STH450 Service Management Fall 2013 On-line Course

Transcription

1 STH450 Service Management Fall 2013 On-line Course Instructor: Dr. Yu-Chin (Jerrie) Hsieh Office: Bryan 472 Office Hours: Mondays & Wednesdays: 10 am-1pm or by appointment (please the instructor to make an appointment) Required Text: Technical Assistant: Principles of Service Marketing and Management, Christopher Lovelock & Lauren Wright, 2 nd edition, Prentice Hall, ISBN: Since this edition is out of print, the UNCG university store may or may not have this textbook in stock. You can purchase this textbook online. If you have problem logging into Blackboard, you will need to contact UNCG IT at (336) , COURSE DESCRIPTION This course introduces the major concepts in service management, including the nature and characteristics of service, the marketing implications of product intangibility, customer loyalty, achieving total customer satisfaction, and improving service quality. The material will help student develop an integrative understanding of services marketing. COURSE OBJECTIVES At the completion of this course students will be able to: 1. Understand the unique challenges involved in managing and marketing services. 2. Identify differences between marketing a service versus manufacturing a product. 3. Identify and analyze the various components of the service marketing mix as well as key issues required in controlling service quality. 4. Understand the role of employees and customers in service delivery, customer satisfaction, and service recovery. INSTRUCTIONAL METHODS On-line class lectures and notes Readings from text and other documents posted to Blackboard 1

2 GRADING Resume Assignment On-line Exam (Exam 1 & Exam 2) Weekly On-line Quiz Service Encounters Journal Project Reflection Paper Final Project Total Possible Points 10 points x 1 = 10 points 80 points x 2 = 160 points 10 points x 8 (ch1-8) + 20 points x 2 (ch 9,10) = 120 points 30 points x 4 journals + 50 points x1 summary = 170 points 40 points x 2= 80 points 100 points 640 points Your final total points / 640 (points) = % Grading Scale Your grade By percentage By points Your grade By percentage By points A+ 97% to 100% C+ 77% to 79% A 93% to 97% C 73% to 76% A- 90% to 92% C- 70% to 72% 448 B+ 87% to 89% D+ 67% to 69% B 83% to 86% D 63% to 66% B- 80% to 82% 512 D- 60% to 62 % 384 F Below 60% Below 384 Students are responsible for checking their grades on Blackboard frequently. Please your instructor as soon as you find any questions regarding your grades. No grade change request will be accepted after a grade had been posted for two weeks. Blackboard Weekly On-Line Quizzes: There will be 11 on-line weekly quizzes during the semester, including one extra 5-point quiz (Quiz 1). The purpose of Quiz 1 (extra 5 points) on the first week is to help you get familiar with the format of on-line quizzes for this course. Each quiz is worth 10 points (except Quiz Ch 9 and Quiz Ch 10: 20 points for each, since there is no Exam 3 after chapter 8). The quizzes are based upon the lecture power point presentations, textbook, and assigned articles. All weekly quiz questions are available at the beginning of the semester and are due at 11:50 pm on Sundays. This will allow you to finish weekly course requirements ahead of the schedule if you want. Please note, the on-line quiz link will disappear automatically at 11:50pm on the assigned Sunday. If you miss the time block, you won t be able to re-take it. Be sure to complete each on-line quiz before due time. On-Line Quiz Guidelines You will have only 1 opportunity to take the quiz within the available time. The quizzes are open book but they are timed (10 minutes per quiz), so you will need to have a fairly good grasp of the material in order to achieve a satisfactory grade. Each quiz has 10 multiple-choice questions except for Quizzes Ch 9 & Ch 10 (20 questions, 20 minutes). 2

