Service Management And Marketing - Managing The Service Profit Logic 4E

This text discusses the service perspective in business and how to adopt service logic in management--regardless of whether an organization offers a service or physical product--and view service as a way of approaching customers and facilitating their lives and business processes by supporting their everyday practices, rather than only providing products and services as resources. It emphasizes the importance of service in the competitive environment and how to see opportunities for creating and maintaining a competitive advantage in any market. It explains the service perspective and the role of customers, the characteristics of service competition, and what adopting service logic requires from management and the organization. It includes discussion of quality management and managing productivity, brand relationships and image, people, and service culture. This edition has updated topics, such as the marketing implications of service logic, service as a business and marketing perspective, the nature of service profit logic and outside-in management, the service and relationship imperative, marketing as making organizations meaningful to their customers, and transforming manufacturing firms into service businesses, as well as new cases and managerial implications and a new chapter on social media and the new reality of word-of-mouth communication. The first two chapters from the previous edition have been combined into a new introductory chapter on service logic and strategic and tactical aspects of a service and relationship strategy. The chapter on return on service and relationships has been updated with models of reciprocal return on relationship and provides metrics needed for calculation of reciprocal returns. Annotation c2016 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com)

Christian Gronroos is Professor of Service and Relationship Marketing at the Hanken Swedish School of Economics and Business Administration, Finland, where he is chair of the research centre CERS (Centre for Relationship Marketing and Service Management). He is also a former visiting Professor at Arizona State University and a research fellow of its Centre for Services Marketing and Management. He has received the American Marketing Association's Award for Lifetime Contribution to the services field and has been involved in executive education in Europe, North America, Latin America, Asia (including mainland China), Australia and New Zealand.