(MBA/IBM)

(2018 - 2019)

(SERVICES MARKETING)
(BS-MKT-780)
(Fall, 2019)

(Name of the Instructor: Prof. Sunitha Ratnakaram)

Contact Details (sratnakaram@jgu.edu.in)
INTRODUCTION TO THE COURSE
This case course explores the dimensions of successful service firms. Beginning with the service
encounter, service managers must blend marketing, technology, people, and information to achieve a
distinctive competitive advantage.
This course prepares students for enlightened management of service firms so that they are able to
achieve not only the financial measures of performance but also accomplish the holy grail of the employee
engagement and enthusiasm and customer satisfaction.
This course covers service management from an integrated viewpoint with a focus on customer
satisfaction. The material will integrate operations, marketing, strategy, information technology and
organizational issues.

COURSE OBJECTIVES
What should be your learning at the end of this course? You should be able to achieve the following:
 Have a sound theoretical and practical understanding of the Service Marketing
 Know the expectations of the customers from the service providers.
 Understand the marketing mix for services and a clear distinction from the marketing mix of product
 Develop apt strategies to work in service industry.

LEARNING GOALS
In addition to the specific course related objectives, this course is designed to achieve the following
learning goals
1. Critical and Integrative thinking: Each student will be able to identify key issues in services
marketing management settings, develop a perspective that is supported with relevant information
and integrative thinking, to draw and assess conclusions. This learning goal will be measured
through assignments and submissions
2. Awareness of Global Issues affecting service concepts in terms of design, positioning, distribution,
promotion and managing people: Each student will be able to identify key relevant global issues
and be able to analyze the impact of the global environment on services marketing, as compared
with domestic market related management issues. This learning goal will be assessed through
class discussion on the issues focused as above.
3. Interpersonal Awareness and Working in Teams : Each student shall demonstrate an ability to work
effectively in a team, exhibiting behavior that reflects an understanding of the importance of
individual roles and tasks and the ability to manage conflict and compromise so that team goals are
achieved.
4. Effective Presentation Skill: Each student shall be able to communicate verbally in an organized,
clear, persuasive manner and be a responsive listener.
TEACHING METHOD
The course will have a judicious mix of lectures and cases. Here the onus of learning will be with the
student and the instructor will be a facilitator. Instead of learning ‘what to do’, the cases will also be used as
examples of real world phenomenon where a particular issue or set of issues arises and good and bad
practices are seen. The key to learning this way is to see many examples and many situations and learning
inductively from the different experiences of student managers.

TEAMS AND TEAM WORK

You will be informed about your team members and you should prepare cases for class discussion. You
will have 4 - 5 members in your team. A total of 10 teams only. At the end of the term, each team member
will be asked to grade other member’s participation in the course work (P2P Review). The final grade may
be adjusted downward (25-75) if a person on a team has not pulled his/her weight.

ATTENDANCE POLICY
Attendance to all the sessions is as per the university rules (minimum 75% excluding all leaves). The
following instances will also be treated as absence unless prior permission is taken
 Attending only part of the session, either entering or leaving during the break
 Arriving in class after the session is scheduled to begin
 Failing to display the name card

GRADING
The course grade will be determined on the basis of
Evaluation Weightage Nature Explanation
Item
Group Case 10% Individual One case analysis synopsis and presentation.
Presentation
Class 10% Individual General conduct in classroom and the amount of
Participation contribution in class proceedings – to be measured by
instructor
Class Quiz 10% Individual Two surprise individual quizzes (written) – Absent
translates only to “0”
Project Work 25% Group Consumer study based live project
Assignment 5% Individual Data collection task
End Term 40% Individual Written Examination (Take-Home)

PROJECT (TEAM BASED)

