Services Marketing
MBA 843
Spring 2012
T/TH 10:30 a.m.
Professor Leslie M. Fine, PhD
550 Fisher Hall
Office Hours: anytime by appointment
Fine_5@fisher.osu.edu (E-mail is the best way to reach me)
Objective: Services are a growing and important portion of the U.S. economy and the global
economy. This course will help you to understand the unique opportunities and challenges of
service offerings (e.g. consulting) as well as the service component of all businesses.
Course Materials: Packet of articles and cases, available from UniPrint on campus.
Academic Standards:
Each student should carefully review the Code of Student Conduct, which is available at
http://studentaffairs.osu.edu/resource_csc.asp. Pay particular attention to the Academic
Misconduct section. Any instances of suspected academic misconduct will be handled in
accordance with section 3335-23-05: Initiation and investigation of code violations.
Ignorance of this code is NOT an excuse for violations.
Accommodation for Disabilities:
If you are registered with the Office of Disability Services and need any accommodation to
make the learning environment more effective, please let me know and I will work with you
and ODS to structure the course for your needs.
Attendance and Participation:
Each student, either individually or in a team, has multiple responsibilities requiring you to
be in class with regularity. Please notify the instructor via e-mail if you will miss class. If you
have competing interests that require you to be out of class, you should be prepared to accept
any consequences of your absence. Emergencies or extreme circumstances should be
discussed with the instructor and with your team with as much advance notice as possible.
Participation is an important part of the learning process, as it is through discussion and
debate that knowledge is disseminated and that new knowledge is created.
Evaluation:
Team Case Analysis:
3 @ 20% =
Service Journal
Complaint/Compliment letter
Participation and Team evaluations
60%
20%
10%
10%
Each team will write up three cases for evaluation, though everyone in the class is expected
to be fully prepared to discuss ALL cases. Instructions for writing up the cases, for the
Service Journal and Complaint/Compliment letter will be available on Carmen.
General Course Guidelines:
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Class is far more interesting and enlightening when everyone is prepared, and when
everyone participates.
Team work is an important part of the learning model and is an important part of most
work environments.
If you must be late to class, or to leave early, please enter as unobtrusively as
possible.
You may use iPads or laptops for note-taking, but if I see that you are doing anything
other than class work I will require you to shut it down.
E-mail is the most effective way to reach me. In your e-mail subject line, please use
the words "MBA Student" so I know the message is from a student.
Have fun!
What you can expect of the instructor:
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Timely feedback on graded assignments.
Timely response to e-mail.
Changes to the syllabus or to normal routine will occur only for very compelling
reasons.
Differences of opinion will be treated with respect – independent thinking based on
solid evidence is encouraged.
All attempts will be made to create a class that is challenging and interesting.
Course Schedule
The required readings are listed in italics
All readings and cases should be prepared prior to class
Date
Tuesday, March 26
Thursday, March 28
Tuesday, April 3
Thursday, April 5
Tuesday, April 10
Thursday, April 12
Tuesday, April 17
Thursday, April 19
Tuesday, April 24
Tasks
Course Introduction, review of syllabus
An Introduction to Services
The Four Things a Service Business Must Get Right
Service Strategies
Charting Your Company’s Future
Can You Say What your Strategy Is?
Service Strategies: Branding
Building a Strong Services Brand: Lessons from the Mayo
Clinic
Understanding Brands
Case Discussion: “Marketing” at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen
and Katz
Service Employees: People, good and bad
Creating the Living Brand
Manage your Human Sigma
Service Sabotage: The Dark Side of Service Dynamics
Service Employees #2: From people to profit
Putting the Service-Profit Chain To Work
Service Employees
Case Write-up #1: &Samhoud Service Management
Discussed also in class
Service Customers: Data Collection
Diamonds in the Data Mine
Turn Customer Input Into Innovation
Service Customers: Rationality and Emotion
How to Delight Your Customers
Review the website www.olsonzaltman.com to learn more
about the ZMET technique
Case Discussion: Air Miles Canada
Thursday, April 26
Tuesday, May 1
Thursday, May 3
Tuesday, May 8
Thursday, May 10
Tuesday, May 15
Thursday, May 17
Tuesday, May 22
Thursday, May 24
Tuesday, May 29
Thursday, May 31
NO CLASS MEETING
Service Journal Entries Part 1 due today to Carmen
Drop Box
Service Customers: Behaviors
Serving Unfair Customers
Influencing Customer Behavior in Service Operations
Case Discussion: ZipCar
Service Implementation and Operations
Service Blueprinting
Creative Benchmarking
Service Implementation and Operations
Lean Consumption
Process Completeness: Strategies for Aligning Service
Systems with Customers’ Service Needs
Service Implementation and Operations
Case Write up #2: Southwest Airlines
Discussed also in class
Service Implementation: Failure and Recovery
Recovering and Learning from Service Failure
When Unhappy Customers Strike Back on the Internet
NO CLASS TODAY
Complaint Letter Due (Submit to Carmen Drop Box)
Service Implementation: Failure and Recovery
Case Discussion: Chantale and Clinton Call for Service
Selling B2B Services: Micro-level issues
Major Sales: Who Really Does the Buying?
Case Discussion: Siebel Systems Parts 1, 2, 3
Read ONLY parts 1 and 2 BEFORE class!
Please don’t read part 3 until you are IN class!
Selling B2B Services: Macro-level issues
Case Write up #3: Centra Software
Discussed also in class
Service Journal Entries Part 2 due today to Carmen
Drop Box
Discussion of Journal Entries
Course synthesis