APPLIES TO ACADEMIC YEAR 2014/2015

ELE 3708 Shopping Center Management

Responsible for the course
Arne Osvik

Department
Department of Marketing

Term
According to study plan

ECTS Credits
7,5

Language of instruction
Norwegian

Introduction
Shopping Center Management is a specialty course oriented towards students at bachelor and masters level within retail management, marketing and real estate broker's business.

The modern shopping center is today not only a place for shopping of goods and services, but increasingly also a place for social encounters and experiences. As a center manager you not only have to make strategic plans, but also have to function as a theater manager and advisor to urban managers and planners.

Shopping center management is about economic and cultural value creation in place based service systems: Shopping centers, department stores, retail parks, super centers and other types of retail destinations. Shopping centers play a major role within the retail industry. In 2010 there were 392 shopping centers in Norway with a sales area above 2500 sq.m., and total sales (excl. sales tax) of 123 billion kroner, and 12 224 tenants (mainly stores). Shopping center management as a management area is important because value creation in such formats is, and ought to be, something more than the sum of the value creation in the separate stores if these had operated independently by themselves.

Shopping center management is a unique management area which stands out as something quite different from store management, where the marketing strategy is mainly concerned with choice of location, assortment and profile, in order to satisfy a given market segment. For a shopping center, location is given, and the center will, due to its size, have to adjust to several consumer segments in its catchment area. At the same time, it has often little control over the tenants, which have to be motivated to secure increased value creation. The shopping center management also faces considerable and unique challenges with regard to information systems and decision support.

The course is to great extent based on the results from recent research within several disciplines and contributions from visiting lecturers from leading center organizations. The main elements of the course are:

1. Historical development of shopping centre format. Defining characteristics.
2. A framework for strategic management of shopping centre.
3. Shopping center management in practice.
4. Revitalization of existing centers.

• Be able to follow the development of society with regard to social trends and changes in regional and national center structures.
• Know the basic ideas behind important center formats.
• Know the basis for critical reflection: What will be required of management in order to develop an attractive shopping place in the present day environment, and 10 years from now? What is missing to day and why?

• Be able to communicate effectively with the main shareholders of a center: Customers, tenants and owners, and use the marketing plan as a strategic tool for choice of development direction, new tenants, managerial control, internal marketing and cooperation.
• Be able to perform the tasks of shopping center management with regard to planning and implementation of market analyses and analyses of shopping behavior, choice of and follow-up on tenants, managerial control, internal marketing and cooperation.
• Be able to map and evaluate major changes in center strategy, as the result of long term changes in the center environment and working conditions, including in times of crisis. The student shall be able to employ special types of market analysis as a basis for marketing plan revision.

• The basis for shopping center development
• Development of the department store
• Development of the shopping senter format
• A framework for strategic management of shopping centers
• Market analysis
• Senter analysis
• Situational analysis
• Strategy implementation
• Marketing
• New directions for development and revitalization
• Revitalization based on new leasing formats
• Revitalization based on experience and life styles
• Revitalization with big box formats
• The shopping centre as a social meeting place
• Shopping center and retail business as a part of place and business development