Tech Ed
Through two innovative initiatives, DemandTec is helping to educate the next crop of retail and CPG experts.
I believe that all members of the younger generations should have access to a good education. So it disappoints me that our country's students have lost the lead when it comes to science and math, especially as these two subjects are increasingly important in our daily lives, which is why I'm especially grateful whenever a member of our industry reaches out to students in an effort to help them excel.
Technology vendor DemandTec Inc. is doing just that with a partnership it developed with the Labovitz School of Business & Economics (LB SE) at the University of Minnesota/Duluth (UMD), to back the university's new program created to equip students with skills for careers in the retail and consumer products industries.
Recently, at DemandTec's DemandBetter 2011 user conference, I had the opportunity to speak with the university's faculty members who are spearheading the innovative program, including Dr. Kjell R. Knudsen, dean of LSBE at UMD. “The program fills a large and previously unaddressed void in the retail and consumer products industries for early-career, analytical talent,” he says. “It is designed to attract and nurture the future leaders of the retail sector.”
Called the Retail Marketing Analytics Program (ReMAP), it will offer undergraduate students an educational curriculum that can be directly applied to real-world careers. Backed by a network of retail and consumer products corporate sponsors, the progam will provide students with a strong foundation of statistical analysis education and advanced marketing techniques. Participation in the program will provide students with the necessary skills to make better merchandising and marketing decisions throughout their careers.
“There is a shift in business today toward large data sets and sophisticated analysis,” says Dr. Praveen Aggarwal, a professor who is also involved in the project. “We teach students how to handle these in an entry-level role. And the curriculum is not just math — they are trained to ask business questions as well.”
ReMAP will be offered as an undergraduate major and minor area of study through LSBE at UMD. The program includes core competencies that are necessary for a successful career in the retail marketing industry, such as marketing research, consumer behavior, marketing analytics, customer relationship and database marketing, analytics practicum, database management and design, and applications of economic analysis.
In addition to the UMD program, San Mateo, Calif. - based DemandTec is also helping high school students with a scholarship competition designed to get teens excited about math and science, the DemandTec Retail Challenge. Originating in 2005 as a local competition in the San Francisco Bay area, the program has now expanded to several additional states. Its goal is to present math, science and business concepts creatively through an online simulation that gives students an example of how retailers and consumer products manufacturers make pricing and inventory decisions. Students compete to win a monetary scholarship to help further their education and for a chance to take part in the grand championships at NASDAQjn New York City.