Synopses & Reviews
The primary objective of Essentials of Services Marketing: Concepts, Strategies Cases, 2e is to provide materials that not only introduce the student to the field of services marketing, but also acquaint the student with specific customer service issues. The business world now demands, in addition to traditional business knowledge, increasing employee competence in customer satisfaction, service quality, and customer service - skills that are essential in sustaining the existing customer base.
Synopsis
SERVICES MARKETING: CONCEPTS, STRATEGIES, AND CASES, 3rd Edition offers a managerial perspective of services marketing, with special emphasis on B2B services, technology, and global services. Briefer than competing textbooks, this text also includes cases to further illustrate concepts and offers unique coverage on creating the seamless service firm to support a customer-focused organizational culture.
Synopsis
Get the textbook that combines usability with cutting-edge data. SERVICES MARKETING: CONCEPTS, STRATEGIES, AND CASES is thorough and yet shorter than many of the textbooks you could choose from. And, its emphasis is on business-to-business services, technology, and global services ensures you'll be ready for that first job after college.
About the Author
K. Douglas Hoffman earned his master's and doctorate degrees from the University of Kentucky and his bachelor's degree from The Ohio State University. He has been formally recognized for teaching excellence and has served as past education coordinator for the Services Marketing Special Interest Group of the American Marketing Association.
Dr. Hoffman currently is a professor of marketing and has taught such courses as Principles of Marketing, Services Marketing, E-Marketing, Retail Management, and Marketing Management. His primary teaching and research passion is services marketing. He launched the first services marketing classes at Mississippi State University, the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, and Colorado State University.
Prior to his academic career, Dr. Hoffman was actively involved in his family-owned golf course business, served as a distribution analyst for Volkswagen of America, and worked as a research analyst for the Parker Hannifin Corp. His current research and consulting activities are primarily in the areas of customer service/satisfaction and services marketing education. Dr. Hoffman has coauthored two other South-Western/Thomson Learning texts: Essentials of Services Marketing and Managing Services Marketing, both with John E. G. Bateson. John E.G. Bateson is a Group Chief Executive Office of SHL Group plc, and was previously with the Gemini Group as a Senior Vie-President and Practice Leader in Gemini Consulting. He was Associate Professor of Marketing at the London Business School, England, and a visiting associate professor at the Stanford Business School. Prior to teaching, he was a brand manager with Lever Brothers and marketing manager with Philips.
Dr. Bateson holds an undergraduate degree from Imperial College, London, a master's degree from London Business School, and a Ph. D. in marketing from the Harvard Business School. He has published extensively in the services marketing literature, including the Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Retailing, Marketing Science, and Journal of Consumer Research. He is also the author of Managing Services marketing: Text and Readings (Dryden) and Marketing Public Transit: A Strategic Approach (Praeger).
Dr. Bateson was actively involved with the formation of the services division of the American Marketing Association. He served on the Services Council for four years and has chaired sessions of the AMA Services Marketing Conference. He also serves on the steering committee of the Marketing Science Institute. Dr. Bateson consults extensively in the services sector.
Table of Contents
Part I. An Overview of Services Marketing. 1. An Introduction to Services. 2. Fundamental Differences between Goods and Services. 3. An Overview of the Services Sector. 4. Consumer Decision Process Issues in Services Marketing. 5. Ethical Issues in Services Marketing. Part II. Service Strategy: Managing the Service Encounter. 6. Service Delivery Process. 7. The Pricing of Services. 8. Developing the Service Communications Mix. 9. Managing the Firms Physical Evidence. 10. People Issues: Managing Service Employees. 11. People Issues: Managing Service Customers. Part III. Assessing and Improving Service Delivery. 12. Defining and Measuring Customer Satisfaction. 13. Defining and Measuring Service Quality. 14. Service Failures and Recovery Strategies. 15. Customer Retention. 16. Putting the Pieces together: Creating the Seamless Service Firm.