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Seminar

Objectives of the Seminar

Fundamentally, we believe that excellence in research will have the most significant reputation effect in the global peer community. Not only will the seminar's reputation enhance directly student's career opportunities, but excellence in research, in our opinion, will also translate into a better teaching environment. The group of active and internationally visible researchers creates a dynamic intellectual environment that is at the forefront of management thinking. Therefore, excellence in research and excellence in management education are complimentary and go hand in hand.

Members of the seminar have collected some very prestigious academic awards in the marketing discipline - which speaks for the recognition of the current work.

Our specific objectives are:

Creating and maintaining international reputation and visibility with an internationally published research stream that is focussed on topics such as customer management, retailing, services, and channel management.
Providing a systematic and rigorous doctoral training that will enable the candidates to become successful and respected experts in their domain.
Training the new generation of managers so that they become knowledgeable, thoughtful, responsible, and successful.
Finally, dealing with managerially relevant topics, where our work will eventually impact managerial and business practice.

Philosophy of the Seminar

The seminar for Retailing and Customer Management has a long tradition at the University of Cologne, originating from the so-called "Handelshochschule" founded in 1901. Famous German academics such as Rudolf Seyffert, Edmund Sundhoff, Fritz Klein-Blenkers, and most lately Lothar Müller-Hagedorn played a key role at this seminar.

Prof. Werner Reinartz, the current director, joined in 2007 after spending 8 years at INSEAD in Fontainebleau, where his last position was the CORA Chaired Professor in Retailing and Management.

The two key principles that guide the seminar in all its activities are the focus on rigor and relevance in all of its research and teaching activities. Moreover, we maintain close contacts to the managerial and business community.

The mission is to contribute to the training and education of knowledgeable, thoughtful, responsible, and successful managers and leaders.

Further information for students interested in the subject "Retailing & Customer Management".

Further information for students interested in the minor "Retail Management".