SERVICE ENGINEERING MANAGEMENT COMPETING IN THE PRODUCT MARKET THROUGH SERVICE COURSE OUTLINE AND READING LIST

Transcription

1 SERVICE ENGINEERING MANAGEMENT COMPETING IN THE PRODUCT MARKET THROUGH SERVICE COURSE OUTLINE AND READING LIST PROF. JAY KANDAMPULLY MBA, PHD. School of Business and Economics TIME Research Area Service and Technology Marketing (STM) Kontakt: Moritz Jörling JANUARY 2016

2 Service and Technology Marketing (STM) 1 COURSE OVERVIEW Course Name: Service Engineering Management - Competing In The Product Market Through Service Lecturer: Contact: Content Description: Prof. Jay Kandampully, MBA, PHD Moritz Jörling (joerling@time.rwth-aachen.de) Technological innovations in all industries have prompted the growth of services. Technology has in fact rendered services inevitable, and in fact service symbolizes the superiority of the product and the brand. Customer s choice of one product over the other is not based on the product superiority that is expected. The key differentiator of superior product is the impeccable service offer. Service offers the customer with the all-important peace of mind. When technology enhances any product, it require numerous types of service support. Let us take the example of the automobile industry. Fifteen years ago, we would have been able to attend to minor engine problems in our car; for example, adjusting the carburettor. Today s technology has replaced the carburettor with fuel injectors, and we are obliged to take our car to the mechanic for tuning; we no longer have the choice. Similarly, when a firm contracts with another firm to use their product for manufacturing, the focal firms concerns are not limited to the product quality of the supplier but more importantly with various support services provided by the supplier of the product in the event of something going wrong. In most industries there is very little difference between the offerings of competing firms, customers assess value primarily on the basis of the quality of service. Thus, service has become the value assessment component, or the identity of the firm in the eyes of the customer, whether the context is business to customer (B to C) or business to business (B to B). Indeed, it is the loyalty of the customer, gained through the firm s commitment to superior quality of service, which proffers a competitive edge for organisations in this technology driven turbulent global marketplace. Qualification Objectives: Literature: This course Services Engineering Management - examines the theory and the practical application of the service challenges that exist in today s manufacturing organisations. It is designed for students who plan to pursue a managerial career in manufacturing organizations. This course will also focus on nascent success strategies, such as: service concept, service package, service design, service blueprinting, moments of truth, service quality, customer-supplier relationships, service demand management, and various other strategies to gain a competitive advantage See reference list below

3 Course Examination: 1) Written term paper (Projektarbeit): 50% (in groups of 3-4 students) 2) (In-class) Presentation (Kolloquium): 50% Requirements Group Size: Language: Credits: 5 none Max. 40 participants English 2 ORGANISATION Monday, June 13th am 6.00 pm Room B301 Tuesday, June 14th am 6.00 pm Room B301 Wednesday, June 15th am 6.00 pm Room B201 Thursday, June 16th am 6.00 pm Room B301 Friday, June 17th am 4.00 pm Room B301 Service concept for manufacturing firms, creating service focused packages, designing core and peripheral services. Discussion of in-class group service business project. In class group business project workshop Design, delivery, service blueprinting, moments of truth and service quality in manufacturing. Discussion of service leadership project. Video case study. In class group business project workshop. Managing service demand, service marketing, managing consumption experience and service orientation. Video case study. In class group business project workshop. Internal and external relationships, employee orientation, service guarantees and recovery. Video case study. In class group business project workshop. Technology, social media and co-creation of value through innovation and the role of people. In-class service business project presentation and review of course and discussion of the service leadership project. Note: All dates are mandatory. PAGE - 3-9

4 3 GROUP ASSIGNMENT 3.1 In-class service group project: Students will work in groups (3-4) to undertake an in-class service group project, and will give a final presentation on day 3. Theory discussed in the class should form the basis of this project. The project should focus primarily on a firm s service offer. Each group will be allocated 15 minutes to give an in-class presentation. Students will be briefed about this project on day one. The final in-class service group project presentation will be on 17 th June 2016 (final submission will be announced) should be, in effect, a collective aggregation of the ideas and plans from all the classes from day 1, combined as a master project. Materials from lectures, class presentation and discussion can be used for this project. For example, the process will include: conceptualize the offer, (what are the core and peripheral components of the offer?); the strategies used to differentiate the firm from the competition, and its global vision for future market dominance. There is no requirement for written work; however, the group should submit their work on a as a power point file. The group submission should also include the names, photographs and signatures of all group members. All members of the group should participate in the presentation. Students may use paper charts, boards, overhead slides and/or PowerPoint to assist in the presentation. 3.2 Service Leadership Project: Students will work in groups of 3-4 to undertake a Service leadership project. Select a manufacturing firm that operates in Germany as the subject of your project. You have to substantiate why you have chosen this firm for this study on service orientation. The firm should therefore have a market reputation for being customer focused and service oriented. Please form into groups prior to the start of classes and select a firm so that you will be able to discuss the project details with me during class. Further details about the project will be discussed on the second day of class. This assignment is aimed toward developing your understanding of the key drivers or factors leading manufacturing firms incorporate into their business philosophies, strategies and practices and the specific aspects which contribute to differentiation and competitive advantage (related to the service engineering management principles covered in this class). The principle focus for this assignment is customer focus and service orientation. However, you will likely identify other factors that have also contributed to the selected firm s success. The focus, however, should be on the service engineering management related factors. 3.3 Assignment details PAGE - 4-9

