Service Sector Management

Course name: Service Sector Management.
Course code: MGMT-3000
Total contact hours: 48
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course will introduce the student to the services industry activity as a separate and distinct area of
management. It will make to student aware of its powerful influence in competitive markets. It is thus designed
to supplement basic marketing and marketing strategy courses by focusing on problems and strategies specific
the services activity. Specifically, we will focus our attention on understanding four main areas: the service
experience and the special characteristics of services, the satisfaction of service customers and the need to
integrate marketing, human resources and operations within the service and the importance of customer
management. Strategies used by successful service marketers will be discussed.
The emphasis in the course will be on service in general rather than on any particular industry. It is designed not
just for students who want to pursue a career in services industries but also in good industries with service
components. The students will have the opportunity to visit several projects related to the service industry such
as Amazon and Hallett Packard locate in Costa Rica’s Free Zones.
Course prerequisites
None.
Audience
This course is structured for International Students attending the Study Abroad program at Universidad
Veritas. However, courses are not exclusive to foreigners so a few native students could enroll in this course.
Some of the courses are also taught in Spanish as part of our Bachelors in Sustainability Management.
Attendance
Students are only allowed a total of 2 nonconsecutive (back to back) absences. The student will fail the course if
he/she has more than two absences. Students will have a 0 on any assignment evaluated in class (presentations,
evaluations, field trips, etc.) if he/she is absent unless the student presents an official document no later than one
week after the absence. If the student presents an authoritative report to excuse the absence, he/she must
submit the missed assignment on that same day. An unjustified absence to a field trip will immediately mean
losing all of the points assigned to the field trip. If an official document is presented for the field trip absence
students will have to present a research assignment to obtain 50% of the points. The only exception to this rule
is when two-course field sessions collide in programming. Students can then opt for doing a research assignment
not to lose any points on the field trip they don’t attend but it must be coordinated ahead of time with the
professors.
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Three late arrivals to class (within the first 15 minutes) are treated as one absence. If you come to class 30 minutes
late without an official justification document, it will also count as an absence.
Code of conduct
Professors have the right to expel a student from the classroom should he / she:
 Is disruptive in the classroom.
 Behave in a disrespectful way.
 Is under the influence of alcohol or even smell like alcohol.
 Is under the influence of any illegal drug.
 Shows hygiene problems that may disturb other students.
Electronic devices
The use of cell phones, smart phones, or other mobile communication devices is disruptive, and is therefore
prohibited during class. Please turn all devices OFF and put them away when class begins. Devices may be
used ONLY when the professor assigns a specific activity and allows the use of devices for internet search or
recording. Those who fail to comply with the rule must leave the classroom for the remainder of the class period.
This is a theoretical-practical course and its goal is to answer the following question:
How to efficiently manage a business related to the service industry?
In order to answer this question, this course will cover the following:
 Several service strategies.
 The development of new services.
 The use of technology in the service industry.
 The components of service quality
 How to implement a process improvement in the service industry?
 Managing service relationships
 The globalization of services.
 Managing Capacity and Demand.
 The role played by the social media in the services industry
As we advance in this course, the following skills will be encouraged:
 Analytical thinking.
 Clear and effective communication.
 Efficient use of economic and business’ tools in the decision making analysis.
 Application of ethical principles in business administration.
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 Ability to integrate practical, social, economic, and environmental aspects in the analysis and resolution
of problems related to different productive sectors, taking into account the objectives of the service
industry.
Values and attitudes:
 Teamwork and leadership
 Systemic thinking
 Logical and communicative intelligence
 Problem solving
 Learning how to learn
Competencies, criteria and evidence
At Veritas University competencies are reflexive and integrated actions that respond to the professional profile
and to context issues ideally and ethically through the integration of abilities, skills and knowledge. What follows
are the discipline and core competencies and their correspondent key competencies and evidence of learning for
this course.
Table 1. Disciplinary and general competencies, linked to their performance criteria and performance
evidences for this course.
Competencies Performance criteria
(Sub-competences)
Evidence of
performance
Disciplinary
Integrates the fundamentals of
the Service Sector industry to
promote its efficient
management, considering its
relation to innovation, social
media and quality.
Integrates the nature and
components of the Service
sector industry.
Round table.
Individual and group
Presentations.
Final project.
Integrates the process of
innovation in the service
industry.
Round table.
Individual and group
Presentations.
Final project.
Analyses the stages related to
the Firm’s competitiveness.
Round table.
Individual and group
Presentations.
Final project.
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Competencies Performance criteria
(Sub-competences)
Evidence of
performance
Core/Generic
Integrates knowledge, skills and
attitudes to learn continuously
and through one ́s life pursuing
an efficient development in the
knowledge-based society.
Learning to learn
Round table.
Individual and group
Presentations.
Final project.
