Summary: Publisher Summary 1 "Professor Gr枚nroos presents the most scholarly and provocative examination of services marketing. This book will challenge companies to rethink how they should manage their services in building their competitive strength and profitability. Gr枚nroos continues as one of service marketing's most original and able thinkers." 鈥擯hilip Kotler, S. C. Johnson Distinguished Professor of International Marketing J.L. Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University"Christian Gr枚nroos is a globally recognized expert on services management and marketing. His innovative thinking and writing in this book offer fresh insights on this timely topic." 鈥擲tephen W. Brown, PhD, Carson Chair, Professor and Executive Director, Center for Services Leadership, W. P. Carey School of Business, Arizona State University"After three decades of contributions to services, Gr枚nroos keeps pioneering the field. In this new edition he recognizes the dramatic changes in the perception of service that are in the making. It is a creative book which does not just list various service issues but adds the author's personal touch to each of them." 鈥擯rofessor Evert Gummesson, Stockholm University School of Business, SwedenThis fully updated third edition examines customer management in service competition and focuses on adopting a service logic in marketing. Christian Gr枚nroos explains how to manage any organization as a service business, showing how to move closer to current and future customers. The service logic is all about customer focused management and service management, using current academic research and business practice to make organizations more successful.Topics that have been updated for the new edition include:Service and relationship perspectivesService and relationship qualityService management principlesProfitability and productivity in servicesIntegrated marketing communicationRelationship communication and branding in servicesInternal marketing and service cultureWhy and how to transform a product-manufacturing firm into a service business