman, Cengage Learning, ISBN 978-81-315-
0531-1.
Services Marketing, Rajendra Nargundkar- TMH,1/e,2004
Services Marketing, Govind Apte, Oxford, 2010
Services: Marketing, Operations and Management, Jauhari, Dutta, 2010-Oxford Press