Builds the necessary
knowledge, skills and attitudes
to learn how to communicate
orally and in written form in the
different disciplines that make
up the curriculum.
Communicate thoughts of the
discipline orally, iconically,
and in written form
Round table.
Individual and group
Presentations.
Final project.
Integrates the necessary
knowledge, skills, and
attitudes to learn teamwork
and leadership techniques
Execute teamwork and
leadership
Round table.
Individual and group
Presentations.
Final project.
Integrates the necessary
knowledge, skills and
attitudes to learn
interpersonal
communication techniques
Execute teamwork and
leadership.
Round table.
Individual and group
Presentations.
Final project.
Content
Topic 1: The Service Sector.
Text book Chapter 1.
Topic 2: Service strategies.
Text book Chapter 2.
Topic 3: The development of new services.
Text book Chapter 3.
Topic 4: Technology and the service industry.
Text book Chapter 4
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Topic 5: Service Quality
Text book Chapters 6
Topic 6: Process Improvement.
Text book Chapter 7
Topic 7: Managing service Relationships
Text book Chapter 9
Topic 8: Globalization of Services. Part I.
Text book Chapter 10.
Topic 9: Globalization of Services. Part II.
Text book Chapter 10.
Topic 10: Managing Capacity and Demand.
Text book Chapter 11.
Topic 11: Social Media in Services.
Text book Chapter 9
Topic 12: Course summary
Methodology
The student will be subject to a process of “learn to learn “. By doing so they will be exposed to economics and
business tools presented in class relevant to the course, real live experiences coming from guest speakers and
field trips to organizations and businesses related to this course topic.
Learning strategies
1. Presentations:
These aspects will always be taken into account for presentations:
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● Preparation and content: topic relevance, knowledge assimilation, answers to classmates’ and professor
questions, and content deepness due to evident research.
● Organization and style: smoothness, independence from notes and devices, speaking clarity, slides clarity and
aesthetics, text and images balance.
● Time limit respect: each presentation has a time limit; students will be informed about this in advance.
● Personal opinion: robust personal opinion reflecting serious analysis of the topic and previous research.
● Punctuality: presentations must be presented on the assigned date, not following this rule means a grade of
0% on that particular presentation unless the absence or lack of assignment is properly justified.
2. The round table
The round table is a space dedicated to promoting oral expression techniques and research on different topics.
The idea is that a group of students prepares a topic relevant to the course that preferably generates ideas or
points of view equal or contradictory in order to generate new learning.
The group of students that can be made up of 4 to 6 people who should investigate as much as possible about
the assigned topic, sit face to face with the other groupmates in order to create a "roundtable" panel. The
members of the group choose a person who acts as moderator and opens the round table, announces the theme
and respective sub-themes, introduces the members of the group and indicates the order in which each member
will expose, launches the questions already planned between the different subtopics and generates notes that
serve as closure or conclusions; in addition, the moderator must show adequate emotional management, be
impartial, keep the group together.
The maximum recommended duration is 60 minutes (45 minutes of discussion between the presentation of the
topic, sub-themes and questions launched by the moderator, and 15 minutes of closure - which is also done by
the moderator). To make the round table, each group must be clear about the assigned topic, prepare and
investigate about it, prepare written information and brief presentations in order to fully understand the topic
and the respective subtopics; generate a closure with the synthesis and conclusions that emerge from the
activity.
3. Final project
Each student chooses a final project in accordance to the course leaning experience. The professor will have to
approve it.
The final project is developed along the course, the professor guides the process and assesses the results.
Presenting time plus questions and discussion will be 30 minutes’ maximum, depending of the amount of
students enrolled. The final project represents 40% of total grade. Several class sessions will be dedicated to
check and guide the project advances. Presentations must be uploaded to Canvas on deadline (before presenting.
Field trips promote students' assimilation, reflection and the internalization of knowledge, sensitizing through
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observation and interaction. In addition, the theory addressed in class will be extensively exemplified and
analyzed in the sites visited. This process promotes a critical thinking and put into practice the capacity to make
decisions during the process of learning to learn.
Students will do research using class material, guest speakers’ visits and field trip to elaborate their final
presentation. It will relate to a specific country and a specific non-exhaustible resource of energy to be utilized by
the chosen country. This will allow students to exercise their capacities to communicate in a clear and wellarticulated
manner.
Students will exercise the capacity for critical thinking and oral and written expression through the presentation
of reports and class’ discussions. There will also be two guest speakers who will discuss issues related to the
course.
Teaching resources
The students will have access to VERITAS’ libraries and free access to wireless internet in order to get needed
information. The professor will also provide readings and other sources of information that will be posted in
VERITAS-CANVAS. All class rooms are fully equipped to assist students in theirs learning process.
Learning evaluation:
Indicator Grade
A –Class participation and two Round tables 60%
B-Final Research Project and Presentation. 40%
Final grade: 100%