Overview

Class Central Tips

As the fastest-growing sectors of the current global economy, both hospitality and healthcare services sector offer tremendous growth opportunities for incumbents and entrepreneurial opportunities for new entrants. To flourish on these opportunities, one must first understand each industry's unique characteristics. This course is designed to help those who are interested in career advancement opportunities in these industries or who want to be inspired by these industries to better equip themselves with enlightened and creative management capabilities. People who have successfully completed this course will be able to: (1) Identify the unique characteristics of service businesses and create successful management strategies to better manage the role of customers to gain desirable business outcomes, better market products than are intangible, and better manage customer expectations and perceptions. (2) Identify the unique characteristics of the hospitality industry, explain the process of balancing supply and demand in the hospitality industry, and implement optimal marketing and management strategies for this unique market. (3) Identify the unique characteristics of the healthcare industry, explain how this industry is evolving into the experience business, and better manage human interactions and facility to enhance the quality of customer experience. (4) Gain insights from the innovative approaches in the service industry overall, in hospitality and health industry in particular, and better develop innovative strategies in your industry.

Syllabus

What is unique about managing a service business?

Service businesses have unique aspects that create both opportunities and challenges in successfully managing them. Explaining what they are and how they have been addressed are a key to successfully marketing a service business. In this module, learners will be introduced to those unique characteristics of service businesses. People who have successfully completed this module will (1) Classify the unique characteristics of service businesses and realize why service businesses require special management approaches and capabilities, (2) Demonstrate the ability to better manage the role of customers to gain desirable business outcomes, (3) Develop capabilities to better market products than are intangible, and (4) Improve customer expectations and perceptions.

How to successfully market a hospitality business?

Diverse businesses in the hospitality industry share some common characteristics. Unique marketing approaches have been developed to leverage these characteristics. In this module, learners will be introduced to one of those approaches called 'Variable Pricing.' People who have successfully completed this module will (1) Explain the unique characteristics of the hospitality industry, particularly in balancing supply and demand and (2) Demonstrate the ability to manage demand and pricing in order to better balance supply and demand and as a result maximize revenue from the hospitality industry.

How to successfully market a healthcare business?

The healthcare industry is fast growing and rapidly evolving at the same time. So is its marketing approach. In this module, learners will be introduced to the recently emerging healthcare marketing concept of "Patient Experience Management" and will a few cases of successful patient experience management. People who have successfully completed this module will (1) Explain the unique characteristics of the healthcare industry and how this industry is evolving into the experience business, (2) Develop capabilities to better manage human interactions and facility to enhance the quality of customer experience, and (3) Gain insights on service innovation from specific healthcare innovation cases.