The Indian School of Business (ISB) and beverage giant Coca-Cola has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to set up a ‘Coca-Cola ISB Retail Academy’ at the ISB campus in Hyderabad.
The academy will impart a first-of-its-kind specialised academic programme to educate and train mid-level professionals in retail management in India.
Ajit Rangnekar, dean, ISB, said, “The retail sector in India is undergoing rapid transformation and the next phase of growth will require well-trained professionals capable of amalgamating global best practices with the unique characteristics of the Indian consumer. The ISB will provide cutting-edge pedagogy to drive the capability of the retail sector in India to ‘world-class’ competency levels and benchmarking against the best globally.”
Ahmet Bozer, group president, Eurasia and Africa group, The Coca-Cola Company, said, “This initiative lays the foundation for a well-rounded retail management training programme, thereby contributing to quality of future retail managers. This will be an important driving force for the sector and the Indian economy; we are proud to partner with a premier institute like ISB on this important initiative.”
The programme will be governed by a governing council comprising eminent retail practitioners and academicians. The Academy will also conduct retail research and conduct online programmes.
Atul Singh, president & CEO, Coca-Cola India and South West Asia, said, “The retail academy is a logical extension of our focus on building capability of retailers after the Coca-Cola university retail training programme – Parivartan.”
The first session of the programme will commence in June 2011 with an initial strength of 50 professionals. This will subsequently be scaled up in the next 3-4 years.
– IndiaRetailing Bureau
