About Retailing
Like many of you, I first 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 programming.
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 an MBA and you work
for Wal-Mart? Wow! So does your worthless cousin, the high school
drop-out. And for this you went to college?) You know how it goes.
But the field has its rewards. The average store manager at a
Wal-Mart, for example, 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 per year 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.
Course Requirements
This class is designed to be completed during the regular university
semester. I understand that many of you are working full time and
I am fairly flexible on the exam dates. You will take the three
course exams through the ChiTester computerized testing system which
provides some flexibility on when and where you take the exams.
Please plan accordingly so as not to fall behind.
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 field research and personal reflections. These exercises have been designed to connect the concepts, theories, and
principles we are studying to "real-world" consumption experience.
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. This component of the course will be
worth 25% of your final grade.
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.
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.
Summary of Grading Criteria:
Unit Exam #1 25%
Unit Exam #2 25%
Unit Exam #3 25%
Field Journal 25%
Grading Policy
Grading will be based on the standard
university grading scale:
A = 93.0 - 100%
C = 73.0 - 76.9%
A- = 90.0 - 92.9%
C- = 70.0 - 72.9%
B+ = 87.0 - 89.9%
D+ = 67.0 - 69.9%
B = 83.0 - 86.9%
D = 63.0 - 66.9%
B- = 80.0 - 82.9%
D- = 60.0 - 62.9%
C+ = 77.0 - 79.9%
E = below 60.0%