5 Your assignment must be based around the following criteria. Although you may not necessarily be able to cover all criteria, you are responsible to cover as many of the points as possible primarily driven by the relevance of the item to your selected firm (for example, not every firm was founded by a single person hence you would be unable to discuss leadership from an entrepreneurial perspective, etc.). This assignment is worth 50% of your entire grade for the class. Hence, there is an expectation of due diligence commensurate with the weighting of the assignment. This means that you will need to be clever in the way you find data. Do not depend on the company website for your information. You must use other sources which support the statements made. You might find books, trade journal publications, interviews and meetings with managers, employees and customers, newspaper articles which use the company as an exemplar for some aspect of their practice. This list below provides specific instructions about what is needed and how to go about constructing your Case. Remember = the more comprehensive you are, the higher your grade will be! 1. You must thoroughly research your firm and collect a firm general awareness about the company. Your grade will partially depend on the RANGE and QUALITY of your references. References must be broad and diverse (this is more possible for some firms than others) Do NOT rely solely on the company website (if you cut and paste from the websites, it will be obvious and you will receive harsh point deductions). You may, however, rely partially on company Annual Reports for information Your references should include some of: i. Academic journal articles ii. Trade publications / magazines iii. References in books / text books iv. Books about the company v. Press / news releases vi. Interviews and discussions with managers, employees, customers, etc 2. Your first section should provide a paragraph or two about the firm, its history, etc. Do not make this a long and detailed historical essay! The history is merely for context and background. 3. Ascertain whether this firm was the creation of a single person / entrepreneur (eg. Porsche). If so, did the founder significantly influence the firm s current strategies? Explain. 4. How has this firm gained its reputation for excellence? (e.g., what are the one or two key factors which might explain their success?). PAGE - 5-9

6 5. Describe how this firm is uniquely different from other firms in the same industry? How have they marketed this differentiation? 6. Who are this firms main competitors? How do YOU THINK this firm fares against its key competition? Why? 7. What specific service-oriented practices and strategies has this firm adopted? (see brief overview of service orientation on next page) 8. How does this firm PRACTICE being customer-oriented? Provide specific examples of their customer-focused strategies and practices. List relevant awards and recognition the firm has received in relation to customer satisfaction, service quality, etc 9. How does this firm PRACTICE being employee-oriented? Provide specific examples of their employee-focused strategies and practices. List relevant awards and recognition this firm has received in relation to employment practices, being a preferred employer, etc. 10. What is this firm s service strategy? How does their strategy tie into their operations? Give examples 11. What have you learned from this firm? If you were the manager of this firm, what changes might you make to take the firm to the next level of service leadership? 3.4 Some helpful notes on firm service orientation Service orientation can be seen as an organization-wide embracement of polices, practices, systems, people and behaviours all focused toward service quality and customer satisfaction (Lytle, Hom, & Mokwa, 1998). Service orientation is perceived by both 1. Employees (e.g., everything about this firm is about the customer... ), and 2. Customers (e.g., this firm always surprises me by their consistent focus on excellent service and customer satisfaction... ) Some of the dimensions of a service orientation (the specific factors which add up to an overall orientation toward service) include -- I. Leadership practices (in relation to customer focus, service quality, etc.). II. Human resource practices or quality of emphasis on the human factor (systems for recruitment, selection, development of staff. This can include a firm s strategic human resource approach. 3. Service encounter practices (policies and practises with front line employees in relation to dealing with customers; moment of truth concept, etc.). 4. Customer orientation - Perceptions by customer and employees about the way the firm is customer obsessed. PAGE - 6-9

