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Syllabus

EN IT

Learning Objectives

LEARNING OUTCOMES:
The purpose of the course is to have students acquire knowledge about:
1. the main differences between services and goods
2. the main managerial and marketing differences between service firms and manifacturing firms.
3. the instruments marketing managers can use.
This course, in line with the purpose of the Master of Science in Business Administration, provides students with the basic principles of international marketing and allows them to build, on such base, new knowledge continuing the training path, and to enter the job market as a junior manager and business consultant in marketing, in private and/ or public services firms.


KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING:
At the end of the course, the student is able to:
• Know and understand the management differences between service firms and manufacturing firms.
• Know and understand the marketing differences between service firms and manufacturing firms.
• Know and understand the 7 marketing mix Ps.


APPLYING KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING:
At the end of the course, the student is able to apply what she/he has learned to real situations. Specifically, students are able to:
• Apply the theoretical models for the analysis of the environmental scenario, competition and services demand;
• Apply the theoretical models for evaluating the role of new technologies on customers’ behaviour;
• Apply the theoretical models to segment demand, identify the target and position (and reposition) the product in the service consumer’s mind;
• Apply theoretical models to define the operational marketing policies of the service firm


MAKING JUDGEMENTS:
Interactive participation to lectures, as well as to service management experts’ and professionals’ seminars, will stimulate students’ critical analysis and independent judgment skills. Students will also be encouraged to collect and interpret relevant data through a direct and in-depth involvement in the study of the main issues related to the management of service firms. Students’ making judgement skills will also be stimulated by specific tasks required during the course, such as the analysis of case studies and team works.

COMMUNICATION SKILLS:
Communication skills are developed and evaluated not only through teacher-student interaction, but also through team works, discussion of business cases, as well as through the exam.

LEARNING SKILLS:
At the end of the course the student will have acquired the ability to critically deal with managerial issues related to service firms. In this regard, the student will also acquire familiarity with the operational use of complex concepts.

Prerequisites

The learning of the discipline is fostered by previous knowledge of the fundamentals of general management.

Program

The following topics will be covered during the lessons:
- Analysis of the tertiary sector
- Characteristics of the service economy
- The concept of service and its peculiarities
- IHIP paradigm and new trends in literature
- Service firms: peculiarities
- Value Chain, Value shop, Value network
- The Servuction model
- The Normann model
- The Grönroos model
- The quality of the service
- The Gap Analysis Model
- How to build a service blueprint
- Physical and Virtual Servicescape

Books

Zeithaml, V. A., Bitner, M. J., & Gremler, D. D. (2013). Service marketing 6th edition. New York (US): Mc-Graw Hill.
Required readings and assigned cases will be provided

Bibliography

Mari M., Poggesi S. (2017), “From physical to virtual: the impact of servicescape on customers’ behaviour”, McGraw-Hill, Milan.
Vargo, S. L., & Lusch, R. F. (2008). Service-dominant logic: continuing the evolution. Journal of the Academy of marketing Science, 36(1), 1-10.
Lusch, R. F., Vargo, S. L., & O’brien, M. (2007). Competing through service: Insights from service-dominant logic. Journal of retailing, 83(1), 5-18.

Teaching methods

Alongside the more traditional lectures, the subjects studied in depth are also addressed through seminars conducted by experts in the field, case studies and classroom exercises, as well as by team works.

Exam Rules

The exam assesses the overall preparation by the student in accordance with the Dublin descriptors, as follows: acquired knowledge (quantity and quality) in relation to the topics of the programme and consequentiality of reasoning; ability to apply such knowledge and to make connections among the different parts of the programme, including also the acquired knowledge from other similar courses; analytical ability, synthesis, and autonomy of judgement; communication skills of the student (language properties, clarity of presentation, and appropriate use of terminology, specific to the course).

For attending students, the exam is includes a written test, the discussion of the team work and the evaluation of an individual work. The written test consists of multiple choice questions and open-ended questions. The questions deal with the topics covered in the course, including the topics deepened during the lectures of experts.
Score from 0 to 2 can be assigned to the team work. and score from 0 to 1 can be assigned to the individual project work. These scores, together with the mark of the written test, contribute the final mark.
The final mark of the exam is expressed out of thirty and will be obtained through the following grading system:
Fail: important deficiencies in the knowledge and understanding of the topics; limited analytical and synthesis skills; frequent generalisations and limited critical and judgemental abilities; the topics are set out inconsistently and with inappropriate language.
18-21: the student has acquired the basic concepts of the discipline and has an analytical capacity that emerges only with the help of the teacher; the way of speaking and the language used are on the whole correct.
22-25: the student has acquired the basic concepts of the discipline in a discreet way; knows how to orient him/herself among the various topics covered; and has an autonomous analysis capacity knowing how to express using the correct language.
26-29: the student has a well-structured knowledge base; he/she is able to independently rework the knowledge acquired in the context of the choice of conventional and unconventional materials according to the application; the way of speaking and the technical language are correct.
30 and 30 cum laude: the student has a comprehensive and thorough knowledge base. The cultural references are rich and up-to-date, which are expressed with brilliance and properties of technical language.


For non-attending students, the exam is made up of a written test, articulated into multiple choice and open questions, plus an oral test. To access the oral test, the student must have passed the written test. The written test is valid only for the call in which the exam is taken. Both the written and oral exams focus on the topics addressed during the course, including those emerging from the thematic seminars’ and business case studies’ discussion and contribute equally to the final mark.
The final mark of the exam is expressed out of thirty and will be obtained through the following grading system:
Fail: important deficiencies in the knowledge and understanding of the topics; limited analytical and synthesis skills; frequent generalisations and limited critical and judgemental abilities; the topics are set out inconsistently and with inappropriate language.
18-21: the student has acquired the basic concepts of the discipline and has an analytical capacity that emerges only with the help of the teacher; the way of speaking and the language used are on the whole correct.
22-25: the student has acquired the basic concepts of the discipline in a discreet way; knows how to orient him/herself among the various topics covered; and has an autonomous analysis capacity knowing how to express using the correct language.
26-29: the student has a well-structured knowledge base; he/she is able to independently rework the knowledge acquired in the context of the choice of conventional and unconventional materials according to the application; the way of speaking and the technical language are correct.
30 and 30 cum laude: the student has a comprehensive and thorough knowledge base. The cultural references are rich and up-to-date, which are expressed with brilliance and properties of technical language.