Study Guide

Objective

This course equips the student with professional understanding of the new paradigm in the services economy - focusing on understanding customers and delivering customer experiences which provide differentiating power for the company. Customer centricity affects most aspects of business management, business models, service operations and processes, marketing, and business (service) innovation. The student learns practices and acquires the tools for analyzing and developing customer experiences.

Content

The course discusses the management of a successful service business based on having customers at the core of business strategies and their implementation. Understanding customers and development of offerings, aimed at meeting customer expectations and creating positive service experience, results in deeper and longer business-to-consumer and business-to-business relationships. The course stresses the need for continuous service improvement and business model innovation. Differentiation and profitability of services can be improved by monitoring, rethinking and innovating business processes, from the point of view of customer experience.

The course comprises the following topics:
1. Customer experience - key concepts, tools and measurement of customer-oriented business
2. Towards a customer-focused organization - customers at the heart of company culture, decision making, processes and practices
3. Customer experience management and utilization of insights. Engaging employees to customer experience transformation.

Assessment criteria, satisfactory (1)

The coursework meets with several of the six criteria below. The student performance shows satisfactory performance in three or more of the criteria.

The following criteria are used for assessing the IM Master’s coursework (lecture involvement, discussion, written assignments and discussion leaders).
• The student shows an understanding of the relevant course content in relation to the contents of the articles, lectures and discussion.
•Student texts/presentations demonstrate an understanding of the source/article/lecture content and an ability to select, interpret and justify key messages in a grounded manner.
• The student shows interconnections between the proposed concepts and current business practice, showing abilities of reflection, evaluation and discussion.
• The student shows professional initiative, active participation and responsibility in both individual and team work.
• The student shows the ability to collect valid knowledge for his/her topic from outside the course sources by using scholarly search tools, by questioning current business practice and by practicing source critique.
• Student assignment is written in line with academic writing practice and instructions for Master’s Thesis, using the Harvard Referencing system, with references both in the text as well as reference list. The texts are written in coherent, fluent English.

Assessment criteria, good (3)

Assessment criteria, good (3 - 4). The coursework meets with most of the above criteria.

Additionally the student performance shows good (3) or very good (4) quality performance in three or more of the criteria or otherwise good interpretation.

Assessment criteria, excellent (5)

Assessment criteria, excellent (5). The coursework meets with all the above six criteria.

Additionally the assignment shows excellence in three or more of the above criteria or otherwise deviating excellence.

Assessment criteria, approved/failed

The coursework meets with several of the six criteria below. The student performance shows satisfactory performance in three or more of the criteria.

The following criteria are used for assessing the IM Master’s coursework (lecture involvement, discussion, written assignments and discussion leaders).
• The student shows an understanding of the relevant course content in relation to the contents of the articles, lectures and discussion.
• Student texts/presentations demonstrate an understanding of the source/article/lecture content and an ability to select, interpret and justify key messages in a grounded manner.
• The student shows interconnections between the proposed concepts and current business practice, showing abilities of reflection, evaluation and discussion.
• The student shows professional initiative, active participation and responsibility in both individual and team work.
• The student shows the ability to collect valid knowledge for his/her topic from outside the course sources by using scholarly search tools, by questioning current business practice and by practicing source critique.
• Student assignment is written in line with academic writing practice and instructions for Master’s Thesis, using the Harvard Referencing system, with references both in the text as well as reference list. The texts are written in coherent, fluent English.