Curricula

Objectives

Student understands the role of the service industry in society. She/he understands definitions related to service industry and operations and is capable to use theoretical knowledge in practice. The student is familiar with a consumer purchase decision making process. He/she understands the significance of the customer's individuality as factor affecting his behavior in service situations. Student employs hospitality within services. He/she can apply psychological information during interactions while providing services. He/she can utilize existing knowledge to develop his/her own role as a service provider.

Content

Services in society
Basic theories and definitions of services
Service company
Consumer behavior and buying decision process
Service ability in multicultural environment
Hospitality
Personal service skills

Learning materials and recommended literature

Hudson, S. & Hudson, L. 2017. Customer service for hospitality and tourism. Oxford, UK : Goodfellow Publishers Ltd. (e-book available)
Johnston, R. Clark, G. Shulver M. 2021. Service operations management : improving service delivery. Pearson Education. 5th edition. (e-book available)

Teaching methods

Lectures
Individual assignments
Group assignments
Guest speeches/lectures by business practitionaires

Practical training and working life connections

Guest speakers / case examples

Student workload

Lectures 40 hrs
Individual and group assignments 55 h
Exam and studying of literature 40 h
Total 135 hours

Further information for students

Avoin AMK (Open UAS) 5
Exchange students 5

Evaluation scale

0-5

Evaluation criteria, satisfactory (1-2)

Sufficient (1): The student comprehends with a restricted part of theories and concepts related to services and customer service. Student has limited knowledge in searching, judging and utilizing relevant reference material to support the studying the topic.
Satisfactory (2): Student shows comprehension of some core theories and concepts in the field. Student has limited ability to review and select reference materials to support own ideas and analysis. Student shows some ability to apply theory-based knowledge in practice.

Evaluation criteria, good (3-4)

Good (3): Student can analyze key practices and principles of services. Student shows ability of supporting his/her views and ideas with selected references. Student shows ability to utilize analytical and conceptual tools in defining and analyzing services.
Very Good (4): Student makes synthesis of core parts of theoretical and conceptual knowledge. Student is well able to find, select and evaluate reference literature to support his interpretation and justification of service business issues. Student show very good level of command of tools usable for analyzing services and their challenges, proposing viable solutions to them.

Evaluation criteria, excellent (5)

Excellent (5): Student shows critical evaluation of theoretical and conceptual knowledge of services and customer understanding. Student shows excellent ability to find, select and evaluate reference literature and utilize those findings in interpreting and justifying issues from multiple perspectives. Student shows excellent ability to evaluate service situations and propose viable solutions to them.

Prerequisites

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