Shop Floor Management as a Career
By Dr Bhawna Chadha
Shop Floor Management provides an opportunity to learn about complete store concept inclusive of space and staff productivity; inventory controls; cost control; retail information systems and retail administration.
It also enables the student to:
Understand the various aspects in day-to-day operations in retail store
Understand the various aspects of retail organisation and retail financials
Provide basic understanding of retail operation in terms of space productivity, planning, coordinating and structuring of the complete store
Understand concepts of Retail Financials in relation to store budgeting in retailing and its connectivity with store planning for efficacious operation of an organisation
Types of courses offered in Shop Floor Management:
There are institutes that offer all the courses including degree, diploma and short term certifications that encompass Shop Floor Management as one of their modules/subjects. At Pearl Academy, as Shop Floor management is a part of Retail Operations, it is dealt with in great detail in its BA (H) Degree in Fashion Marketing and Retailing Management programme and Post Graduate Diploma Course in Fashion Retail. The principal aims of these programmes are:
To provide a learning pathway in distinct levels of subject complexity and differentiated areas of subject-specialisation to a diverse background of students in order to learn in–depth Visual Merchandising, Retail Operations, and Merchandising & Consumer Behaviour.
To engage enrolled students in live experiences so that a fair mix of theoretical and practical knowledge is inculcated in them.
To enable students to graduate as highly competent professionals capable of decision-making as well as hands-on competencies suited to the Service Industry, Lifestyle, Luxury Products industries.
Basic eligibility to pursue these courses:
Students from any discipline can apply for Pearl Academy's above mentioned courses in retail with Shop Floor Management as one of the study modules. The basic selection criteria are mentioned below.
Eligibility: Candidates with maximum age of 25 years who have obtained qualification, equivalent to 12 years of schooling, from any recognised School/Board in any discipline are eligible to apply for admission.
Competitive Examination: All eligible candidates will be required to take an entrance examination to test their written communication skills; general awareness; and working knowledge of everyday-use arithmetic. The second part of the entrance procedure consists of a group discussion/ test and an interview.
Group Discussion / Test & Interview: A half-hour's group discussion / test in batches of 6-8 students on a given topic / case study is followed by an individual interview. A panel consisting of 3-4 senior faculty members will constitute the Interview Board. Candidates are marked on a "consensus" basis by members of the panel, based on a pre-determined selection-profile of qualities and skills that are necessary to successful functioning as a professional in the industry, such as ability to work in a team; commitment; honesty and sincerity; general awareness; leadership skills; et al.
Selection of candidates: The marks obtained in (a) the written examination; (b) the group discussion / test; and (c) the interview are considered and a merit list is drawn up. Selection of students is strictly on merit.
Industry-sponsored candidates: A few seats are reserved for industry-sponsored candidates. Such candidates have to compete against the reserved seats for admission.
Candidates with prior industry experience: Certain candidates can be considered for lateral entry into the first or second level of the programme, depending upon the length and depth of their industry experience, as well as on performance in a skill assessment test/interview, subject to ratification by the Examination Board.
What actually is taught in these courses?
Course Curriculum - BA (H) Degree in Fashion Marketing and Retailing Management programme
With Level 0 as the first year, this course has three more levels named as Level 1, 2 and 3. Each level represents a year, thereby, making the course a 4 year programme.
During the first year/Level 0/Foundation Business, the structure, treatment and content is appropriate to address student preparation for and orientation to the broad spectrum of skills and concepts suitable to the disciplinary learning in the next three levels of the course.
