Customer Service and Experience Management

Department

International Program

Course unit code

IFLV6536

Number of ECTS credits allocated

Name of lecturer(s)

Milman Ady, Ph.D.

Mode of delivery

Recommended optional program components

none

Recommended or required reading

1. Understanding and defining the service concept

Gautam, Nitish (2017). The Art of Customer Service: A Beginner's Guide to Understanding Customer Service. Ameyo. (September 18, 2017). Retrieved on 2/11/2019 from https://www.ameyo.com/blog/the-art-of-customer-service-a-beginners-guide-to-understanding-customer-service

Pozin, Ilya (2018) What Customers Really Want: It Might Surprise You. Inc. Magazine (April 29, 2018). Retrieved on 2/11/2019 from https://www.inc.com/ilya-pozin/what-customers-really-want-it-might-surprise-you.html

2. Meeting customer expectations through service planning

J.D. Power and Associates (2019). Press Release: As Customer Expectations Evolve, Needs of 1 in 5 New-Car Buyers Not Being Met, J.D. Power Finds (January 31, 2019). Retrieved on 2/11/2019 from https://www.jdpower.com/business/press-releases/jd-power-2018-australia-sales-satisfaction-index-ssi-study

J.D. Power and Associates (2019). Press Release: Credit Card Rewards Battle Continues as Customers Seek Better Programs, J.D. Power Finds (August 18, 2019). Retrieved on 2/11/2019 from https://www.jdpower.com/business/press-releases/2018-credit-card-satisfaction-study

Taylor, Mark (2019). Customer Expectations: How to Meet (and Exceed) Expectations. SuperOffice. (January 4, 2019). Retrieved on 2/11/2019 from https://www.superoffice.com/blog/exceed-customer-expectations-2014/

3. The Customer Experience

Blake, Morgan (2017). Five Trends Shaping the Future of Customer Experience in 2018. (December 7, 2017). Forbes Magazine. Retrieved on 2/11/2019 from https://www.forbes.com/sites/blakemorgan/2017/12/05/five-trends-shaping-the-future-of-customer-experience-in-2018/#2533e39b2d9c

Gilmore, J. H. (1998). Welcome to the Experience Economy. Harvard Business Review, 76 (4): 97-105. Retrieved on 2/11/2019 from https://hbr.org/1998/07/welcome-to-the-experience-economy

Hyken, Shep (2018). Customer Experience Is the New Brand. (July 15, 2018). Forbes Magazine. Retrieved on 2/11/2019 from https://www.forbes.com/sites/shephyken/2018/07/15/customer-experience-is-the-new-brand/#5e320a007f52

4. Setting the scene for a positive guest experience

Dixon, M. (2018). Reinventing customer service: how T-Mobile achieved record levels of quality and productivity. Harvard Business Review, (6), 82.

Kaufman, R. (2015). Why Your Customer Service Training Won't Lead to Happy Customers (or Inspired Employees). Journal for Quality & Participation, 37(4), 33-37.

5. Applying the hospitality service culture in hospitality and non-hospitality organizations

Dawson, M., Abbott, J., & Shoemaker, S. (2011). The Hospitality Culture Scale: A measure organizational culture and personal attributes. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 30, 290-300.

Mest, C. E. (2016). Tailored experiences, immediate value new drivers of guest loyalty. Hotel Management, 231 (2), 10.

Ransom, Anna (2019). How to meet today's hotel guest expectations. Amadeus Hospitality. Retrieved on 2/11/2019 from https://www.amadeus-hospitality.com/insight/meet-todays-hotel-guest-expectations/

6. Understanding the international consumer culture within the context of service

J.D. Power and Associates (2018). Press Release (Brazil): Customer Age Greatly Impacts Service Dealer Selection; Customer Satisfaction Hits Record High, J.D. Power Finds (July 28, 2018). Retrieved on 2/11/2019 from https://www.jdpower.com/business/press-releases/2018-brazil-customer-service-index-csi-study

J.D. Power and Associates (2018). Press Release (Germany) : Word of Mouth Key to Attracting Younger Customers for Dealer Service, J.D. Power Finds (June 27, 2018). Retrieved on 2/11/2019 from https://www.jdpower.com/business/press-releases/2018-germany-customer-service-index-csi-study

Mahajan, V. (2013). Understanding the Arab Consumer. Harvard Business Review, 91(5), 128-133.

Michaelides, Roxanna (2017). Hospitality industry and the service culture in Europe. Tourism & Travelling, 1 (1), 15-19.

7. Fixing service issues of concern

Norvell, T., Kumar, P., & Dass, M. (2018). The Long-Term Impact of Service Failure and Recovery. Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, 59(4), 376-389.

