Acharya Nagarjuna University (ANU) 2006 M.B.A Business Administration - II -KETING OF SERVICES - Question Paper

M.B.A.(Third) DEGREE EXAMINATION, MAY 2006
(B-Marketing Management)
PAPER - II -MARKETING OF SERVICES

Time: 3 hours Maximum: 75 marks

part A - (3 X five = 15 marks)
ans any 3 ques.

1. (a) Definition of services marketing.
(b) Characteristics of services.
(c) Hospitality services
(d) Advertising agencies.
(e) Family Planning
(f) Tourism Market Audit.

part B - (3 X 15 = 45 marks)
ans any 3 ques.

2. discuss the steps to designing service strategy.
3. How can marketing of financial service be done? provide a relevant example.
4. discuss the management and marketing of Tourism in India.
5. discuss the marketing of Health services at a reputed hospital of your option.
6. How should marketing of professional services be done?
7. define in detail the concept of marketing of logistics.

part C - (15 marks)
(Case Study)

8. ICICI Bank, a new generation MNC bank with its registered office in Chennai occupies the top position in the ASIN financial markets. The bank has a world-leading Internet banking and e-commerce operation with 12.8 million customers and the largest customer base of any financial services group in the Asian region. Bank serves a total of 10.6 m Internet users, most of whom use its pioneering Solo service. From the beginning, Solo allocated its users a continuous list of passwords, every to be used only once. To boost security, the fixed password system has to be confirmed by a program on the user.s computer, confining the user to a single computer. Banks are engaged in a battle to maintain their supremacy and consolidation offers make them customer friendly. To compete in a market transformed by globalization and technological revolution, banks have been forced to seek alliance and establish joint ventures to maintain their competitiveness and efficiency.

1. Pioneering e-banking ideas

Solo has always been accessible from home, the office or abroad. Today, Solo services are equally accessible from a normal telephone, a mobile phone, a WAP phone, a PC or a television. Transactions and balances can be checked without a password from a GSM phone, and the service can also be reached via invoice payment ATMs. The range of Solo services are available anywhere, offering equity, mutual funds, bond and life insurance investments, and foreign payments, among other services.

Customers can also sign agreements using their Solo ID as a signature. Solo customers are an ideal target group, with modern attitudes and purchasing power, who are familiar with online operations. By accepting Solo payments, a company can eliminate invoicing and credit risks, and thus achieve significant savings. A personal digital phone is a very suitable medium for managing and monitoring payments and financial matters.

With this in mind, in May 2003, ICIC together with Nokia and VISA International, announced a pilot project, involving the use of wireless application technology and mobile phones, to make payments over the Net, an open network, or at a merchant point of sale - Electronic Mobile Payment Service (EMPS). Using a Nokia WAP GSM phone, WAP technology, authenticated card payment, EMV and the VISA Open Platform customers will be able to make secure remote payments, or pay at a merchant point of sale.

2. The new initiative - Mobey think Forum

In September 2003, major financial institutions, together with leading mobile phone manufacturers, announced the creation of a global forum to encourage the use of mobile technology in financial services, and to promote the adoption of open standards in the financial services field. This new forum is called the Mobey think Forum, and its founding members include Nordea, ABN AMRO Bank, Hispano, HDFC, Deutsche Bank, HSBC Holdings, UBS, VISA international, Ericsson, Nokia and Siemens.

Mobey think Forum.s activities are promoting a sustainable business environment for mobile financial services, such as the open provision of services in a mass market, the use of mobile phones, open standards and non-proprietary security concepts like client identification, dual chip (EMPS), and mobile PKI.

E banking has become a necessary survival weapon for many banks and is fundamentally changing the banking industry worldwide. The role of Mobey Forum is to promote mobile financial services based on open-architecture solutions or mass - market use. This solution capitalizes on latest developments in handset technology to give a software-based solution with no additional hardware requirement for the user, and therefore presents no delay banking solutions to market. It is extremely simple to implement, convenient and immediate.

3. Mass adoption of new technology

Achieving a critical mass is a key factor in electronic banking. Satisfied users will, themselves, market the service. As the number of users rises, there is increasing demand for specialist services from a fast - growing number of modern-minded customers who are prepared to use e-commerce and invoicing. Wired banking is becoming more wireless. This is due to the fact that mobile phones are perfectly suited to banking and making payments.

CASE DiscUSSION QUESTIONS:

(a) Comment on the company strategy of extracting customer info for their continued success by way of floating Mobey think Forum and specialised e-banking system, Solo.

(b) Critically analyse the merit of inter-linking technology and communication devices as a strategic tool for gaining competitive advantage for banking operations in India.

Earning:   Approval pending.