| Level 1 |
Level 2 |
Level 3 |
| Students having progressed from foundation year acquires basic understanding of accounting and financial principles, applied knowledge of various marketing activities, retail communication techniques, awareness of retail industry structure, characteristics and practice and their associated complexity, knowledge of merchandising and supply chain management techniques/processes and their relation to retailing, development of a range of transferable skills that will enable the students in their future careers, further development of individual research, assimilation, and analytical skills and self/peer evaluation |
Level Two aims to integrate knowledge and the ability to provide support in running a store, comprehensive awareness of Inventory control Retail Marketing and Digital Marketing development of a full range of transferable skills that enables the students in their future careers, development of all-round skills to work as a professional in the retail industry. |
Students undertake either a long industry attachment or any of the specialized advanced modules. The industry attachment provides them with relevant work experience and the opportunity to consolidate and practice their knowledge and ability. The internship aims to inculcate continuous and consistent work discipline in the students and also provides an extended exposure to the work culture in the retail industry. During this phase, the students expand their knowledge base and develop a professional approach. The student’s industry attachment is supported by close coordination between the Academy and the organization in order to ensure monitored progress. |
Course Curriculum - Post Graduate Diploma Course in Fashion Retail
| Semesters |
Modules |
| 1 |
1. Introduction to Retail: Aims at comprehensive understanding of the world of retailing, its concepts, evolution, structure, dynamics and the environment in domestic and international market. It also imparts a basic understanding of fundamentals of raw materials and processes of fashion. The module gains relevance via applying retail concepts in real-life situations which makes the role of retail manager and their relationship with other functions understandable. |
| 2. Elements Of Fashion Business and Management: This module provides students with an opportunity to expand their understanding of the various nuances of the elements of the fashion business; and business environment. This involves basic management principles, managing finances & human resources and the theories of economics. |
|
| 3. Management Communication: The module aims to develop the behavioral skills in the fields of verbal expression, active listening, appropriate body language, written analysis and visual presentation in the current multicultural commercial environment. It also facilitates the development of computing skills in the fields of computer aided documentation and presentation in current business environment. |
|
| 4. Retail Research: This module develops the research skills required in areas of business applications to select and administer appropriate research tools and techniques. It helps to demonstrate the ability to identify appropriate literature sources, explore and explain research objectives using literature. It also makes the applicability of basic statistical tools and methods used for data analysis. |
|
| 2 |
1. Retail Systems and Processes: The module aims to demonstrate comprehensive understanding of the concepts and theories of retail administration and key store operations. It explains the principles of merchandise management and the basic concepts and terminologies in visual merchandising. |
| 2. Retail Strategy: This module aims to demonstrate comprehensive understanding of different brand concepts. It helps the students understand the scope, types and techniques of retail promotion. It explains the concepts of financial analysis in retail. |
|
| 3. Retail Marketing: The module will facilitate students to understand marketing mix functions, consumer behavior and how they influence formulation of marketing plans for fashion retail business. The students will learn to evaluate international marketing entry methods for their international target markets. |
|
| 3 |
1. Advanced Retail Systems and Processes: This module aims to train students with advanced concepts and applications of the functions in retailing. The students will learn to demonstrate comprehensive understanding of crucial and critical aspects of operations and Inventory Management in a retail store. They will also learn to demonstrate a conceptual understanding of the framework for setting retail prices. |
| 2. Entrepreneurship: The module extends the understanding of dimensions of entrepreneurship and principles of an enterprise management. It helps to visualize and formulate the execution plan of a project with resource planning, budgeting, scheduling, monitoring and control, financial viability and financial analysis. The module allows to appreciate, compare, contract and describe the available limited set of resources or opportunities of entrepreneurship (new product, franchising, new service etc.) |
|
| 3. Project Management: This module makes students to understand the principles and approaches of Project Management. The aim of the module is to facilitate students and to analyze various issues related to project management. The module allows for planning, managing and evaluating the industry project. It also helps them to demonstrate their abilities to manage a project and work with a team. |
|
| 4 |
1. Industry project: The student gets an opportunity to engage in original contribution, putting together achieved leanings and applying them to an empirical solution. The aim of this module is to facilitate students to develop the skills of application of learned knowledge, to engage in complex problems solving them innovatively and creatively and to engage in professional communication. |
