Postgraduate Course: Marketing of Services (BUST11225)

Course Outline
School	Business School	College	College of Humanities and Social Science
Credit level (Normal year taken)	SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate)	Availability	Not available to visiting students
SCQF Credits	15	ECTS Credits	7.5
Summary	The Marketing of Services course is designed for those who recognise the crucial role that services play in the economy. This course aims to advance students' knowledge of marketing and complement financial services marketing courses.
Course description	The Marketing of Services course is designed to broaden students' view of marketing, provide them with a comprehensive understanding of the unique characteristics of services and how services marketers and managers adopt marketing theory in practice. This understanding will be achieved by introducing, discussing, and analysing several topics important to service firms to ensure the achievement of customer satisfaction and long-term success of service organization through the delivery of excellent service. Therefore, strategies used by successful services marketers to deal with issues such as service failure, inconsistent service quality, manage customer expectations, service innovation and services loyalty will be discussed.

Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites		Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations		Other requirements	None

Course Delivery Information

Academic year 2015/16, Not available to visiting students (SS1)		Quota: None
Course Start	Semester 2
Course Start Date	11/01/2016
Timetable	Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info)	Total Hours: 150 ( Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 3, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 147 )
Assessment (Further Info)	Written Exam 50 %, Coursework 50 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment)	The assessment methods for the course and the contribution of each towards the final mark are as follows: Group presentation 20%; Individual essays 30%; Exam 50%
Feedback	Not entered
Exam Information
Exam Diet	Paper Name		Hours & Minutes
Main Exam Diet S2 (April/May)	Marketing of Services		2:00

Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to: Demonstrate an understanding of key issues involved in services marketing, such as, the distinctive characteristics of services, the key differences between manufacturing and service firms, service quality, customer satisfaction and services loyalty. Students will also develop an insight into the nature and importance of service sectors to economies at national and international levels and an understanding of the "state of the art" service management thinking. Appreciate the role of employees (and often customers) in service delivery, explain the main challenges involved in the marketing of services and learn how to manage issues related to service failure and recovery. This course will allow students to understand the nature of the Services Marketing Mix (7Ps), how it expands upon the traditional Marketing Mix (4Ps) and how it is applied in service and manufacturing firms to achieve a competitive advantage. Reflect on key concepts in the marketing of services and apply them to real life business contexts by developing effective marketing programmes within service firms to achieve competitive advantage. Students will utilise appropriate set of analytical frameworks, concepts and tools for critical thinking about service and service related activities. Use a variety of information sources, including but not limited to, online information, teaching materials and academic journals. Students will develop further their graduate skills in terms of effective communication, excellent problem solving, critical thinking and interpersonal skills.