Education

MBA Curriculum in Service

BUMK 736 Service Marketing

Service accounts for eighty percent of the U.S. gross national product. The marketing of service poses unique challenges because of the intangible, heterogeneous nature of the product, and the critical role of customer contact employees in service delivery. Strategies for meeting these challenges are addressed. Topics include 1) customer relationship management, 2) the design and execution of the service delivery process, 3) the development and implementation of employee customer service skills, 4) the measurement and management of critical “outcome” variables, such as customer satisfaction, customer equity, and customer lifetime value, and 5) the role of emerging technology in customer service. (formerly BUMK 758)

BUMK 758 Customer Relationship Management

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) has become a marketing “mantra” of businesses, spawning a market of over fifty billion dollars for CRM software and systems just in the last year. CRM represents a change in focus for businesses from a product-centric focus to a customer-centric focus aided by the developments in IT. The objective of businesses is no longer to just to acquire customers and battle competition in making customers switch, but the objective is one of acquisition followed by development and retention, especially those customers a business deems "best". Much has been written about CRM from a strategic and operational viewpoint in the popular press and in academic literature. But from a business student’s viewpoint it is also important to understand the analytical aspects of CRM – How does CRM work? How does it accomplish what businesses seek? What is customer equity and how is it determined? How is the customer database used? The objective of the course is to examine the strategic and analytical aspects in equal measure so that students will have a deeper understanding of the power of CRM, and how to put it to work effectively.

BUMK 758 Service Project

Student teams work with companies on semester-long projects. This course provides students with the opportunity to apply theories they have learned in their MBA studies to real-life business situations. (formerly BMGT 798)

BUMK 720 e-Service

The two most important long-term trends in the business world are the shifting of the economy from goods to service, and the rapid expansion of the information economy and electronic networks. These two trends converge in the concept of e-Service, which is the provision of service over electronic networks such as the Internet. So far, too many companies have focused exclusively on the use of the Internet to increase efficiency and reduce costs. However, the true potential of the Internet lies in using the technology to improve service to customers and drive revenues. This course is organized into four main units – "Fundamentals of e-Service," including principles of how to best take advantage of the unique nature of the Internet to improve service, "The Customer-Technology Interface," dealing with the relationship between customers and the online environment, "Managing Online Relationships and Customer Equity," focusing on how strategically managing online relationships can increase customer lifetime value, and "Applications of e-Service," exploring how e-Service is being developed in a variety of contexts, including government and education. The course is a seminar, encouraging an active, give-and-take environment. Classes are a mixture of lecture/discussion, guest speakers, and student reports and presentations. All sessions are designed to be highly interactive. The course provides an up-to-date discussion of current issues in the management of e-Service. To facilitate this, there is a set of readings, both academic articles and articles from current issues of business magazines, to supplement the classroom experience. The textbook is the recently published book, e-Service. (formerly BUMK 758)

ENTS 625 Management and Organizational Behavior in the Telecommunications Industry

Roles of the general manager in: determining target markets and designing strategies for them; formulating and implementing corporate and business level strategies; and staffing, developing, and managing human resources and coordinating them with the organization's financial and physical resources. Also emphasizes the building of interpersonal skills with respect to the selection of members for work teams and team formation, leadership of teams toward the achievement of strategic goals and total quality, the development and motivation of team members, and the evaluation of team and individual performance.

BMGT 724 Economics of Information Systems

Methods for the economic construction and operation of computer systems. Techniques for sizing and costing system components and for optimizing system design. Methods for efficient utilization of computer resources with particular consideration of relevant economic topics such as transfer pricing, joint costs, peak load pricing problems and public goods problems.

BMGT 725 Information Systems Analysis and Design

Introduction to practical techniques for information systems and design. Design requirements for information processing systems. Models and tools for requirement analysis. Case studies for actual systems and applications.

BMGT 727 Security and Control of Information Systems  

The information control risks faced by corporations. Techniques for enhancing the security and integrity of corporate information resources. The auditing and control procedures for corporate information systems. Actual case studies.