Group of 3 – 4 members can choose a topic of their choice from the course. Each team is expected to do
the requisite literature review, data collection and analysis to reach findings. Team is independent to
choose a quantitative or qualitative research, however confines strictly to primary research. Sample can
depend based on method of research. Topic selection should finish by the end of first week and team to
submit a schedule and plan of work. Further clarifications may be sought if needed.
DELIVERABLES
Each team will turn in a maximum 15-page report and a 15 slide presentation (1.5 spaced, 12-point font,
Ariel Narrow; exhibits, references extra; appendices allowed) submit over email to
(sratnakaram@jgu.edu.in) on or before the mutually decided date. These project report submissions are
only in MSWORD format. Students are not permitted to copy from websites and they will be penalized if
found copying/lifting from the website (There will be a plagiarism check). However, they can quote the
source and accession at the end of the text. References must. Maximum permissible words will be 5 words
in a sentence on continuous basis.
All word documents should be in standard report formats with required headings to make for easy reading.
They should be as per the above guidelines and on an A4 paper with 1-inch default margin. In general
appendices and tables do not count towards the page limit. Please use the tables and appendices in the
report; otherwise the reader would get the impression that there just there to add ‘weight’ to the report.
Template for a quantitative study based report:
a) Introduction
i) Title
ii) Objectives of the study
iii) Scope and Limitations
iv) Methodology
b) Review of literature
c) Data analysis
d) Findings and recommendations
e) Conclusion
Appendices (References, Tables and any other material of interest)
Power point presentation too can follow the same template
Template for qualitative study based projects would be discussed with the respective teams.

TEXT BOOK, COURSE PACKAGE AND OTHER READINGS

The required text book for the course is (Valarie A. Zeithaml, Mary Jo Bitner, Dwayne Gremler, Ajay Pandit:
Services Marketing, 6/e, Indian Edition, Tata McGraw Hill). Chapters from this book are assigned as
required readings in the class schedule below- I will assume that you have done those readings when you
come to the class. The lectures will take the book material as a starting point and probe deeper into the
issues- it will not regurgitate the book material. If something in the book is not clear to you, please don’t
hesitate to ask.
Cases and any other reading material assigned for reading will be provided to you in a course pack and will
be uploaded in the e-learning platform.
Book 1 Valarie A. Zeithaml, Mary Jo Bitner, Dwayne Gremler, Ajay Pandit: Services Marketing, 6/e, Indian
Edition, Tata McGraw Hill Schiffman, Kanuk and Kumar, 10e, Pearson Prentice Hall)
Book 2 Christopher Lovelock, Jochen Wirtz, Jayanta Chatterjee: Services Marketing, 6/e, Indian Edition,
Pearson.
Other Services Marketing books available in Library
CLASS SCHEDULE (Each session is of 90 minutes’ duration) / Please complete the table below for all
sessions
Session No-1 Services Marketing: Introduction
Objective of the At the end of this session you will learn
session  What are services?
 Why services marketing?
 Characteristics of services compared to goods,
 Services marketing mix
 The gaps model of service quality
Readings Chapter 1&2, Valarie A. Zeithaml, Mary Jo Bitner, Dwayne Gremler, Ajay
Pandit: Services Marketing
Readings To be added later
Case Title and Number No case
Pedagogy Lecture, class discussion

Session No-2 & 3 Customer behavior and expectation in services

Objective of the At the end of this session you will learn
session  Consumer behavior
 Post experience evaluation
 Customer expectations and perceptions of service
Readings Chapter 3 & 4 , Valarie A. Zeithaml, Mary Jo Bitner, Dwayne Gremler, Ajay
Pandit: Services Marketing
Readings Tobe added later
Case Title/ Number Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai, India: In Service for Sight
Pedagogy Lecture, class discussion and case discussion

Session No- 4 Service Quality

Objective of the At the end of this session you will learn
session  The gaps model of service quality
 The customer gap, the provider gaps, putting it all together
Readings Chapter 2 & 4 , Valarie A. Zeithaml, Mary Jo Bitner, Dwayne Gremler, Ajay
Pandit: Services Marketing
Readings Tobe added later
Case Title and Number Oberoi Hotels: Train Whistle in the Tiger Reserve
Pedagogy Lecture, class discussion and case presentation

