A culminating experience for majors involving a substantive project that demonstrates a synthesis of learning accumulated in the major, including broadly comprehensive knowledge of the discipline and its methodologies. Senior standing required.
Specialized work on an individual basis, consisting of training and practice in actual service in a technical, business, or governmental establishment.
Design and conduct research projects as part of a research team. Gain applied experience in essential components of research work, including for example the theoretical basis of research work, identifying suitable research methods, conducting literature and data base reviews, devising sampling techniques, applying survey or experimental research techniques, transcribing and coding qualitative data, coding quantitative data, data management and basic analysis, developing and presenting research reports, among other activities.
Specialized work on an individual basis, consisting of instruction and practice in actual service in a department, program, or discipline. Teaching formats may include seminars, in-depth studies, laboratory work and patient study.
Examine and develop retailer strategies in response to global environmental and social challenges. Sustainability requires a critical shift in how retail businesses operate, in particular with respect to climate change mitigation and adaptation. The course provides an introduction into the business perspective on environmental and social sustainability, the concept of the circular economy, industry standards, integration of sustainability across the supply chain and customer management, and best practice cases.
Design, interpret, and apply primary and secondary research techniques used to generate customer insights and guide retailers' decision-making. The course combines textbook learning with real-world examples and applications so that students can engage in consumer research in practice.
Explore leadership and management concepts and practices that lead to more effective, ethical and socially-responsible organizations. Build your professional leadership capabilities in organizational planning, business decision making, negotiation and influence, teamwork, employee motivation and training, organizational goal setting, and business communications. Develop skills for managing the challenges and opportunities of diversity and cultural differences within organizations and the global marketplace. Evaluate and reflect on your career path and career development.
Social media and digital influencers have a direct effect on consumer decisions, attitudes, and satisfaction. Learn about the role of social media and digital influencers in consumer decision making, brand awareness and associations, and the theory and practices of digital word-of-mouth (WOM). In this hands-on workshop course, students will engage in applied learning activities and digital experiments including developing a socially-native brand, creating a content marketing campaign, building an influencer persona, and designing a social commerce site. Students will use professional authoring tools to create videos and other multimedia content.
Supply chain management is the design and management of seamless, value-added processes across organizational boundaries to meet the real needs of the end customer. With increasing competition around the globe, supply chain management is both a challenge and an opportunity for retailers. Investigate supply chain challenges, including how to cope with demand and supply uncertainty, how to build and optimize the supply chain organization, global perspectives, and optimization of logistics, inventory, and international trade-related costs.
Marketing principles and practices for the retailing and services sectors. Learn how to manage the marketing mix (product, price, promotion, distribution) to create competitive advantage and deliver value to consumers, firms, and society at large in a semester-long marketing planning project. Discuss some of the opportunities and major challenges marketing managers face.