87363 - CUSTOMER VALUE MANAGEMENT

Academic Year 2018/2019

  • Moduli: Gian Luca Marzocchi (Modulo 1) Gabriele Pizzi (Modulo 2)
  • Teaching Mode: Traditional lectures (Modulo 1) Traditional lectures (Modulo 2)
  • Campus: Bologna
  • Corso: Second cycle degree programme (LM) in Business Administration (cod. 0897)

Learning outcomes

Goal of this course is to allow the participants to get exposed to problems of business-to-business and business-to-consumer marketing from the seller's as well as from the buyer's perspective. The course has both a methodological and an applied orientation; it introduces the concepts and methods of data analysis for marketing decisions and apply them to the main areas of marketing decision making. The course relies on readings, case studies, computer lab exercises and team work assignments that help students understand how specific methods pay off in terms of better targeting and increased customer profitability. By the end of the course, the student is expected to: - Apply relevant concepts of business analysis to marketing problems, with specific emphasis on CRM decisions (Customer Lifetime Value estimation, customer satisfaction measurement and related managerial implications) - Develop concepts and approaches underlying strategic and tactical decisions in business-to-business and business-to-consumer marketing; - Be familiar with different types of real world data, and some advanced statistical techniques that can be applied to analyze customer-level data. - Be trained on tools and skills needed to evaluate the appropriateness, performance, and value of different marketing models

Course contents

In mature and highly competitive markets the concept of customer satisfaction as a fundamental precursor of loyalty, profitability and customer value plays a central role in the implementation of successful business models. While finding new customers is vital, it is important to realize that retaining current customers is much less expensive than to finding new customers. It is therefore no surprise that a great deal of attention has been recently brought to the issue of designing and establishing formal systems able to bring the “voice of the customer” into the business/marketing decision-making processes. The purpose of the course is to make participants understand and appreciate the relative strengths and weaknesses of a variety of customer value and customer satisfaction measurement approaches and instruments available today. A key element in this process is measuring customer satisfaction through market research. As such, the course will focus on the understanding and the actual implementation of the customer satisfaction measurement practices currently employed in business environment. The links existing between Customer Satisfaction scores, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) instruments and Customer Profitability results will be explored in depth, in order to create an understanding of how companies, service organizations and retail banks translate CS measurement in actual commercial strategies and decisions.

At the end of this course participants will be able to:

• Understand the meaning of (and the relations between) customer satisfaction, CRM and loyalty

• Evaluate the main techniques available to measure customer satisfaction

• Design customer satisfaction measurement processes

• Recognize how customer satisfaction impacts profitability

• Identify the main issues involved in customer satisfaction (and dissatisfaction) management

General plan of class meetings:

Week 1. Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) and Customer relationship management (CRM) – Measuring CLV

Week 2. Measuring Customer Satisfaction: theory and methods. Designing and implementing a CS survey.

Week 3. Designing and implementing a CS survey (cont'd)

Week 4. Measuring Customer Satisfaction: the Trim Grid approach.

Week 5. The Trim Grid at Work: cases and examples – CS project presentations

Readings/Bibliography

A reading package will be made available by the instructor at the beginning of the course

Teaching methods

The course teaching methods includes cases discussions, desk analyses of customer satisfaction data sets and group project work to allow participants to apply to real settings the concepts and techniques that have been analysed during the course.

Assessment methods

Final written exam plus assessment of team-based project works.

Marks are intended on a numerical grade scale (0 to 30), being 18 to 30 the passing grade range. As for the grading policy, the course evaluation is made of: 60% group assignments (10% first assignment; 20% second assignment; 30% third assignment), and 40% final individual examination.
Group assignment’s grade will be subjected to peer evaluation by other group members: the peer evaluations can have a maximum potential influence of ±15% on the original group grade of each individual.

The final examination will consist of open-ended questions and/or short analytical exercises concerning the topics discussed during the course.

Teaching tools

Transparencies, PC, statistical and IT tools

Office hours

See the website of Gian Luca Marzocchi

See the website of Gabriele Pizzi