Weekly Learning Objectives:

• Assess the design of an effective service delivery process

• Evaluate how to improve service quality and productivity, while managing customers reluctant to change

• Distinguish how to balance the level and timing of customer demand against available productive capacity

• Dissect customer motivations for effective strategies to manage demand and capacity Current service marketing strategies and behaviors are particularly relevant in this course. Part of remaining current in business is being up to date on what’s happening in the world as it relates to your field. This assignment is designed to take you away from the textbook and into the real world as you research and discover what is currently happening in the marketing of services.

Choose a current published article (news must be current week, magazine must be current issue) dealing with this week’s services marketing concepts (for example: effective service delivery processes, improving service quality, managing customers reluctant to change, balancing customer demands against product capacity and/or availability and/or demand, etc.).

Select and analyze a services marketing related article based on the criteria below. Summarize: Provide a quick summary of the article you selected. Make sure to include the publication, article title, date, and author. If you are not able to find all four of these details, you must select another article.

Analyze and Reflect: Project your thoughts on the article and include the article’s relevance to this week’s course concepts. As you reflect on the article’s relevance to the course, cite your textbook and one additional outside resource (in addition to your selected article).