Classes

• As this is an online unit there are no formal classes to  attend. However students are expected to read the posted lecture and other materials each week, complete assigned exercises and engage in online discussions and forums.
• Professional authority forms (which may include medical certificates) must be provided if you are not able to complete assessment in due time. These forms must detail the nature of the reason for your late or non-submission of assessment with clear information provided by the professional signing the form.

• Students should become familiar with the disruptions to studies policy found in http://students.mq.edu.au/student_admin/exams/disruption_to_studies/

Teaching and Learning Activities

• The unit is taught online using online learning components such as audiovisual presentations, readings, case studies, videos, practical demonstrations and discussion forums. Students are expected to spend time engaging with all of the provided online components to facilitate their learning of relevant concepts.
• A Research Report will provide students with the opportunity to study customer relationship management in the context of personal customer related experiences and/or business organisations, their customer relationship management strategies and implementation of customer relationship projects

What is expected from students in this unit?

You are expected to:

• Read widely in the areas of customer relationship management and customer satisfaction.
• Follow current developments in the market place and relate these to customer relationship management issues.
• Contribute your personal customer experiences over a wide range of sectors and product types in forum discussion.
• Analyse personal customer experiences and assess their impact not only on customers but also on the organisation.
• Be able to apply the learning materials to current or potential real-world situations
• Demonstrate enthusiasm for the subject; challenge assumptions and explore opposing points of view.

In order to optimize the value of learning, it is strongly advised to engage with the  learning  resources available (including the learning materials on the unit website and the unit text) on each particular topic so that you have a rounded knowledge of the relevant concepts. To further reinforce these concepts, students will be asked to complete some revision questions on the relevant concepts each week and to participate in forum discussion. There will be assessment marks allocated to the revision questions and to the quality and quantity of the participation in the forum discussion.

The amount of time spent will vary for each individual, depending on competencies and proficiency in any area. An approximation is between 80-120 hours per unit, which is an average of 8-12 hours per week. Effective learning requires interaction between you, your peers and your lecturer or facilitator. The better prepared you are for each forum discussion the greater the learning value from more focused questions and discussions. In addition, reflecting on what you have learned is an important process for you to confidently apply your newly learned skills. Therefore, in order to gain the most learning value from the synergistic relationship between your support materials and your specific unit material it is highly recommended you follow these steps for each week:

1. Read the chapters of the prescribed text and any other materials the lecturer has advised
2. Engage with the audiovisual presentations of learning material for each topic that will be available on the unit web page, which can be found at: https://ilearn.mq.edu.au/
3. Use the reflection journal and interactive quizzes connected to each audio-visual presentation to identify clearly what you have learnt and what you may be unsure of in each topic. Try to resolve anything that you are unsure of by use of the forum discussion or through contact with peers or the lecturer.
4. Try to work on relevant assessment tasks after you have engaged with the online materials when concepts, theories and current issues from the materials are fresh in your mind
5. Submit the relevant assessment tasks for each topic by their respective due dates and times.

Readings

Recommended Text:

Payne, A. and Frow, P. (2013). Strategic Customer Management – Integrating Relationship Management and CRM. 1^st Edition. Cambridge University Press

Other Relevant Academic Texts:

• Buttle, F. (2011). Customer Relationship Management: Concepts and Technologies. 2^nd Edition. Oxford: Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann.
• Peelen E. and Beltman R. (2013). Customer Relationship Management. 2^nd Edition. Pearson United Kingdom

Other texts of interest include:

• The Loyalty Effect: The Hidden Force behind Growth, Profits, and Lasting Value – Frederick F. Reichheld
• Managing Customer Value: Creating Quality & Service that Customers Can See - Bradley T. Gale
• The Only Thing That Matters: Bringing the Power of the Customer into the Center of Your Business – Karl Albrecht
• Market-Based Management: Strategies for Growing Customer Value and Profitability – Roger J. Best

Magazines/Journals:

You'll find the following magazines and journals particularly helpful.

• Harvard Business Review
• Management Today
• Customer Relationship Management

Online communities and knowledge bases:

• http://www.mycustomer.com http://www.customerthink.com http://www.crm2day.com
• http://www.intelligententerprise.com http://www.gccrm.com
• http://www.knowledgestorm.com http://www.contactcenterworld.com
• http://www.customerservicemanager.com http://www.crmdirectory.com
• http://crm.tmcnet.com http://www.online-crm.com http://searchcrm.techtarget.com/
• Analyst websites http://www.forrester.com/rb/cxp http://www.gartner.com/Init

Other Readings and Materials:

There will be other readings and materials that will be provided on the MKTG814 unit website. These will all be linked through e-reserve.

