Education Enhancement Conference
Employability: Planning for Success
• Retail Management degree was established in
1989 and the first cohort undertook an
Entrepreneurial Project and Consultancy Project in
the final year
• In subsequent years a buying and merchandising
project was set up for year two students, as well as
a Retail Design project, with a Dragons Den style
of assessment, also in year two.
Employability: Planning for Success
• Key Benefits – 100% graduate employment year
on year since 1993
• Retail alumni- 4 Managing Directors, 38 Directors
• Very strong network of retail alumni : retail
alumni in every leading retail company in the U.K.
also Australia, America, Dubai, Hong Kong and
Singapore
• 20 year reunion in February, 2010 attracted a large
number of alumni who mixed with existing retail
cohorts and staff – excellent networking event
Employability: Planning for Success
• Retail alumni offer placement and graduate
employment opportunities to current retail
students at BU on a regular basis
• Senior retail alumni also become clients by
offering Consultancy Projects to final year retail
students
• Best Buy – consultancy project, 8 graduate
positions, 2 placement positions, 13 summer 3
month placement positions and sponsored a
Fellowship (£23,500)
Employability: Planning for Success
• Sponsorship also secured from Dixons Stores
Group, Barclays, Tesco, B & Q, Debenhams, New
Look, House of Fraser, Waitrose, TK Maxx,
WHSmith, Asda, Sainsburys, and John Lewis.
• Retail alumni- 4 Managing Directors, 38 Directors
• Very strong network of retail alumni : retail
alumni in every leading retail company in the U.K.
• 20 year reunion in February, 2010 attracted a large
number of alumni who mixed with existing retail
cohorts and staff – excellent networking event
Consultancy Project 2009-10
• Key Benefits
• In a recent article in the Sunday Times about
graduate employment the value of courses with a
professional focus was highlighted
• ‘Companies want more than just academic
qualifications. The key attributes they identify as
important and in short supply are communication
skills,an ability to work in a team and an
understanding of business,often gained through
work experience’
Critical success factors
• Compatibility of the personalities involved in each
team and ability to handle conflict
• Focus on the client’s needs
• The Consultants’ listening skills
• Awareness of underlying problems
• Regular contact with external and internal client
Critical success factors
• Determination, creativity, teamwork, research
skills, quantitative/qualitative analysis
• Awareness of constraints
• Establishing of priorities
• Awareness of the client’s intentions
• Honesty in specifying what can be delivered
Essential reading
• Levi, D - Group Dynamics for teams
2nd edition, Sage publications
• Wickham, P.A – Management Consulting,
FT publishing
Characteristics of successful teams
Hackman’s 5 factors for successful teams
• Clear direction and goals to focus efforts
• Good leadership to manage internal/external
relations
• Projects should be complex and challenging
requiring the integrated efforts of team members
• Necessary resources to perform tasks. Client/tutor
• Supportive environment. Organizations must
allocate sufficient power and authority to allow
team members to make and implement decisions
Characteristics of successful teams
Levi and Slem(1995) 4 factors for team success
• Evaluation and rewards: teams need fair and objective
criteria for evaluation
• Social relations: teams need social skills so they can
resolve internal conflicts and function smoothly
• Projects should be complex and challenging requiring the
integrated efforts of team members
• Task characteristics: teams need clear direction and goals,
tasks that are appropriate for teamwork, and work that is
challenging and important
• Leadership: leaders need to facilitate team interactions and
provide assistance when problems occur
Common features of successful
teams
• Teams have clear goals that provide
direction and motivation
• Team leaders structure tasks and facilitate
group processes
• Their organizations provide supportive
contexts for the teams to grow
• Teams are held mutually accountable for the
success of their teams and rewarded for
their efforts
Motivation and social loafing
• The potential of teamwork is that the whole is greater than
the sum of its parts
• However, working together can cause a decrease in
motivation due to social loafing, which is the reduction of
individual contributions when people work in groups
• The ‘sucker effect’ (Johnson & Johnson, 1997) is when
good performers slack off in teams because they do not
want others to take advantage of them
• When work teams are given challenging tasks, when they
are rewarded for group success yet have identifiable
individual performance indicators, and when there is
commitment to the team, social loafing does not occur
Motivation and social loafing
• A balance of individual and team based rewards is
necessary to encourage both a commitment to the
team and an incentive for individual performance.
