Strategic Service Management (5 cr)

Evaluation scale

0-5

Content scheduling

The study course is divided into two parts as follows

2,5 ECTS Strategic service management
2,5 ECTS Analysis of the operating environment

Objective

Purpose of the course
The goal of strategic management is to enable the efficient use of resources, respond to customer needs, and create a competitive advantage and success in the market for the company. Through strategic management, the organisation meets the expectations of owners and other stakeholders and generates benefits for society. Analysis of the operating environment helps to take into account and anticipate changes in the operating environment to support the organisation's strategic decision-making.

The purpose of the course is that you understand the theoretical framework of service management and service marketing, become familiar with the analysis of the operating environment on the industry selected and are able to apply the results in to strategic management and development.

Competences
You master the knowledge base of service management and are able to evaluate, analyse and apply it critically. You are able to utilise specialised problem-solving skills and practices in management and its research. You are able to evaluate and develop strategies to support the development and management of service business and initiate development measures together in changing and unpredictable operating environment.

Learning to learn
You are able to acquire, critically assess and produce information while taking into account the perspectives of different fields. You are able to develop and manage goal-oriented, continuous learning in their community.

Ethics
You are able to promote ethically sustainable activities and the realisation of ethical reflection in their different operating environments. You promote the realisation of the ethical principles and values of their
field.

Internationality and multiculturalism
You are able to anticipate the impacts and opportunities of global development and phenomena. You are able to interact, communicate and develop activities internationally in your own field.

Proactive development
You are able to analyse the current situation and anticipate the future of your field and changes in the operating environment.

Learning outcomes
After completing the course, you will be able to apply theories of strategic service management. You understand service business and its various forms of implementation. You are able to evaluate and analyse factors affecting the quality of services and make strategic decisions to support quality management. You are able to justify the information you produce with the analysis methods of the operating environment in strategic decision-making and are able to renew service business with justification.

Content

In the course, you will learn about the importance of strategic thinking in organizational development, service management, service marketing, service business, quality management, customer orientation, stakeholder management, environmental analysis methods, and ethical issues related to service management.

You will utilize the content you have learned in developing service management.

Location and time

Course Schedule
The course begins on September 17, 2025, in the Moodle learning environment.

Webinars
Wed, September 17, 2025, 16:30–18:00 Introduction webinar and introduction to strategic service management
Wed, October 6, 2025, 16:30–18:00: Environmental analysis
Wed, December 8, 2025, 16:30–18:00: Final webinar, reflection, and feedback

You can find the detailed schedule in the Moodle learning environment.
The course ends on December 19, 2025.

Scheduled Online Course
Strategic Service Management is a fully online course.
You will study according to the detailed schedule available in Moodle.

Materials

Literature and other material based on independent information gathering

Bordoloi, S., Fitzsimmons, J., & Fitzsimmons, M. (2023). Service management: Operations, strategy, information technology. McGraw-Hill Education.

Grönroos, C., & Tillman, M. (2020). Palvelujen johtaminen ja markkinointi (5. painos). Alma Talent.

Kamensky, M. (2015). Strateginen johtaminen: Menestyksen timantti. Talentum.

Vargo, S. L., & Lusch, R. F. (2017). Service-dominant logic 2025. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 34, 46–57. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijresmar.2016.11.001

Teaching methods

Study methods

Strategic Service Management is an online course. You will study in the Moodle learning environment, where you will find the course instructions, schedules, assignments, and materials. You will also participate in webinars. In the webinars, you will learn collaboratively. You will conduct independent research and apply what you have learned in two main learning tasks of the course.

Learning Tasks

During the first three weeks of the course, you will complete the first learning assignment, which confirms your presence in the course. Participation in the course requires that you have submitted the first learning assignment by October 15, 2025.

1. As an individual written assignment, you will define concepts from the given articles and create a concept map from them. You will complete a learning task based on one article (assessed individual task 50%).

2. In the group task, you will apply selected environmental analysis methods to your own field/area of expertise, which you will present in a webinar (assessed written individual task 50%).

Guidance
You will receive guidance in the Moodle learning environment and webinars.

Feedback
You will receive qualitative and quantitative feedback on your learning tasks. You will also provide mid-term and final feedback on the course.

Employer connections

In the course, you utilize the operating environment of your industry/area of expertise as a learning environment that you apply to your learning tasks.

The learning tasks of the course combine the know-how of working life experts and the multidisciplinary network of experts and related groups of higher education studies (e.g. YAMK alumni).

Your student group forms a working life-oriented peer learning network.

Exam schedules

There is no exam in the course.

International connections

You will use international research literature to learn more about the meaning of internationalization for organizations and their strategic management as well as about anticipated effects of global development onto your industry or area of expertise.

Completion alternatives

You can familiarise yourself with 17§ of Jamk's degree regulations when considering the recognition and recognition of course competence based on your previously acquired competence and the objectives of the course.

Student workload

Your recommended time allocation for the 5-credit course is 135 working hours, divided as follows:

Lectures/online webinars 8 h
studying the course material 40 h
individual learning assignments and tasks 87 h

Assessment criteria, satisfactory (1)

You collect strategic service management literature, which includes a few articles and/or study books assigned by course. (1-2)

You identify and classify the key concepts of strategic service management. (1-2)

You write unstructured text with many different language and style errors. You follow Jamk's reporting instructions insufficiently. (1-2)

Assessment criteria, good (3)

You create a matrix table that compiles the articles and/or study books you have chosen and assigned by the course and you analyze the concepts and their relations. (3-4)

You distinguish and compare the relations between the key concepts of strategic service management. (3-4)

You write consistent, thorough and illustrative text. You write structured text, but there are occasional language and style errors. You follow Jamk's reporting instructions. (3-4)

Assessment criteria, excellent (5)

Demonstrate source criticism with the literature you have chosen and you are able to create syntheses of the articles and/or study books. You justify the chosen theories and you able to apply them from the perspective of your industry. (5)

You evaluate the key concepts of strategic service management critically and present them illustratively by combining theories and practice. (5)

Your written text is persuasive and coherent. You write in critical and argumentative way. (5)

Qualifications

No prior knowledge required.

Further information

The learning during the course will be qualitatively evaluated based on the learning outcomes using many different methods: feedback and mentoring from the teacher, the student's own self-assessment and feedback received from peers in webinaries.

In the study course, updated Arene recommendations and Jamki rules are followed in the use of artificial intelligence, instructions and possible ethical questions.

Open UAS number of places: 5