SERVICES MARKETING - 2023/4

Module Overview

This module commences with introducing the principles of services marketing. The services sector, such as telecommunications, financial services, hospitality, transportation services, healthcare, and professional services, accounts for over three-quarters of GDP and employment in most developed countries. In light of the growing importance of services in local and global economies, it becomes crucial to study and understand the functionality of service offerings. This module will explore the distinctive characteristics of services and explain how these characteristics affect the marketing approaches used by firms' including challenges involved in controlling service quality and managing customer experience.

The module also covers the principles of relationship marketing combined with the meaning and application of services and relationship marketing across different service contexts. This module also assesses the impact of emerging technologies and AI on the services marketing. It also introduces advanced analytics technique employed by leading companies to assess and manage their customer's service experience. Additionally, the module focuses on real-world business scenarios providing students with an opportunity to examine management decision-making and enhances a wide range of study skills, such as independent research, analytical skills, as well as critical thinking.

Module provider

Surrey Business School

Module Leader

HEIRATI Nima (SBS)

Number of Credits: 15

ECTS Credits: 7.5

Framework: FHEQ Level 7

Module cap (Maximum number of students): N/A

Module Availability

Semester 1

Prerequisites / Co-requisites

None

Module content

• Models and approaches to services and relationship marketing


• The impact of technology and artificial intelligence (AI) on in services and relationship marketing


• Positioning core and supplementary services


• Service quality and managing customer experience and service processes


• Employing advanced analytic techniques and big data to manage customer experience


• Building and managing long-term customer relationships


• Managing customer complaints and misbehaviour 


• Managing business relationships

Assessment pattern

Alternative Assessment

Not applicable

Assessment Strategy

The assessment strategy of this module is aimed at allowing students to gradually build up their knowledge and understanding of services and relationship marketing and is designed to allow students to evidence their achievement of the learning outcomes. For each assessment component, students will be working in a consultant mindset by synthesizing and applying services and relationship marketing principles to real-world companies. Managerial implications need to be provided to show how a company can improve its services and relationship marketing strategy elements, with supporting evidence from theory and research in the relevant field. Both assessments components support students to achieve all module learning outcomes. The assessment components comprise an individual presentation and an online exam.

Thus, the summative assessment for this module consists of:

• 50% Oral exam or presentation


• 50% Online exam

Feedback Formative Assessment

• A detailed marking scheme is provided for students during their first seminar together with the assessment details. This allows students to identify what is expected of them. The marking scheme outlines the percentage figures for each assessment component. This is also essential as it allows for consistency in the marking process.


• During the seminars, requirements of the individual presentation and online exam and the feedback process will be explained. As the seminars are built around topic-specific group exercises, students do not only benefit from lecture's feedback but also receive peer evaluations.


• A Q&A and feedback session is provided for each assessment component.


• Students will be provided with initial feedback on what went well and not so well on Surrey Learn.

Summative Assessment

Detailed feedback will be provided for the individual presentation. Feedback is provided by the marker on the University [official] Feedback sheet, and uploaded to Surrey Learn with a final mark and a breakdown of marks using a marketing grid with five marking criteria with detailed descriptors for each mark point for each of five marking criteria. The grid is detailed and structured to show the breakdown of marks in each band for each criterion. All students will be able to check the detailed marking grid against the marks they scored for each part of the assignment, and see what the higher-level descriptor is for achieving marks above [and below] the marks they were awarded.

Module aims

• Provide students with knowledge of fundamental concepts and frameworks widely used in services and relationship marketing.
• Enable students (as future managers) to synthesis and apply key elements of both services and relationship marketing strategies that help businesses across different contexts gain competitive advantage.
• Employ diverse analysis techniques to critically assess typical customer journeys and make strategic marketing decisions to improve customer experience by application of effective services and relationship marketing strategies.

Learning outcomes

Methods of Teaching / Learning

Lectures. Lectures will introduce the services and relationship marketing principles and discuss the application of those principles in real-world scenarios. Development of subject-specific and cognitive skills are introduced in lectures and further developed through suggested reading and consolidated using case study material and other examples. In this module, theory and practice go together.