(Thompson, 2004)
• The more people value membership in the group,
the more motivated they are to perform. Cohesive
groups are less likely to experience social loafing
(Karau & Williams, 1997)
• Highly cohesive groups have more commitment to
their tasks and perform better (Wech, Mossholder,
Steel, & Bennett, 1998)
Cooperation and Competition
• When individuals or teams in an organization
compete against each other, changes occur that
prevent the team from being successful (Tjosvold,
1995)
• A successful team has members who work
together to reach a common goal. When team
members compete against one another, individual
goals can conflict with the team goal. Team
members then distrust one another because they
are uncertain of one another’s motives. Over time,
internal competition reduces communication
within the team.
Cooperation and Competition
• Groups that work cooperatively have less tension,
fewer conflicts, and fewer verbal confrontations
(Tjosvold, 1995)
• Team members sometimes go along with the team
leader’s solution to avoid disagreements and
conflict. This can lead to poor decisions and the
formation of sub groups.
• Team members should speak up in meetings and
communicate their real feelings to avoid future
fragmentation.
Consultancy Projects Feedback
Finalist feedback
‘I can’t stress enough the benefits of taking
part in the Consultancy Project and I feel
wholeheartedly that consultancy is the
foundation of this retail management
degree, setting it apart from other
Universities’
Consultancy Projects Feedback
Finalist feedback
‘I feel that the Consultancy Project has and
will prove to be the most worthwhile and
important piece of work that I have
undertaken this year. I believe that it is the
commercial experience that this project
provides which sets the Bournemouth retail
degree apart from others’
Consultancy Projects Feedback
Finalist feedback
‘Overall the Consultancy Project has played
an invaluable part in my development this
year and I believe that the experience will
stand me in good stead to leave University
and move into an excellent graduate
position.
Consultancy Projects Feedback
Finalist feedback
‘Effectively the Consultancy Project is what
separates the Retail Management degree at
Bournemouth from other degrees and is
highly respected amongst other
organisations’
Consultancy Project – Key dates
Group report
50% Feb 8-12th
Group presentation 50% Feb 8-12th
Team leader to inform client company
Consultancy Projects 2009/10
Best Buy
Best Buy currently have plans to open
stores in the following locations ;
Southampton and Thurrock. Taking into
account the size of stores, Best Buy’s
customer profile, catchment area and any
additional factors, where would you suggest
Best Buy open their next 10 stores?
Consultancy Projects 2009/10
B&Q
How can B & Q change its use of fixturing
and merchandising to become more flexible,
hence increasing the speed and reducing the
cost of future range and layout changes in its
Stores?
Consultancy Projects 2009/10
John Lewis
How can John Lewis leverage the benefits
presented by the impending Olympic
Games in London in 2012?
£2.1 billion extra sales available in LondonJL want a slice of the action!
Consultancy Projects 2009/10
Tesco
Tesco have recently celebrated the opening
of their 1000th Express store. Explore the
opportunities of targeting students on
university campuses through the integration
of the Express format.
Consultancy Projects 2009/10
TUI (Thomson)
Produce a marketing overview of the retail
business which encompasses marketing
strategy and internal communications.
Consultancy Projects 2009/10
Waitrose
A strategic plan to develop Waitrose
Branches’ internal Communication and
Information Management systems
Consultancy Projects 2009/10
West Quay
Investigate the potential deflection of customers
caused by the recent opening of Ikea and
Carnival in Southampton and how this impacts
West Quay’s current trading performance.
Factors to consider are the detrimental effects of
‘sales’, available car parking and increased traffic
congestion.’
Consultancy Projects 2009/10
Client feedback – Sally Kennedy, Retail Change Manager, Waitrose
I and my colleagues were very impressed with the final presentation
and it is no exaggeration to say that I believe that the professional
approach and level of understanding of our business, demonstrated
by the students, was more impressive than any professional
consultancy presentations I have seen.
I do believe the students have excelled and should be justifiably proud
of what they have delivered
Employability: Planning for Success
Question time