Master of Management in Retailing
Info Sessions
At the Bensadoun School of Retail Management, we host a variety of events including Information Sessions, Annual Retail Summits, Retail Thought Leader Series, Retail Innovation Challenges, and Global Retail Challenges.
Annual Retail Summits
Each year, we hold an international academic summit on retail, focusing on the major issues facing the sector. For the 2018 and 2019 editions, we welcomed as speakers - professors from the best universities in North America and Europe (e.g., Cambridge, Harvard, LBS, MIT, Wharton, etc.) and senior executives from leading companies in retail and its ecosystem (e.g., Airbnb, Intel, RBC, Stitch Fix, Walmart, etc.).
In 2020, the pandemic forced us to substitute it with a series of “Virtual Mini Retail Summits” that kicked off in October 2020 with speakers from Stanford and Publicis.
As of 2021, the Retail Summit is supported by KPMG with the goal to return to an in-person event as soon as possible.
Retail Thought Leader Series
Launched in the Fall of 2020, the goal of Retail Thought Leadership Series is to host retail experts and share interesting challenges and solutions in the retail area.
Global Retail Challenge (GRC)
We developed this innovative international entrepreneurial challenge with Washington-based Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA). Started in 2018, we invited student teams from universities around the world to develop innovative ideas on the circular economy as it applies to retail. The competition is structured around weekly e-modules using “design thinking” methodology followed by a 3-4 day final phase that is held with all participants at McGill University.
Retail Innovation Challenge (RIC)
In response to Covid-19, we launched in June 2020 a Retail Innovation Challenge (RIC) to give university student teams a real-life learning experience to assist local SME retailers to rethink and rebuild their businesses during and post pandemic. For the first edition of the RIC, we had 80 teams from 20 universities competing over three rounds (ideation, action plan & business plan) to help four local companies in the food sector.
