MBA Syllabus III & IV Semester 2013-14

MB MK 04: MARKETING OF SERVICES
Unit - I ( 6 sessions )
Introduction to Services: Nature of Services; Characteristics of Services– Intangibility, Inconsistency,
Inseparability and Inventory; Search, experience and credence attributes, Classification of Services;
Consumer versus Industrial Services. Global and Indian Scenario in services sector: Importance of
Services Marketing; Service as key differentiator for manufacturing industries.
Unit - II( 6 sessions )
Services Marketing Mix: Introduction to the 7 Ps of Services Marketing Mix; Product-Service
Continuum; Standalone service products; Service products bundled with tangible products; Service Life
Cycle.
Unit - III( 10 sessions )
Distribution: Place – Distribution Strategies for Services; Challenges in distribution of Services; Role
of Internet in distribution of Services. Promotion: Promotion objective for Services; Personnel Selling,
Advertising and Sales Promotion; Role of Relationship Marketing in promoting services. Pricing:
Factors involved in pricing a service product; demand variation and capacity constraints; Capacity
Planning, Measures to respond to changes in demand; Reshaping demand using effective pricing.
People: The key role of service employees in a service business; Services marketing triangle; Service
profit chain, Concept of Service encounter – Moment of Truth; Training and development of
employees; Motivation and empowerment.
Unit - IV( 8 sessions )
Physical evidence: Nature of physical evidence; Importance of physical evidence in services; Service
scopes. Process: Service as a process and as a system - Different process aspects and managerial
challenges - Strategies for managing inconsistency – Customer role in services - Customers as ‘coproducers’;
Self Service Technologies, – Customer Service in Service Marketing
Unit - V( 10 sessions )
Customer Satisfaction & Service Quality: Monitoring and Measuring customer satisfaction, Order
taking and fulfilment ; Service Guarantee - Handling complaints effectively; Defects, Failures and
Recovery. Concept and Importance of quality in Services; How customers evaluate service
performance, Service Quality Models Parsuraman-Zeithamal-Bitner (PZB) Gaps Model, SERVQUAL,
and SERVPERF Gronroos model Technology & Service Strategy: Applying technology to service
settings, e-services.
SUGGESTED READINGS (In Alphabetical order )
1. Christopher Lovelock - Services Marketing, 7e, Pearson
2. Harsh Verma - Services Marketing, 2e, Pearson
3. Hoffman – Service Marketing, 4/e, Cengage
4. Nargundkar – Services marketing, McGrawhill
5. Srinivasan –Service Marketing: Indian Context, PHI
6. Zeitham - Services Marketing, McGrawhill