Session No-5 Service standards & service profit chain

Objective of the At the end of this session you will learn
session  To set service standards
 To design service profit chain
Readings Chapter 9 &16 , Valarie A. Zeithaml, Mary Jo Bitner, Dwayne Gremler, Ajay
 Pandit: Services Marketing
Readings Tobe added later
Case Title and Number Starbucks: Delivering Customer Service
Pedagogy Lecture, class discussion and case presentation

Session No – 6 Designing and managing services

Objective of the At the end of this session you will learn
session  Service development and design,
 Challenges of service design, new service development,
 Stages in new service development, Service blueprinting
Readings Chapter 8 , Valarie A. Zeithaml, Mary Jo Bitner, Dwayne Gremler, Ajay Pandit:
Services Marketing
Readings Tobe added later
Case Title and Number Ford Motor Co.: Dealer Sales and Service
Pedagogy Lecture, class discussion and case presentation

Session No – 7 Servicescape and Service environment

Objective of the At the end of this session you will learn
session  Physical evidence and the servicescape
 Environmental dimensions of servicescape
 Guidelines for physical evidence strategy
Readings Chapter 10 , Valarie A. Zeithaml, Mary Jo Bitner, Dwayne Gremler, Ajay
Pandit: Services Marketing
Readings Tobe added later
Case Title and Number Shouldice Hospital Ltd
Pedagogy Lecture, class discussion and case presentation

Session No – 8 Managing Demand and Capacity

Objective of the At the end of this session you will learn
session  Managing demand fluctuations
 Capacity management strategies
Readings Chapter 13 , Valarie A. Zeithaml, Mary Jo Bitner, Dwayne Gremler, Ajay
Pandit: Services Marketing
Readings Tobe added later
Case Title and Number Comfort Class Transport: Does Customer Service Need an Overhaul?
Pedagogy Lecture, class discussion and case presentation

Session No – 9 Service Recovery

Objective of the At the end of this session you will learn
session  The impact of service failure and recovery
 How customers respond to service failures
 Customer’s recovery expectations, Service recovery strategies
Readings Chapter 7, Valarie A. Zeithaml, Mary Jo Bitner, Dwayne Gremler, Ajay Pandit:
 Services Marketing
Readings Service Recovery, Module Note
Case Title and Number Northwest Airlines and the Detroit Snowstorm
Pedagogy Lecture, class discussion and case presentation

Session No – 10 Pricing of Services

Objective of the At the end of this session you will learn
session  Three key ways that service prices are different for consumers
 Approaches to pricing services
Readings Chapter 15, Valarie A. Zeithaml, Mary Jo Bitner, Dwayne Gremler, Ajay Pandit:
Services Marketing
Readings Tobe added later
Case Title and Number American Airlines, Inc.: Revenue Management
Pedagogy Lecture, class discussion and case presentation

Session No-11 Building service culture for superior Service Encounter

Objective of the At the end of this session you will learn
session  Service encounters: the building blocks for customer perceptions
Readings Chapter 11, Valarie A. Zeithaml, Mary Jo Bitner, Dwayne Gremler, Ajay Pandit:
Services Marketing
Readings Virtuous Cycles: Improving Service and Lowering Costs in E-
Commerce
Case Title and Number Tobe added later
Pedagogy Lecture, class discussion and case presentation

Session No-12 Customer’s role in Service delivery

Objective of the At the end of this session you will learn
session  Boundary spanning roles
 Strategies for delivering service quality through people
 The importance of customers in service delivery
 Strategies for enhancing customer participation
Readings Chapter 12, Valarie A. Zeithaml, Mary Jo Bitner, Dwayne Gremler, Ajay Pandit:
Services Marketing
Readings Tobe added later
Case Title and Number Alaska Airlines: For the Same Price, You Just Get More
Pedagogy Lecture, class discussion and case presentation

Session No- 13,14 &15 Course Overview & Live Project presentations by students
Objective of the At the end of this session you will realize the practical issues in services
session setting.
Readings Not applicable
Readings Not applicable
Case Title and Number Not applicable
 Pedagogy Student can choose

DELIVERY DEADLINES FOR PROJECTS/ASSIGNMENTS

Case submissions prior to class discussion in assigned class
Project submission in session 12 – presentations will be scheduled in session 14 and 15