MBA Online

ICS , Graduate School of International Corporate Strategy

[Term 3] Service Management (Y. Fujikawa) (2009/Term 3&4 (Spring&Summer))

This course is designed for future business leaders who seek opportunities in the fastest-growing sector in the world economies. Today, the service sector accounts for 60-80% of the GDP among many developed countries, and services’ role is ever growing in many of the emerging economies in Asia and beyond. This global trend toward a service economy is driven not only by the growth of the service industries (including, but not limited to, education, entertainment, finance, health care, hospitality, IT-based, and retail) but also the expansion of service’s importance within non-service businesses (e.g., manufacturing, agriculture, forestry, fishing, etc.).

Services are different from goods in many aspects: among others, they are intangible (i.e., it is difficult to assess their qualities); perishable (i.e., they cannot be produced in advance and stored on inventory); simultaneously produced and consumed (i.e., buyers and sellers create value jointly); and heterogeneous (i.e., it is difficult to control qualities). Such unique properties pose distinct challenges and opportunities in managing service businesses. Using case materials, related readings, and individual/team assignments, this course intends to aid students in the following:
• Gaining an in-depth understanding of the unique challenges involved in managing service organizations
• Acquiring analytical skills for effective planning and execution of service businesses
• Fostering an active, constructively critical posture as customers of service businesses, with an aim to stimulate real-world service providers to improve service quality
Course Structure

Three management disciplines—Marketing Management (MM), Human Resource Management (HRM), and Operations Management (OM)—play central and interrelated roles in meeting customer needs in service businesses. Reflecting this interdependency among the three key functions, the course is structured as follows:

Module 1 introduces a few overarching frameworks of the course, such as the 7Ps of service management, strategic service vision, service profit chain, and gaps model of service quality. Module 2 lays out basic elements of service marketing by extending the 4Ps of marketing and CRM issues to service settings. Module 3 focuses on an additional P—people—by delving into HRM issues in service businesses. Module 4 moves on to two more Ps—process and physical environment—by examining process fundamentals of service operations. Throughout the course we will repeatedly visit the importance of aligning the three key disciplines of service management (MM, HRM, and OM).
Teaching Method

The primary teaching approach is the case method. In addition, there will be individual and team assignments.

Cases. Cases will be selected from a diverse set of business contexts: B2C and B2B, high-tech and low-tech, entrepreneurial and established, and East and West. Throughout the semester we will explore cutting-edge examples of service breakthroughs, many of which employ unique business models and technologies for innovative ways of addressing customers’ unmet needs. We will also discuss issues in the globalization of services, with particular emphasis on service businesses that attempt to expand from Asia to the world (and vice versa).

Individual Assignments (Letter Writing Campaign and POA Memo). Taking an active stance on the issue of service quality, you will be writing (and actually mailing) two letters to two different service organizations with which you have recently interacted as a customer: one letter is for complaining about a service failure, the other for extending congratulations on a service excellence. The purpose of this individual assignment includes providing you with an opportunity to apply your analytical skills in a practical situation, supplying valuable feedback to the service organizations, and learning from real-life examples about how organizations address customer complaints and act on letters of praise. More details will be provided on the first day of the course. In addition, you will be writing a POA memo for one of the cases to be discussed in class.

Team Assignments (To Be Determined). In order to facilitate the collective learning process among yourselves, you will be assigned to a team project. The details are still being explored at this moment (it also depends on how many of you are taking this course), but possibilities include running a service company in an electronic simulation program, conducting a short field project on a real-world example of service innovation or service globalization, and/or presenting a team analysis to lead a case discussion.

Human Resource Management (EKM 2410)

This course discusses all aspects of managing human resource as a primary source of sustainable competitive advantage. It provides an understanding of HRM concepts, methods, and techniques with particular focus on HRM functions as business partners in strategic decision-making process and its implementation. All functions of HRM such as planning, recruitment and selection, training and development, career management, performance appraisal, compensation management, HR audit are discussed from strategic and technical perspectives. Two primary learning objectives of this course are: (1) to provide participants with an in-depth knowledge of effective HRM concepts, methods, and techniques, and (2) to give an appreciation of learning the role of HRM in developing sustainable competitive advantage, especially in executing strategies and facilitating the process of change or organization transformation.

Strategic Human Resource Management

This programme explores different aspects of Human Resources Management (HRM) in China’s changing environment. Participants will analyse both Western and Chinese management practices and their relevance to running a business in China today. In past years, the programme has benefited from the participation of both Chinese and expatriate managers jointly examining HRM in a Chinese context.