3 Quiz questions are from the textbook, lecture power point slides, or the assigned article for that week. The grade is available for review at the time you complete the quiz. The questions will appear one at time. If you skip the question, you will not be able to return. As soon as you submit the quiz, you will be able to view results with correct answers. Online quizzes will not be available for you to review before the exam. If you need to keep the results for review, you can print them before the on-line quiz is due (11:50pm, Sunday). Please your instructor immediately if any technical problem occurs while taking the on-line quiz. Murphy s Law: Anything that can go wrong will go wrong. Do not wait until the last minute to take the on-line quiz. On-line Exams Two (2) on-line exams will be given during the semester on scheduled dates. Each on-line exam has a time window. If you miss the time window, you miss the exam. The on-line exam link will disappear automatically at 11:50pm on the Sunday of the exam week. It is very important to take the on-line exam in an internet environment without any interruption. I strongly recommend you to use UNCG computer lab to take the on-line exam. Students are responsible for the consequence of interrupted exam. No make-up exam request will be granted due to miss the exam window or the internet disconnection in the middle of the exam. Each exam has 40 multiple-choice questions. You will have 45 minutes to complete the exam. Do not wait until the last minute to take the exam. Should any technical problem arise, you are less likely to get them solved at the end of the examination time block. Reflection Papers You are required to write two reflection papers. The purpose of the reflection paper is for you to be able to give your opinions and relate it to your understanding of service management such as customer relationship management, service encounters, front and back stage, technologies in services, and 8 Ps, etc. Your reflection paper should be no more than 3 pages. Content of your reflection paper: 1. Give a summary of the article (briefly describe the major points made by the author). 2. What are the lessons you learned from the article and how these could apply to service management? Analyze what you read and how it is relevant to your understanding of the service management. This section also includes your individual critique, response, comments, and thoughts. Reflection Paper Format: Your reflection paper must contain the following: Cover page (to include student s name, paper title, & date). Any missing information will result in point deduction. Microsoft Word file format Type- written, double-space 1 inch page margin Font size=12 points 3

4 Font style=times New Roman ONLY 2-3 pages (do not exceed 3 pages) All papers must be submitted electronically via the online submission link on Blackboard. Grading Criteria: Criteria Points 1. Integration: Paper integrates insights taken from PowerPoint slides, text, 15 readings, and personal experience. 2. Depth of engagement: Paper shows insight and critical thought; 15 demonstrates logical thinking and clear reasoning. 3. Organization and writing style (no grammatical or spelling errors) 5 4. Meet the format requirements (cover page, space, font size, font style, 5 margin, length) Total 40 Projects There are two projects during the semester. One is the Service Encounter Journals Project and the other one is the Final Project (Detailed project guidelines are available on the course Blackboard). Service Encounters Journal (4 entries) & A Two-page self-reflection Paper Beginning from the 5 th week, you are required to submit a service encounter journal per week. Recall the service encounters you had during the week (service encounters could happen anywhere, where your role is a customer, a service receiver. It can happen when you go to a bank, a hospital, a super cut store, a supermarket, a gas station, a post office, a library, calling your credit card company, or your cellar phone company, etc). Pick one that impressed you the most (either a positive or negative experience) for your journal entry. Each journal entry is worth 30 points. You should use the standard journal entry form (available on Blackboard) and record factual information (indicate where, when, and describe what happened), as well as your perceptions of each service experience. Your journal should be comprehensive, detailed, and organized in a consistent manner. A standard journal entry form is available on Blackboard. After you complete your 4 journal entries, prepare a two-page conclusion section titled Lessons from My Service Encounters Journal. Discuss in these two pages the most important insights you gained about service quality from your experience by keeping a service diary. This 2-page selfreflection paper is worth 50 points. Lessons from My Service Encounters Journal Paper Format: Your paper must contain the following: Cover page (to include student s name, paper title, & date). Any missing information will result in point deduction. Microsoft Word file format Type- written, double-space 1 inch page margin Font size=12 points Font style=times New Roman ONLY 4

5 Minimum 2 pages (do not exceed 3 pages) This paper must be submitted electronically via the online submission link on Blackboard. Service Encounter Journals Project Grading Criteria: Grading criteria include the organization, comprehensiveness, and depth of your diary entries, the depth of your interpretations, the quality of writing, and evidence of learning as reflected in the diary and lessons section. You MUST relate your experience to the concepts you learned from the textbook, for example, customer loyalty, service recovery, 8 Ps, technologies, high-contact service, low-contact service, service process, service system, waiting time, level of tolerance, value, etc. How to Submit Your Assignments? Since this is an online course, you will submit all your assignments (resume, reflection papers, service encounter journals, and the final project) online via the course Blackboard. You will need to type your assignment first and save it as a word file. Submit your assignment as an attachment. The submission link is available in the weekly folder under the course content. Click View/Complete Assignment to submit your assignment. If you have anything you want to let me know about your assignment, you can type your comments in the comment box. Click Browse to select the word file you want to submit. Click Open to upload your file. Click Submit to submit your assignment. If you are not able to attach a file for submission, you can copy your assignment and paste it to the comment box. submissions will not be accepted. All assignments are due at 11:50pm, Sundays. Be sure to submit your assignment on-line before the due time. Blackboard on-line assignment submission system will not allow any late submission. 5