Vocalcom (2015). 7 Steps to Fixing Customer Service Issues. Vocalcom (July 20, 2015). Retrieved on 2/11/2019 from https://www.vocalcom.com/en/blog/customer-service/7-steps-to-fixing-customer-service-issues/

8. Communicating and delivering service to customers

MacDonald, Steven (2019). Five Ways to Deliver Excellent Customer Service. SuperOffice. (January 4, 2019). Retrieved on 2/11/2019 from https://www.superoffice.com/blog/five-ways-to-deliver-excellent-customer-service/

Micah Solomon (2018). For Small Business Week: All About Millennial Consumers and Millennial-Friendly Customer Experiences (May 3, 2018). Forbes Magazine. Retrieved on 2/11/2019 from https://www.forbes.com/sites/micahsolomon/2018/05/03/for-small-business-week-all-about-millennial-consumers-and-millennial-friendly-customer-experiences/#257cfc1c2f91

Needham, B. R. (2012). The truth about patient experience: what we can learn from other industries, and how three Ps can improve health outcomes, strengthen brands, and delight customers. Journal of Healthcare Management, (4). 255.

9. Developing organizational service policy

Customer Service Policy: Rochester Hills Public Library Policies (2019). Retrieved on 2/11/2019 from http://www.ala.org/united/sites/ala.org.united/files/content/trustees/orgtools/policies/customer-service-rphl.pdf

Lotich, Patricia (2016). Example Customer Service Standards. Thriving Small Business (March 23, 2016). Retrieved on 2/11/2019 from https://thethrivingsmallbusiness.com/customer-service-standards/

Venelin Terziev, Vanya Banabakova, & Marin Georgiev. (2017). Customer's Profitability Analyses and Customer Service Policies. Journal of Innovations and Sustainability, 3 (3), 39-48.Additional readings (OPTIONAL):

Bacik, Radovan, Fedorko, Richard, Nastisin, Ludovit, & Gavurova Beata. (2018). Factors of communication mix on social media and their role in forming customer experience and brand image. Management Şi Marketing, 13(3): 1108-1118.

Balaji, M. S., Jha, S., Sengupta, A. S., & Krishnan, B. C. (2018). Are cynical customers satisfied differently? Role of negative inferred motive and customer participation in service recovery. Journal of Business Research, 86, 109-118.

BMW World Munich (2019). Retrieved on 2/11/2019 from https://www.bmw-welt.com/en.html

Cai, R., & Qu, H. (2018). Customers' perceived justice, emotions, direct and indirect reactions to service recovery: Moderating effects of recovery efforts. Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management, 27(3), 323-345.

Khalilzadeh, J., Ghahramani, L., & Tabari, S. (2017). From "Hypercritics" to "Happy Campers": Who Complains the Most in Fine Dining Restaurants? Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management, 26(5), 451-473.

Khosravi, S., Malek, A., & Ekiz, E. (2014). Why Tourists are attracted to Boutique Hotels: Case of Penang Island, Malaysia. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism, 12(1), 17-32.

Ritz Carlton Leadership Center (2015). Dos & don'ts of setting customer expectations (October 7, 2015). Retrieved on 2/11/2019 from http://ritzcarltonleadershipcenter.com/2015/10/dos-donts-of-setting-customer-expectations/

Swan, L. (2014). The Power of Color in Transit. Mass Transit, 40(3), 38-47.

Tabari, Saloomeh; Wilson, Jonathan A.J.; Ingram, Hadyn (2016). Conceptualising the impact of culture and language upon hospitality service management. Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes, (1), 12-28.

Venelin Terziev, Vanya Banabakova, & Marin Georgiev. (2017). Standards and Customer Service: Employees Behavior towards Customers. Journal of Innovations and Sustainability, Vol 3 (3), 27-37.

Level of course unit

Bachelor

Year of study

Spring 2025

Semester when the course unit is delivered

Language of instruction

English

Learning outcomes of the course unit

1. Understand and define service management principles and their applications in the hospitality and service organizations.

2. Identify the strengths and weaknesses of guest services management in the hospitality and service industries.

3. Develop and evaluate tools for innovative solutions to customer service recovery.

4. Define the roles of the service leader and the service providers and suggest strategies for customer service policies in hospitality and service organizations.

5. Help students develop the skills, competencies, and professional orientation that will support their life-long service-oriented operation in a variety of organizations.

Course contents

The course explores the various dimensions of successful customer service management in hospitality and service organizations. It will explore the concept of service management from a holistic approach, including customer satisfaction, organizational culture, operations, marketing, strategy, information technology, and global cross-cultural perspective.

Students will explore, challenge, and enhance the principles of guest service management in a variety of hospitality or service organization. Students will read, observe, and discuss a broad selection of materials on the topic and then apply the concepts discussed in the classroom to their own work and service experience.

More specifically, the course will cover the following topics:

1. Understand and define the service concept
2. Meeting customer’s expectations through service planning
3. Understand the customer experience
4. Setting the scene for a positive guest experience
5. Applying the hospitality service culture in non-hospitality organizations
6. Understand the international consumer culture within the context of service
7. Fixing customer service issues or concerns
8. Communicating and delivering service to customers
9. Developing organizational service policy

Planned learning activities and teaching methods

The class will incorporate lectures, PowerPoint presentations, class discussions and short student group projects.

Work placement(s)

none

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