7 5. Service systems (organizational rules, regulations, policies, procedures and structures set in place to enable customers to receive serves better (internal and external customers) 6. Empowerment (extent to which employees are able to act to make decisions to please customers, solve problems, etc.) 7. Technology (use of innovative technology in order to facilitate service and improve customer experiences 8. You may add one or more based on the firm that you are researching 3.5 Presentation of assignment: 1. The research assignment (prepared by a group of 3-4 students) should be approximately 4000 words in length (spacing at 1.5, font size about 12, standard font such as Times New Roman, Arial, etc.). 2. The history and overview of the firm should not exceed 150 words. 3. Your research assignment should be based on published articles, books, trade publications and websites or interviews with managers, employees and customers (you may refer to as many sources as you need). 4. References are required of all materials used in the preparation of the research assignment. References citations and the reference list should follow the Harvard or APA5 styles (author, date). The reference list must be professionally presented, (Authors names, year of publication, page numbers, name of the journal or book or magazine or newspaper, date (in the case of newspaper or magazine) volume, number (in the case of a journal), publisher and place of publication (in the case of a book), website address and the date of access (in case of website access). 5. The research assignment should be divided into a minimum of three parts. You may add additional sections but in the least, the section breakdowns should follow this general format. I. Executive summary a brief explanation of the industry in which the firm operates, the firm s image and market position, brief discussion of the firm s strength in the market. II. Main body discussion of the firm s service orientation by addressing the above items (sub-sections would be appropriate). III. Conclusion discuss your personal views and observations on the firms service orientation. Discuss how you would manage this firm so that you can improve its service orientation. You may also discuss some examples of firms that have folded / disappeared by not being service oriented; discuss some examples of non-service oriented service experience from other firms. References are required of all materials used in the preparation of this project. References should indicate: authors names, year of publication, page numbers, name of the journal or book, volume and number (in the case of a journal), publisher and place of publication (in the case of a book), website address and the date of access (in the case of website access), the people interviewed (in the case of interviews). The group submission should also include the names and photographs of all group members. The final project should be submitted as a word document to me on or before to Jay Kandampully via kandampully.1@osu.edu PAGE - 7-9

8 4 READING LIST Text: There is no set text prescribed for this course Students are encouraged to read one of the following books to prepare for the class, and to enable active contribution to class discussions and the group project. Students will be continuously assessed for class participation. Recommended reading list includes the following: 1. Service Management Principles for Hospitality and Tourism, Kandampully, J., Kendall Hunt, Customer Experience Management: Enhancing Experience and Value through Service Management, Kandampully, J., Kendall Hunt, Service Management in Health and Wellness Services, Kandampully, J., Kendall Hunt, Service Management: The new paradigm in Retailing, J.Kandampully, Springer, Services Management: The new paradigm in hospitality, J.Kandampully, Pearsons Australia (2002) or Prentice Hall, USA (2006) 6. Service Quality Management, Kandampully, J. et al Grönroos, C. (2007), Service management and marketing: Customer management in service 8. Lusch R.F., Vargo, S.L and Sharp, M.E (2006), The service-dominant logic of marketing,. Vargo, NY, T. Keiningham, T.G. Vavra, L. Aksoy and H. Wallard (2005) Loyalty Myths, John Wiley & sons. 10. L. Heraccleous, J. Wirtz and N. Pangarakar (2006) Flying High in a competitive Industry, McGraw. 11. Edvardsson, B., Gustafsson, A., Johnson, M.D. and Sanden, B.(2000) New Service Development and Innovation in the New Economy, Studentlitteratur, Lund, Sweden. 12. Audrey Gilmore (2003) Services Marketing and Management, Sage Publications. 13. C.Lovelock and J. Wirtz,(2003) Services Marketing:People, Technology and Strategy; Fifth edition. 14. H.Kasper, P.Van Helsdingen and W de Vries Jr (2006) Services Marketing Management, John Wiley and Sons. 15. Stauss, B and Seidel, W (2004) Complaint Management: the heart of CRM, AMA. 16. R.J.Warey and B.R.Lewis (2000) Internal Marketing, (eds), Routledge. Students are highly recommended to refer to the latest research publications. Listed below are some of the major journals with which students should be familiar: Journal of Service Management Journal of Services Marketing Managing Service Quality Harvard Business Review Business Horizons European Journal of Marketing Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science Sloan Management Review Service Industry Journal PAGE - 8-9

9 5 EVALUATION MODE Ein Nichterscheinen zu den folgenden Veranstaltungen wird folgendermaßen behandelt: Abgabe der Seminararbeit: Gilt als Nichterbringen einer Prüfungsleistung, d.h. die Prüfung gilt insgesamt als nicht bestanden (Gesamtnote: 5,0) Vortragsveranstaltung: Gilt als Nichterbringen einer Prüfungsleistung, d.h. die Prüfung gilt insgesamt als nicht bestanden (Gesamtnote: 5,0) PAGE - 9-9