6 Service Encounter Journal (Standard Entry Form) Journal Entry: # Your Name: Date of Encounter: Name of Firm: Time Encounter Occurred: 1. Factual details (describe what happened, when, where, nature of transaction, at what sort of service business). Exactly what did the firm/employee say or do while providing services? (detail the service delivery process. What did you observe that was particularly effective/ineffective in the service delivered?) (8 points) 2. How would you rate your level of satisfaction with this encounter? Type your ranking here: ( ) (1= extremely dissatisfied, 3= neutral, 5 =extremely satisfied) (2 points) extremely dissatisfied dissatisfied neutral satisfied extremely satisfied 3. How likely is it that you will go back to this service firm? (1= extremely unlikely, 5=extremely likely) Type your ranking here: ( ) (2 points) extremely unlikely unlikely neutral likely extremely likely 4. If you were the employee or manager of the firm, what would you do to make this encounter more satisfactory (i.e., increase the level of customer satisfaction) or avoid/increase this happening? What would you do to improve the service offering both at the point of contact as well as in terms of overall management of the service experience? (9 points) 5. Relate this service encounter experience to the concepts you learned from the textbook (i.e., customer loyalty, service recovery, 8 Ps, technologies, high-contact service, low-contact service, service process, service system, waiting time, level of tolerance, value, etc.) and elaborate it. (9 points) 6

7 Final Project: Service Analysis and Redesign This project gives you the opportunity to evaluate a service entity (company, organization) and redesign an existing service based on your newly acquired services marketing expertise. You will establish a marketing plan for this service entity. To accomplish the goal of this project, you are required to find a local service provider (for example, a tax service company, a hospital, UNCG Writing Center, Speaking Center, a hotel, a restaurant, a grocery store, a beauty shop, a fitness club, or a goods business that has a significant service component, for example, an auto repair company, a cell phone company, etc). For this project, you MUST visit the service entity, observe its service procedures, interview managers (or employees) to find out their current marketing strategies, and write a paper. The minimum length of this paper (excluding the blueprint) is 4 pages (but not limited to that), 12- point font size, Times New Roman font style, double spaced with 1-inch margins that addresses the following issues: 1. Introduce the company, including the name of the company, type of business, location, hours, etc. 2. Identify the target market of the company. Who are their current customers? What are the characteristics of these customers (age, gender, income, educational background, preferences, etc.) 3. Present the company s primary service process by using a service blueprint. Identify a primary service process related to the product the company provides to its customers and illustrate the service offered by the company by developing a blueprint, including the backstage, the front stage and other contact points (See text page or follow the simplified blueprint example posted on Blackboard). 4. Based on your blueprint, identify at least three potential failpoints (points in the process at which problems may occur) or bottlenecks (points in the process at which backups or slow delivery may occur). You can mark three potential fail points on your blueprint. 5. Based on the failpoints you identified, suggest possible solutions/alternatives to address these (potential) problem areas. For example, what kind of standards would you establish to ensure the quality of the service? What kind of training programs would you develop for your employees? What policy or system would you establish to avoid the failpoints or bottlenecks? 6. Identify the 8Ps currently used by the company and describe how each of the eight elements (8Ps) of integrated service management applies to the company. You need to conduct in-depth research on this company in order to answer this question. If necessary, you may want to interview the manager or employees to collect information. 7. Overall suggestions: If you were to take control of this company, list any changes you would make to provide better customer service (increase customer satisfaction) and improve the marketability of the products and services (increase business volumes) in terms of the 8 Ps. For example, based on your analysis of this company s application of the 8Ps, is there anything that you 7

