Like many of you, I got my start in the business world by working in the field of retailing.  I worked in a variety of positions in retailing over the years: unloading trucks, checking inventory in and out of the stock room, pricing and shelving products (in an era before UPC codes), providing floor assistance to customers, working the cash registers, coordinating with suppliers, developing our weekly advertising circular with the store manager, and the list goes on.  I had the opportunity to work with a wide variety of vendors and their local reps, who set up point-of-purchase displays, provided in-store demos, and worked with us on cooperative advertising and promotion allowance programs. 

Retailing is not always the most glamorous of professions.  Careers in the field often require long hours, rotating shifts, and working evenings, nights, weekends, and holidays.  Professionals in the field often don't get the respect they deserve (Oh, you have a college degree and you work at Wal-Mart? You know how it goes.

But the field has its rewards.  The average store manager at Wal-Mart earns over $168,000 per year.  Store managers at larger Wal-Mart stores earn upwards of  $600,000 per year.  Recently retired Wal-Mart vice president Tom Grimm, a Weber County native and a graduate of Weber State, earned over $4,800,000 in salary, stock, and bonuses in 2001. (IPS)  Yes, that's $4.8 MILLION dollars!  Who says retailing doesn't pay? 

As you will see as we progress through this course, professionals in the field of retailing can focus on a wide variety of specialized activities: human resource management, training and development, purchasing, fashion merchandising,  supply chain management, advertising, promotion management, pricing analysis, strategic planning, etc. Whether you want to lead, motivate, and supervise people face-to-face, or prefer to work in an office setting, or even travel the world in search of new products and suppliers, retailing has something to offer everyone.

Finally, you and I have been retail consumers in one way or another throughout our lives. As we move through this course together, we will have a chance to consider the ways in which various retailing concepts, principles, and theories translate into our own personal experience as consumers. I hope you will enjoy doing some field research, reflecting upon your personal experience and talking with your classmates about their perspectives. We will have a number of research and reflection exercises to aid you in this pursuit.

If you taking this class through WSU Independent Study, you have 6 months from your date of registration to finish the course.

For those taking this class during a regular university term, this class is designed to be completed during that semester. The class is essentially self-paced, although I will nag you at regular intervals to encourage you to stay on track.

The course requirements include the following:

1. Twenty Chapter Lessons with Interactive Problem Sets

These lessons include concept quizzes associated with the chapters in the textbook.  Each of these concept quizzes will be scored by the computer while you wait.  If you wish, you may e-mail the results of your quizzes to me at bdavis@weber.edu   The scores will not count directly in your course grade, but they will help you in preparing for the course exams.  The exam questions will be very similar to those found in the concept quizzes.

2. Twenty Field Journal Assignments

These field journal assignments relate to personal reflection some field research.  These exercises have been designed to connect the concepts, theories, and principles we are studying to "real-world" consumption experience.   Each of the 20 essays in your online journal should be at least 150 words in length.  Essays longer than 150 words on each topic are fine.

Your field journal grade will be computed at the end of the semester and will be based on the length and quality of your postings on the 20 required topics.  As you finish the class, you should compile these into one e-mail to me by copying and pasting the journal text into the body of an e-mail to me through the Blackboard e-mail system associated with this course.

3. Three Examinations

Three examinations are required.  Each will be worth 25% of the final grade.  The first exam will cover material from Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6.  The second exam will cover Chapters 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13.  The third  exam will cover material from Chapters 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, and 20.

Each exam will consist of 50 questions.  The computer-graded concept quizzes in each lesson will be a valuable tool in helping you to master the concepts in this course and prepare for the exams.  Approximately half of the exam questions will be drawn from the online quizes.

As a student, I always wanted to know how well I did on an exam as soon as possible.  By using the ChiTester system, you will be able to learn your score immediately after submitting your exam and can review the questions that you missed at that time.  PLEASE NOTE: You are not permitted to work with others to convey or receive specific information about the questions on the exam. to work with others to convey or receive specific information about the questions on the exam.  The penalty for academic dishonesty in this class will be a failing grade.  Additional penalties may be imposed in accordance with university policy.

Unit Exam #1      25%
Unit Exam #2      25%
Unit Exam #3      25%
Online Journal     25%

This class is designed to allow you to work at your own pace. However, all of the coursework and exams must be completed by the end of this semester on Monday April 16th.  Here are some suggested dates:

Saturday Feb 4th       Exam 1
Saturday March 10th  Exam 2
Monday April 16th      Exam 3 and Submit Field Journal

All of the exams are available now on ChiTester and may be taken anytime. You may submit your online journal whenever you have finished all twenty assignments.