Channel Management and Retailing

Course objectives
Having successfully completed the course, students should be able to:

• understand the role of channel management in generating competitive advantages,
• describe and analyse distribution channels and their functions,
• develop channel strategies and approaches to establish and strengthen channel relationships
• recognize the role of retailers in channel management
• understand, analyse and configure retail environments and experiences.
  

Course description
Channel management includes all activities that are involved in getting an offering from an organization to end-users. It can pose challenges for organizations and requires them to develop, design, maintain, and manage effective distribution structures to achieve sustainable competitive advantages. 

The course discusses concepts, frameworks and approaches to analyse the needs of upstream and downstream members of distribution channels and design distribution strategies and structures. It also looks at the management of channel relationships and how organizations can establish and strengthen the ties with their distribution partners. 

A special emphasis will be put on retailers as intermediaries. The course discusses different retail formats and illuminates the point-of-sale level of retailing. It looks at how retail experiences can be created and outlines elements of retail environment management.

Evaluation procedures and Grading criteria
The course assessment has two components and includes an exam (60% weighting) and in-class work (40% weighting). The exam will be in the form of a one-hour written exam. In-class work includes the solution of case studies in groups and the presentation of the results. The language for both assessment components is English.

Required materials
Textbooks:

• Palmatier, R., Stern, L., El-Ansary, A., & Anderson, E. (2014). Marketing channel strategy. 8th ed., Pearson Higher Education
• Palmatier, R., Sividas, E., Stern, L., El-Ansary, A. (2019). Marketing channel strategy: An omnichannel approach. 9th ed., Routledge.
• Levy, M., Weitz, B., & Grewal, D. (2018). Retailing management. 10th ed., McGraw Hill Education.

Additional publications may be communicated in class. Please check the information and materials provided on the iCorsi module page.