8 want to improve? Is there any P that is missing in the operation of this company? How does this company do compared to its competitors in terms of 8Ps? Please note: The last section counts for 20% of your final project grade. It s very important that you provide suggestions to improve the business of the organization in the last section of the final paper (even if you believe this company is doing great. Think of what you can do for the company to make it even greater). You can also use A Frame for Making Service Management Decisions on page 23, Figure 1.8 as a framework to review the operations of this company and formulate your suggestions. Final Project Grading Criteria Criteria Max Points Points Introduction of the company 10 Identify target market Customers/ Customer characteristics Identify Primary service process by blueprints Identify 3 potential Failpoints based on the blueprints Solutions for these 3 potential failpoints Ps used by the company 20 Overall suggestions (i.e. how to use 8ps effectively to increase business volumes and customer satisfactions, or apply the concept on page 23 (figure 1.8) to make your suggestions) 20 Please note this section is worth 20 points. Do not make the conclusion that there is nothing you want to make changes or you will receive an Zero for this section. Even if this service organization is doing great, providing suggestions to make it greater (aim for making this organization become a world famous service organization). Writing /Organization 10 Total 100 points 8

9 CLASS COM MUNICATION Each student is required to obtain a valid UNCG account for class communication during the semester. If you have not set up your UNCG account, please contact the UNCG Computing Help Desk by phone at TECH (8324) or by sending to 6-tech@uncg.edu. See more information at BLACKBOARD Since this is an on-line class, Blackboard will be used throughout the semester. Audio lectures, student grades, assignments, the service encounter journal entry form, and other important information will be provided through this software. On-line quizzes, exams, and assignment submission will be performed via Blackboard. Students are expected to check blackboard frequently and are responsible for the information provided through this software. Everyone officially registered for this class has been added to Blackboard automatically. ACADEMIC INTEGRITY All policies and procedures of this course follow those stated in the publication University Regulations concerning attendance, nondiscrimination policy, academic regulations and procedures, student rights and student conduct, among others. Students must abide by the Honor Code of the University of North Carolina Greensboro on all assignments and examinations related to this course. See more information at SPECIAL STUDENTS If any member of the class feels that he/she has a disability and needs special accommodations of any nature, I will work with you and the Office of Disability Services to provide reasonable accommodations to ensure that you have a fair opportunity to perform in this class. Please advise me as soon as possible of such disability and the desired accommodations. Please also contact the Office of Disability Services (ODS) at for further assistance. See more information at 9

10 WEEK NO. Week 1 8/19~8/25 Week 2 8/26~9/1 BLACKBOARD COURSE CONTENT Instructions for Taking This On-line Course Listen to Ch 1: Why Study Services STH 450 On-line Class Schedule (August 19~ Dec 1, 2013) READINGS ASSIGNMENTS DUE DATE (11:50PM, SUNDAYS) (1)Course Syllabus (1) Resume assignment (2) On-line Quiz 1(Extra 5 points) (Quiz questions are from the STH 450 course syllabus & the reading: Instructions for taking this on-line course) 11:50pm, 8/25 (Sunday) (1) Chapter 1 (1) On-line Quiz Ch 1 11:50pm, 9/1 (Sunday) Week 3 9/2~9/8 Listen to Ch2: Understanding Service Process (1) Chapter 2 (2) Article 1 (1) On-line Quiz Ch 2 & Article1 11:50pm, 9/8(Sunday) Week 4 9/9~9/15 Week 5 9/16~9/22 Week 6 9/23~9/29 Listen to Ch 3: Managing Service Encounters Listen to Ch 4: Customer Behavior in Service Encounters (1) Chapter 3 (2) Article 2 (1) Chapter 4 (2) Article 3 (3) Service Encounter Journal Project Guidelines (Syllabus pages 4-6) Study for Exam 1 (1) Chapter 1-4 (2) Reflection paper 1 (1) On-line Quiz Ch 3 & Article 2 (1) On-line Quiz Ch 4 & Article 3 (2) Service Encounter Journal 1 (1) On-line Exam 1 : Ch1-4 (2) Reflection paper 1 11:50pm, 9/15 (Sunday) 11:50pm, 9/22 (Sunday) 11:50pm, 9/29 (Sunday) Week 7 9/30~10/6 (1) Listen to Ch 5: Relationship Marketing and Customer Loyalty (2) Watch a video: customer service-cab story by Shep Hyken (1) Chapter 5 (1) On-line Quiz Ch 5 (2) Service Encounter Journal 2 11:50pm, 10/6 (Sunday) Week 8 10/7~10/13 Week 9 10/14~10/20 Listen to Ch 6: Complaint Handling & Service Recovery Listen to Ch7: The Service Product (1) Chapter 6 (2) Article 4 (1) On-line Quiz Ch 6 & Article 4 (2) Service Encounter Journal 3 (1) Chapter 7 (1) Take On-line Quiz Ch 7 (2) Service Encounter Journal 4 11:50pm, 10/13(Sunday) 11:50pm, 10/20(Sunday) Week 10 10/21~10/27 Listen to Ch 8: Pricing Strategies for Services (1) Chapter 8 (2) Article 5 (1) Take On-line Quiz Ch 8 & Article 5 (2) Lessons from my Service Encounters Journal 11:50pm, 10/27(Sunday) 10

