Course Description:
This course is designed to provide a comprehensive view of retail management. It follows an outline of global retailing with an emphasis on top players, different forms and channels of retail. The strategy of retailing begins with an overview and highlights the key elements of competitive advantage. These elements are then introduced and discussed individually in each chapter to provide a 360-degree view into retailing. Students will have an understanding of the components that can be seen and judged from outside – value, location, product, service, and communication – and an understanding of internal components – technology, logistics and supplier relations.
Class Objectives:
The course will help students to acquire a view of retailing through current articles from newspapers and business magazines, case studies and site visits to retail stores.
Students who are interested in retail management as a career or for entrepreneurship will benefit from this course at length.
Attendance:
Students are expected to attend all classes. It is important to hear the lectures, as additional information will be provided that do not exist in the book. It is also important to engage in class discussions for current articles and case studies, join the class for site visits. Students are expected to read the assigned materials before coming to class, be on time for class, stay the entire class period and participate actively in all class discussions.
Grading:
The grading will include the paper written based on the case study (30%), one midterm exam (30%) and one final exam (40%). Materials covered in the lectures, but not presented in the book will also be included at the examination. Exam questions will be based on the text, lectures, articles, case studies and field trips. For the exams missed for any reason, a makeup exam will be given covering material from that exam during the final exam period.
There will be four case studies during the term. Students are expected to write a discussion paper at three pages length (Arial 12 font, single space) for one case study they will be assigned for. The case studies will be assigned based on the student’s priority list submitted until the end of second week of the term. The paper should
Prepared by Esel Y. Çekin
1

include the student’s own views of the subject and should not summarize the facts from the case.
Suggested Textbook:
Levy, Michael and Barton A. Weitz, Retailing Management (7th Ed.), Published by
McGraw-Hill/Irwin, 2009
Case Studies:
No 1. IKEA invades America, Youngme Moon, HBS, 2004
In 2002, the IKEA Group is the world's top furniture retailer, with 154 stores worldwide. In the United States, IKEA operates 14 stores, all of which have been enormously popular despite their self-service requirements. The company's goal is to have 50 stores in operation in the United States by 2013. Explores various options for managing this growth strategy.
No 2. Customer Focus at Neiman Marcus: ‘We Report to the Client’, Robert D.
Dewar, HBS, 2006
Describes the winning formula at Neiman Marcus that has made it the No. 1 luxury retailer in the United States in terms of sales per square foot and profitability. Highlights Neiman
Marcus' efforts to define who its customers are and are not and to achieve superior focus on its customers by aligning location, price, service, and merchandise to fulfill these customers' every need. Describes ways in which Neiman Marcus prevents typical silo behavior between merchandising and selling and how it ensures that the right merchandise gets to the right customer, despite the challenge of doing this in 36 micromarkets.
No 3. Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc: Rewarding Our People, Thomas J. Delong,
Vineeta Vijayaraghavan, HBS, 2003
Marilyn Winn, head of human resources at Harrah's Entertainment, must make a recommendation to the company's president and CEO about whether the existing bonus payout program is effective at motivating employees or whether it should be revised and/or replaced. A recent downturn in economic conditions led Winn to wonder whether customer service payouts were the most efficient way to make Harrah's a service-driven and customer-driven company.
No 4.Louis Vuitton in India, Shih-Fen Chen, Ramasastry Chandrasekhar, Ivey School of Business, 2008
The case portrays a subtle situation in international marketing -- the marketing of a high-end brand into a low-income nation, or the expansion of Louis Vuitton into India. This luxury good marketer faced practical problems in India, such as the challenge of identifying potential customers, the lack of media to build its brand, and the absence of high streets to open stores. In Europe and the U.S., luxury goods are often sold through company-owned stores that cluster in a particular area of the city (i.e., luxury retail cluster). After opening a store each in New Delhi and Mumbai inside two luxury hotels, Louis Vuitton teamed up with other western brands to develop a shopping mall. The case is designed to explore the possibility of using a luxury mall as a replacement of luxury retail clusters.
Prepared by Esel Y. Çekin
2

Class Outline:
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Week 7
Week 8
Week 9
Week 10
Week 11
Week 12
Week 13
Week 14
Overview of Retailing (Ch. 1, 2, 3) o Global Retailers o Types of Retailing o Multi-channel Retailing o Ownership Structures
Retailing Strategy (Ch. 5) o Retail Market Strategy o Competitive Advantage o Growth Strategies
Case Study No 1
Customer Aspects (Ch. 4, 11, 19) o Segmentation o Customer Relationship o Buying Behavior o Customer Service
Case Study No 2
Retail Financials (Ch. 6) o Strategic Profit Model o Sales Area Profitability Model o Product Profitability
Location (Ch. 7, 8) o Types and Evaluation of Locations o Site selection and Management
Human Resources in Retailing (Ch. 9, 17)
Case Study No 3
Information Technology and Supply Chain (Ch. 10) o Information Flows o Distribution Center and Logistics o New Technologies
Merchandising (Ch. 12, 13, 14) o Process overview o Category Management o Buying Merchandise
Site Visit
Retail Pricing (Ch. 15) o Pricing vis-à-vis consumers and competition o Techniques of Retail Pricing o Pricing Strategies
Communication (Ch. 16) o Retail Communication Mix
Case Study No 4
Store Layout, Design and Visual Merchandising (Ch. 18)
Site Visit
Prepared by Esel Y. Çekin
3