Great Lakes sets up centre for retail management

Great Lakes Institute of Management, Chennai in India has launched the Center for Excellence in Retail Management. The centre for Excellence was officially launched by Mr. A. Mahendran, Chairman, Mahendran Holdings Ltd. Through the Centre, Great Lakes aims to provide thought leadership for the retail industry in India and beyond, and to create managers with a deep understanding of the sector.  

Great Lakes Institute of Management, Chennai, India has established a centre for retail management. As per the institute, Great Lakes envisions to be a leader in cutting-edge retail and retail-related knowledge creation & dissemination and aims to educate the next generation of retailers in India and beyond. The Centre for Excellence in Retail Management is expected to play a big role in helping the institute achieve this aim.

The institute says that the center will help companies understand and adopt global best practices, Co-create relevant research to deliver compelling competitive advantage, provide actionable knowledge to key managers to successfully deliver on business objectives and create a framework for nurturing and developing high potential talent for business leadership.

Speaking on the occasion of the launch, Prof Bala V. Balachandran, Founder and Dean, Great Lakes Institute of Management said, “The objective of the Centre for Excellence is to provide world class practices and to facilitate research, exchange of ideas, provide solutions to industry problems and offer guidance to leaders, managers and key policy makers. The Centre will have a top- tier advisory council comprising of leading retailers, academicians, consultants and thought leaders.”

Speaking on the occasion Prof. Nitin Sanghavi, Director, Centre for Excellence in Retail Management, Great Lakes said, “The center will launch various open and company specific programs, delivered by senior faculty from Great Lakes Institute of Management as well as leading consultants and academicians from around the world who have extensive teaching, research and worldwide consulting experience.”

The retail industry is the second largest industry after agriculture in India, employing close to 40 million people. The center is set to groom management students into retail experts.

The Center For Excellence will be guided under the leadership of Prof. Nitin Sanghavi, who will take charge as the Director of the Centre For Excellence in Retail Management. Prof. Nitin Sanghavi is one of the leading retail strategy experts in the world. He is professor of Retail Marketing and Strategy at Manchester Business School, and founder and director of MBS Retail Centre. He will be joined by Prof. Sanjay Badhe, leading Retail Strategy Advisor, who will act as
Deputy Director of the Centre for Excellence in Retail Management.

Other Centers For excellence at Great Lakes that provide solutions in their respective industries are:

• Kotler – Srinivasan Centre for Research in Marketing 
• Union Bank Centre for Banking Excellence 
• Yale – Great Lakes Centre For Management Research 
• Centre for Excellence in Technopreneurship [CET]