Services Marketing Management

Book excerpt: In order to deliver excellent service quality, it is critical to understand, create and deliver real value to all stakeholders. The second edition of Services Marketing Management has been thoroughly revised and restructured to provide the students with an overview of services marketing from this clear strategic orientation. It includes: A linking of five core guiding principles: market orientation, assets and capabilities, characteristics of services, internationalization and the value concept New coverage of electronic services Many 'Service Practice' boxes, featuring examples from all of the world End of chapter review questions and practical assignments Full length cases at the end of the book with accompanying exercises "This is a welcome second edition, firmly establishing it as a leading international text on strategic services marketing. Though completely revised, it retains the unique focus of the original on care for the individual and the understanding, creation and delivery of value to customers, with the authors bringing their topic vividly to life through numerous international examples. Clearly written and logically structured, it will be an invaluable resource for services marketing and management courses at all levels." —Professor Graham Hooley, Aston Business School "An up-to-date, comprehensive and truly global treatment of services marketing management with new insights for every reader." —Leonard L. Berry, Distinguished Professor of Marketing, Mays Business School and author of Discovering the Soul of Service "This book is a very valuable addition to the services marketing literature. Its logical structure and clarity of expression will make it extremely appealing to students and lecturers." —Steve Oakes, University of Liverpool "This is a must for students, teachers and practitioners in services marketing." —Kjell Grønhaug, Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration "This is an academically rigorous text with a strong European focus – excellent." —Jill Brown, Portsmouth Business School "Services Marketing Management: a comprehensive and completely up-to-date book based on an excellent combination of modern theory and actual practice." —Peter Leeflang, Frank M. Bass Professor of Marketing, University of Groningen and Professor at Johann Wolfgang Goethe University at Frankfurt am Main "This excellent textbook has got what it strongly deserved: a second edition. I particularly appreciate: the consequent focus on market and customer orientation the integration of business-to-business services the overarching HRM perspective and the refined didactic approach not self-evident in other service management textbooks What a service for the reader!" —Bernd Günter, Heinrich-Heine Universität, Düsseldorf