Guest Service in Sport Venues – SMGT 440

CG • Section 8WK • 11/08/2019 to 04/16/2020 • Modified 09/05/2023

Course Description

This course addresses the elements included in delivering memorable guest experiences. Topics include concepts of service, guest behavior, perceptions and satisfaction, service compliance standards, assessment methods and service recovery strategies. Students will then learn how to leverage their understanding of these concepts to establish service culture and strategies to meet organizational goals within the context of sport and hospitality organizations.

For information regarding prerequisites for this course, please refer to the Academic Course Catalog.

Rationale

The core sport product is wholly dependent on the respective venues in which competitions occur. Too often sport managers rely on team success as the basis for approaches to creating quality guest experiences. However, knowledgeable managers understand that they need to ensure in-venue guest satisfaction independent of team performance. Therefore, providing excellent guest service is an essential element of any sport organization’s overall marketing strategy to foster increased fan satisfaction and affinity metrics and resultant loyalty behaviors.

Course Assignment

Textbook readings and lecture presentations/notes

Course Requirements Checklist

After reading the Course Syllabus and Student Expectations, the student will complete the related checklist found in Course Overview.

Discussions (2)

Discussions are collaborative learning experiences. Therefore, the student is required to provide a thread in response to the provided prompt for each discussion. Each thread must be at least 300 words and demonstrate course-related knowledge. In addition to the thread, the student is required to reply to 2 other classmates’ threads. Each reply must be at least 150 words. All writing must comply to current APA format, including in-text citations and references. (CLO: A, B, D, E, F)

Service Encounters Assignments (4)

The student shall assess critical aspects of service from the perspective of the customer by performing four (4) service encounter critiques. Each encounter submission must be typed in narrative format, double-spaced with 1” margins, and use 12-point Times New Roman font. Responses shall use appropriate headings and sub-headings in current APA format. There is no minimum page count requirement, however, all required information should be adequately covered in the responses. It is an aspiration that the student will be able to report his/her respective experiences as well as be able to recognize and classify service behaviors, explain the potential impacts these behaviors have on customer perceptions, and prescribe remedial steps to improve poor customer service performance. (CLO: A, B, C, D)

HBR Podcast Reviews Assignments (2)

The student will write a review of a podcast produced by the Harvard Business Review. Each podcast must be correlative to the chapter readings in the assigned module: week. The reviews will require an analysis of the pertinent information as well as an assessment of how the key takeaways and actionable insights should inform managerial decision-making within the sport guest service management context. Each review must be 2–3 pages, double-spaced with 1” margins, and in 12-point Times New Roman font. The paper must have appropriate headings and sub-headings following current APA format. (CLO: A, B, D)

Reflection Paper Assignment

The student shall write a 4-6-page paper that will require the student to reflect on the substantive content of the course, his/her respective service experiences during the semester, and the application of the course content to a work environment. The paper shall conform to current APA format and must incorporate four (4) references in addition to the course textbook and the Bible. The last page of the paper shall be a properly APA-formatted reference page. (CLO: A, E, F)

Quizzes (10)

Each quiz will cover the Learn material for the assigned modules. All quizzes shall be open-book/open-notes, contain ten (10) variable format questions (e.g., multiple choice, true/false, matching), and shall have a 30-minute time limit. (CLO: A, B, C, D, F)