Services Management

For Services Management/Marketing or Marketing courses, particularly for undergraduate and graduate programs in Hospitality Management, Tourism Management, Leisure Management and Retail Management. This book addresses the hospitality industry from a services management perspective, offering the reader a series of management concepts - operations, marketing and human resources - all of which are capable of being effectively incorporated into all hospitality operations. The book's focus is on the ever-increasing demand of customers for service quality, as well as the other challenges facing hospitality establishments today - including intense competition, globalization, and technological innovation. This book stresses the point that in all services, including hospitality services, the human element (both employees and customers) is absolutely crucial - in selling services, hospitality enterprises are 'selling' personal relationships. Hospitality providers of all types will benefit from adopting the management philosophies and practices in this book - ones that have proven so effective in other service sectors.