Examinable Materials:

• All specified readings will be EXAMINABLE All forum discussion materials relating to the unit directly will be EXAMINABLE
• The learning materials in this unit will consist of a number of components; the key component will be audiovisual video presentations on relevant customer relationship management topics. These video presentations will include PowerPoint slides, links to videos, case studies, relevant websites and links to facilities for self-reflection (reflection journal) and self-testing (interactive quizzes).
• Students are expected to spend some time each week going through the learning materials and related content and to learn the relevant concepts. This learning can be reinforced by reference to the relevant parts of the unit text and other related materials available on the unit website.

Technology

Technology used in the unit is centred around Internet access to use Macquarie Universities online learning management system (iLearn), to access course materials such as reading materials, view iLectures and participate in class discussions.  

The technology requirements for students to access materials and complete all assessment will be:    

• Personal Computer (PC or Mac) or Tablet Computer (iPad or Android Internet access)
• Internet browser (Safari, Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer)   
• Media Player (Quicktime, iTunes, VLC, RealPlayer etc)    
• Word Processing software (Word, Pages etc)     
• Presentation software (PowerPoint, Keynote etc)   

Unit Web Page:

The web page for this unit can be found at: https://ilearn.mq.edu.au. If you are having trouble logging in to the ilearn facility or other ilearn related difficulties please use request assistance using the provided links on the iLearn webpage.

Timetables:

Students can find relevant information about the timetabling of this and other units by the following link:

http://timetables.mq.edu.au

 

Week Commences	Topics	Text (Payne & Frow)	Assessment Tasks
Module 1   Mon 4th  August	T1 CRM Introduction   History, Evolution                                         T2  Introduction to Relationships Theory of Relationships	Ch 1, 2, 4	Forum Questions/Discussion 1 (Due Sunday 10th August 10pm)
Module 2   Mon 11th  August	T3  Customer Behaviour I   Theory, Value, Value Propositions                    T4 Customer Behaviour II Satisfaction, Segments	Ch 3	Quiz 1 (15%) _ Covers T1-T4 (Due by Sunday 17th August 10pm)
Module 3 Relationships II Mon 18th  August	T5 Organisational View of Relationships  Customer Lifetime Value, New Customers T6 Customer Development Customer Retention, Maintenance and Termination	Ch  7	Submission Questions 1 (Due Sunday 24th  August 10pm)
Module 4 Mon 25th  August	T7 Organisational Issues Organisational Structure, Culture T8 Managing Networks Networks, Other Relations	Ch 4, 6	Quiz 2 (15%) Covers T5-T8 (Due by Sunday 31st  August, 10pm)
Module 5 Mon 1st   September	T9 Technology I CRM Technology - Systems          T10 Technology II CRM Technology - Processes	Ch 8, 9	Forum Questions/Discussion 2 (Due Friday 5th September, 10pm) Submission Questions 2 (Due Sunday 7th September, 10pm)
Module 6 Mon 8th September	T11 Technology III Data  Analysis, Social Media T12  CRM in Practice CRM in Business, Implementation Issues	Ch 5, 10, 11	Case Study Report  (40%)  (Due Sunday 14th September, 10pm)

There are some changes to the previous offering of the online unit in S2, 2013: 1. The unit will be delivered in a 6 Week block instead of the usual 13 semester block 2. The number of assessed coursework submissions has been reduced from four (4) to two (2) submissions 3. The weighting of the assessed coursework component is now 20% instead of 25% 4. The weighting of the forum/class discussion component has been decreased from 15% to 10% 5. A class quiz component has been introduced with two quizzes worth 15% each 6. The individual essay has been dropped from the assessment components. 7. The final examination component (40%) has been replaced with a case study report component also worth 40%

• This unit gives you practice in applying research findings in the areas of customer relationship management, customer experience and customer satisfaction in your assignments
• This unit gives you opportunities to conduct your own research
• This unit will also rely on research from current books, journal articles (eg. Journal of Marketing Management, Journal of Customer Satisfaction/Dissatisfaction, Journal of Marketing Research etc) and from relevant magazines