Course syllabus
Course-PM
TEK590 TEK590 Service management lp2 HT22 (7.5 hp)
Course is offered by the department of Technology Management and Economics
Homepage: Canvas -- https://chalmers.instructure.com/
Teaching language: English
Contact details
Examiner: Árni Halldórsson, arni.halldorsson@chalmers.se
Lecturers: Árni Halldórsson (Professor), Ida Gremyr (Professor, ida.germyr@chalmers.se), Siri Jagstedt (PhD), Frida Smith (PhD, Researcher), Carolin Behrens (PhD student), Henrietta Arwin (PhD student).
For questions and comment comments on individual sessions, please contact the lecture responsible for that session. Also, we would appreciate if you use regular e-mail for such contact and not the contact function in Canvas - amongst other things for the ease of responding when we are not on-line).
Course content
The course focuses on four key themes
- Role and relevance of service management in contemporary organisations, driving forces of increased servitization, and sustainability of services.
- Service innovation and –design
- Sourcing strategies and -deliveries in service networks
- Service quality and -improvement
To these themes we relate contemporary challenges and opportunities such as digitalization, circular economy, disruptions, and other contemporary industrial dynamics.
Course background/aim and learning objectives
Background and aim
Services have increasingly become a key part of value propositions in a range of private and public sector organisations; this relates both to enhancement of current business models and service innovations. The principles supporting this development can to some extent build further on product-centered logics and frameworks, but new principles are needed to navigate activities that range from service innovation/design, service sourcing/delivery and service improvement. Further, these activities do not take place within the boundaries of the individual organisation, rather, services, and subsequent customer satisfaction, is a result of a co-created activity among different actors, e.g. suppliers, their customers, and end-users. On the backdrop of this, the aim of this course is to provide students with appreciation of service growth and servitization in general, and particular an understanding of key principles, frameworks and theories of developing, delivering and improving services in contemporary organisations, and in their wider service networks.
Learning outcomes
- Having successfully completed the course, students will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of principles and practice of service management in contemporary organisations in general, and in particular to:
- Describe and elaborate upon the role and importance of services in contemporary organisations in various sectors
- Describe and explain concepts and assumptions on which service management is based
- Identify and evaluate relevant established and emerging principles, frameworks and theories in service management (covering service innovation/design, sourcing/delivery and improvement)
- Appreciate how societal challenges (e.g. digitalization and sustainability) as well as technological development affects, and is affected by, service management.
- Analyse managerial challenges, and provide a structured solution to these, with clear implications for relevant stakeholders
- Appreciate the role of technology as enabler in service management
Schedule
See Timetable in the pdf version of the syllabus.
Course literature
- Academic journal articles, handouts (slides) from lectures, and other relevant practice- oriented material.
- The ‘Core reading’ referred to below and handouts (slides) from each lecture/seminar/workshop are subject to examination.
- ‘Suggested further reading’ is not part of the examination.
Course design
Teaching and learning activities
Lectures, guest lectures, group work, hand-in assignments, seminars, and a learning log.
The course will be delivered as a series of presentations and discussion sessions of theoretical concepts, their implications for managers and application in various contexts. Students are expected to read material and make themselves familiar with key concepts prior to the particular lecture, and prepare for discussions of theoretical concepts and their applicability in a particular situation.
Examination and assessment
Written and oral examination. Grading: Not Passed, 3 (equal or more than 40%), 4 (equal or more than 60%), 5 (equal or more than 80%). Course examinations in total correspond to 100 points.
Each compulsory course elements must be passed and attended to pass the course overall. In case of illness prevents participation in compulsory parts of the course, please contact the the teacher responsible for that particular session for complementary tasks. Absense that is not due to illness will require complementary tasks to be completed, however, these will only be marked at the level of passed/failed. For students to be eligible to take part in the final examination, all compulsory elements (except the learning log submission, deadline after the exam) in the course must be passed.
Changes made since the last occasion
We continuously update some parts of the course, e.g. with examples and emphasis on key concepts and frameworks to reflect the needs, challenges and opportunities of industry and society. In addition to this, the main changes for the 2022 cohort are:
- Final exam amended from take-home assignment (main exam form during Covid-19) back to oral exam (the form we had pre-Covid-19).
- New context for case seminar 4
- Game-changer: more distinct focus on technology and industry dynamics (disruptions).
- Update of literature (create more focus)
Course summary:
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