11 Week 11 10/28~/11/3 Week 12 11/4~11/10 Week 13 11/11~11/17 Study for Exam 2 (1) Chapter 5-8 (2) Reflection paper 2 Listen to Ch9: Promotion and Education Listen to Ch 10: Service Positioning & Design (1) Chapter 9 (2) Article 6 (3) Read Final Project Guidelines (syllabus pages 7-9 and Blackboard Final Project Guidelines) (1) Chapter 10 (2) Article 7 (3) Read Final Project Guidelines (syllabus pages 7-9 and Blackboard Final Project Guidelines) (1) On-line Exam 2: Ch 5-8 (2) Reflection paper 2 (1) On-line Quiz Ch 9 & Article 6 (20- point quiz) (2) Start working on your final project (1) Take On-line Quiz Ch 10 & Article 7 (20- point quiz) (2) Work on your final project 11:50pm, 11/3(Sunday) 11:50pm, 11/10(Sunday) 11:50pm, 11/17(Sunday) Week 14 11/18~11/24 Work on Final Project (1) Read Final Project Guidelines (syllabus pages 7-9 and Blackboard Final Project Guidelines) (1) Work on your final project Week 15 11/25~12/1 Work on Final Project (1) Read Final Project Guidelines (syllabus pages 7-9 and Blackboard Final Project Guidelines) (1) Submit your final project 11:50pm, 12/1 (Sunday) Note: (1) Blackboard on-line submission system does not allow any late submission. (2) All assignment on-line submission links (including on-line quiz links) will disappear automatically at 11:50pm, Sundays. 11

12 Articles (All articles are available on Blackboard for this course) Article 1: The Service-Driven Service Company By: Schlesinger, Leonard A.; Heskett, James L. Harvard Business Review, September-October 1991, Article 2: Six Keys to Creating Wow Customer Service Experiences By: Robert Moment, American Chronicle, 2008 Article 3: How Affective Commitment Boosts Guest Loyalty and Promotes Frequent-guest programs. By: Anna Mattila,; Cornell and Restaurant Administration Quarterly, May 2006, Article 4: The Profitable Art of Service Recovery By: Christopher Hart, James Heskett, W. Earl Sasser, Harvard Business Review, July-Aug 1990, Article 5: Managing Perceptions of Waiting Time in Service Queues By: Peter Jones, Emma Peggiatt. International Journal of Service Industry Management, 1996, Vol. 7, Issue 5 Article 6: Driving service effectiveness through employee-customer linkages By: S. Douglas Pugh, Joerg Dietz, Jack W. Wiley, and Scott M. Brooks, Academy of Management Executive, Vol 16, No 4, 2002, Article 7: Classifying Services to Gain Strategic Marketing Insights By Lovelock, Christopher, H. Journal of Marketing, Vol 47, Issue 3, Summer1983, Reflection Paper Articles Paper 1: How I did It Office Depots President on how Mystery Shopping Helped Spark a Turnaround By Peters, K. Harvard Business Review, 2011, Vol 89, No 11, Paper 2: The Service Imperative By Bitner, M.J. & Brown, S.W., Business Horizons, 2008, Vol 51,