Seminars. Seminars intend to ensure a comprehensive understanding of the topic area and to make sure that students can apply learned concepts to practice. To achieve this goal, a mixture of case studies and exercises will be used. Preparation and active participation in seminars will be expected.

The module schedule is provided using a separated document in Surrey Learn. Please note that there are sometimes unforeseen circumstances that may necessitate some changes to this schedule (e.g., the order of topics). Thus, the module schedule is only indicative. Every effort will be made to communicate such changes to students in a good time. Slides and on-demand learning resources will be provided via Surrey Learn. Please note that lecture slides are only indicative of the contents covered. It is essential that students prepare each teaching week.

Indicated Lecture Hours (which may also include seminars, tutorials, workshops and other contact time) are approximate and may include in-class tests where one or more of these are an assessment on the module. In-class tests are scheduled/organised separately to taught content and will be published on to student personal timetables, where they apply to taken modules, as soon as they are finalised by central administration. This will usually be after the initial publication of the teaching timetable for the relevant semester.

Reading list

https://readinglists.surrey.ac.uk
Upon accessing the reading list, please search for the module using the module code: MANM545

Other information

Employability: This module introduces the principles of services marketing, service processes management, and relationship marketing, which are highly valued across different industries. As products and standardized services become more commoditized, customers differentiate based on experiences with a company more than specific product/service features and functions. Customers want to feel connected to their favourite brands, and they want the companies they buy from to know and respect them. Customer experience has become the leading competitive differentiator, thus businesses must ensure that their service strategies can deliver personalized, pleasing interactions at every customer touchpoint. This module equips students with knowledge and practical techniques and skills to analyse the customer journey, manage services processes, build strong relationship with target customers, and ultimately successful manage the customer experience. These skills are highly valuable to employers across different sectors. Furthermore, this module improves the students' employability as the service sectors, such as telecommunications, financial services, hospitality, transportation services, healthcare, and professional services, accounts for over three-quarters of GDP and employment in most developed countries (e.g., UK).

Global and cultural capabilities: The module is taught in an interactive and collaborative way, in a cohort that commonly represents a wealth of nationalities and backgrounds. Students are encouraged to engage with, and learn from, diverse perspectives through interaction and case studies. Different services processes and customer experience management scenarios across different cultural settings will be introduced and discussed. The module goes beyond the customer differences in terms of personality trait and advance the understanding regarding how cultural background and values affect the customers' expectations. The module provides students with the opportunity to interact effectively with other students from diverse backgrounds to broaden their world view, own perspectives and interpretations, and reinterpreting issues against a broader spectrum of ideas and representations.

Resourcefulness and resilience: This module involves practical critical thinking and problem-solving skills that teach a student how to analyse and improve a company's service processes and explore solutions to enhance the customer journey. Using practical cases, this module encourages students to become a critical thinker who reason about and solve challenging problems through combining the theory taught with practical skills and techniques. Building on their knowledge and understanding throughout the module, students will be able to develop and apply new ideas to improve the customer experience for real companies. This approach helps students move from the initial understanding to the application and evaluation of the principles of services and relationship marketing. Further, the presentation of key issues that could affect hypothetical customer experience for a real company and proposition of solutions as part of the coursework in this module enable students to build their personal and communication capabilities to describe and defend their ideas and solutions. Therefore, this module and its formative and summative assessments are designed to support students to develop their critical thinking, problem-solving, and personal capabilities and thrive as independent learners.

Sustainability: Although the sustainability issues are not the key focus of principles of services and relationship marketing, the module discussed the role of emerging technologies and AI to deliver services and create virtual servicescapes for customers. Furthermore, all the resources for this module are available digitally and students should digitally submit the assessments.

Please note that the information detailed within this record is accurate at the time of publishing and may be subject to change. This record contains information for the most up to date version of the programme / module for the 2023/4 academic year.