Service Management and Marketing: A Customer Relationship Management Approach

A service can be defined as any activity or benefit that one party can offer to another which is essentially intangible and does not result in the ownership of anything. Services encompass a very wide range of activities e.g health care, education, tourism, insurance and finance. This is the second edition of a very successful book written by one of the leading writers and researchers in services marketing and management. The most important change in this new edition is a greater emphasis on the relationship approach to services marketing. CONTENTS: The Service and Relationship Imperative: Managing in Service Competition; Managing Customer Relationships: An Alternative Paradigm in Management and Marketing; The Nature of Services and Service Consumption, And Its Marketing Consequences; Service And Relationship Quality; Quality Management in Services; Return on Services and Relationships; Managing the Augmented Service Offering; Principles of Service Management; Managing Service Productivity; Managing Marketing or Market-oriented Management; Managing Total Integrated Marketing Communication; Managing Brand Relationships and Image; Market-oriented Organization: Structure, Resources and Service Processes; Managing Internal Marketing; Managing Service Culture: The Internal Service Imperative; Conclusions.

Table of Contents:
The Service and Relationship Imperative: Managing In Service Competition. Managing Customer Relationships: An Alternative Paradigm in Management and Marketing. The Nature of Services and Service Consumption, and its Marketing Consequences. Service and Relationship Quality. Quality Management in Services. Return on Service and Relationships. Managing the Augmented Service Offering. Principles of Service Management. Managing Service Productivity. Managing Marketing or Market--oriented Management. Managing Total Integrated Marketing Communication. Managing Brand Relationships and Image. Market--oriented Organization: Structure, Resources and Service Processes. Managing Internal Marketing: A Prerequisite for Successfully Managing Customer Relationships. Managing Service Culture: The Internal Service Imperative. Conclusions: Managing Relationships and the Six Rules of Service. Index.

About the Author :
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 center CERS (Centre for Relationship Marketing and Service Management). He is also a former visiting professor at Arizone State University and a research fellow of its Center for Services Marketing 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.

Review :
"Gronroos presents the most scholarly and provocative examination of services marketing that I have seen in our literature. This book is guaranteed to challenge company ideas on how services should be managed and the role they play in defining a company's competitive strength and profitability. Gronroos continues as one of services marketing's most original thinkers.," Philip Kotler, Kellogg Graduate School of Management, #"Gronroos is one of the world's foremost experts on this topic. This new book will be eagerly read by many.," Stephen W. Brown PhD, Edward M. Carson Chair in Services Marketing, Professor and Director, Center for Services Marketing and Management, Arizona State University#"'Service Management and Marketing' is exceptionally good! It is the most comprehensive and integrative textbook in the field. And the real icing on the cake is its unique customer relationship management perspective to service marketing.," Jagdish N. Sheth, Charles H. Kellstadt Professor of Marketing, Emory University#