Service Management

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2016:

Approximately 2.5 hours of personal study per hour of class time is required to achieve a satisfactory level of performance

Entry into the Master of Management suite of programs.

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For the purposes of considering requests for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Students Experiencing Academic Disadvantage Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Description, Subject Objectives, Generic Skills and Assessment Requirements for this entry.

The University is dedicated to provide support to those with special requirements. Further details on the disability support scheme can be found at the Disability Liaison Unit website: http://www.services.unimelb.edu.au/disability/

This subject aims to equip potential leaders in organisations with current knowledge and tools to compete through the strategic use of service. Suitable industries include consulting, advertising, finance, healthcare, legal, retail, hospitality, transportation and public services to name a few. The management of a service organisation presents unique challenges and opportunities because of the intangible nature of the offering and the critical role of service personnel, customers and technology in service creation and delivery. This subject will focus on the enabling practices, theories and frameworks that help improve the customer/client or citizen experiences for enhanced brand loyalty and organisational success. Subject content includes: developing a service culture; sales training; building trusting relationships; metrics for customer service; blueprinting desirable customer experiences; managing supply and demand of a perishable service; enabling service personnel, IT and customers for superior value creation; designing effective servicescapes; recognising and managing role stress in service personnel; planning for feedback and effective service failure recovery.

On successful completion of this subject, students should be able to:

• Create a service culture;
• Be confident in selling their service;
• Measure and manage service quality, customer satisfaction, loyalty and value perceptions;
• Analyse the role of employees, customers and technology in service delivery;
• Be attuned to service personnel role stress;
• Blueprint a service process for enhanced customer experience;
• Design a servicescape for desired effects on customer and employee behaviour;
• Recover effectively from a service failure;
• Consider both intended and unintended consequences to all stakeholders of decisions made in the management of a service organisation.

• 2-hour end-of-semester examination (50%);
• 5 minute individual oral presentation in allocated week during semester (10%);
• 50 minute individual mid-semester test in week 7 (10%);and
• 4,000 word group written assignment due in week 12 (30%).

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

On successful completion of this subject, students should have improved the following generic skills:

• Interpretative and analytical skills, through the application of the conceptual and theoretical frameworks presented in seminars to the 'real world' assignment;
• The ability to critically evaluate a service business based upon the theories and frameworks presented in seminars;
• The ability to synthesise and interpret data and other information sources to conduct an effective audit;
• The ability to work in a team through the group assignment; and
• Oral and written communication skills, through seminar discussions, presentations and service audit report.