Services Marketing and Management

Citation

McMullan, R. (2004), "Services Marketing and Management", Journal of Services Marketing, Vol. 18 No. 1, pp. 91-92. https://doi.org/10.1108/08876040410520735

Services Marketing and Management by Audrey Gilmore is a well‐organised, concise, discussion of services marketing and management. It comes at a time when the significance of service industries to today’s global economy is paramount. The book positions itself well as a text for advanced undergraduates, postgraduates and towards practitioners needing to understand the operational and strategic implications of the marketing and management of services. It would also prove invaluable background reading for a PhD in this area.

The book draws on extensive professional, research and consultancy experience within services marketing and management. This experience contributes to the accessible style in which the book is written demonstrating clearly the interrelationships between services marketing and management. Major contributors to the services marketing and management literature are identified, opinions summarised and illustrated through integrative case studies. Understanding is assisted by the inclusion of a clear and logical structure, mini‐cases, diagrams and summaries. In addition, the end of each chapter includes discussion questions and a detailed list of up to date references for further reading.

The main focus of the text is on how services are managed within the context of service organisations and from managerial perspectives. In doing so, an in‐depth consideration of how services are conceptualised, designed and managed is provided. Consequently, the book is organised into three parts, which are entitled Underlying themes, Managing services and Service management issues.

Part I consists of the underlying themes of services marketing and management and includes chapters on the “Underpinning concepts of services marketing management” and the “Evaluation and measurement of services”.

This part presents a theoretical background or building blocks to the study of services marketing and management whilst highlighting the progress made by contemporary authors in the area. Chapter two discusses evaluation and measurement by including a range of practical techniques and applications. It is here that Gilmore provides effective illustrations of the pitfalls of a product/manufacturing‐orientated approach whilst identifying the difficulties associated with the measurement of service components.

Part II is about managing services and includes six chapters:

1. 1.

   (1) Services marketing in specific contexts – the for‐profit sector.

2. 2.

   (2) Services marketing in specific contexts – the not‐for‐profit sector.

3. 3.

   (3) Organizational influences on services management.

4. 4.

   (4) Management styles and emphasis for services marketing.

5. 5.

   (5) Internal marketing in services organizations.

6. 6.

   (6) Management competencies for services marketing.

This part focuses on contemporary managerial issues, which are thought provoking and challenging. The main contribution of Gilmore’s Services Marketing and Management is the unique analysis of several different service contexts, including financial services, tourism, charities and museums. Practical applications draw from public, private and not for profit sectors including SMEs and large multi‐national businesses. The book also includes references to the current issues surrounding e‐commerce in a service context. Chapter five within this section provides a synergistic overview of literature within services marketing and management and presents an in‐depth study of the changes in service management in a dynamic situation. This provides a rich resource for the discussion of key operational and strategic influences.

Part III focuses on service management issues and includes a chapter on “Contemporary issues in services marketing” and “Services marketing management – what does the future hold?”

These final chapters positioned within Part III feature contemporary and future issues within services marketing and management. Debates here include academic and industry reflections including managing services from a transactional versus relational approach, the importance and impact of sustainability within service contexts such as tourism and developing long‐term relationships with other businesses. Future themes and scenarios for services marketing and management include implications of a combination of hi‐tech and high‐touch and the balance of power between professional service providers and service users. These themes are consistent with other writers in this area (see Van der Zwan and Bhamra, 2003; Hogg et al., 2003).

In conclusion, Gilmore’s book will be particularly attractive to educators who could use it to stimulate thinking and class discussion and as a useful reference book. Criticism of this book may point to its European style and lack of colour illustrations, which are provided by many North American texts. However, many educators will find this absence of colour illustrations and bulk refreshing. The book is very well written, enjoyable to read and comprehensive in its discussions. Readers will come away with a clear understanding of the multi‐dimensional aspects of services. Gilmore’s book is recommend by the reviewer to anyone seeking a concise, up to date and applied text on services marketing and management.