Addressing the retail challenges: Corporate workshop with Kaufland

The context

Since the advent of the current century, Europe has met with numerous challenges and trends in the way that we conduct our daily lives. Even more so prevalent, during the various lockdowns enforced during the pandemic. Consequently, society has adapted to new retail tendencies in shopping that includes the food and grocery industries. The question often now is to shop in person or online. Do you wish to smell the freshness of fruits and vegetables before you purchase or rather depend on the retailer commitment and advertising? Of course, there are subsequent repercussions for the provider-retailer in staffing, brand building, and growth. Our Worksop today investigates some of these issues and challenges involved in 2024…

The workshop

Our bi-annual corporate workshop was held on Friday 24 May on the premises of the Executive MBA programme. Our corporate guests represented the well-established provider in the Czech Republic, KAUFLAND: Jörg Bauer, member of the Executive Board, and Veronika Křížová, Human Resource Manager.

Prior to the Friday session, the EMBA participants met with the Kaufland team online during which the issues at hand were conveyed and discussed. Additional information was also provided by Mr Bauer and his team. This preliminary encounter permitted our students to plan their strategy prior to the official session. EMBA students divided into three teams and assigned one of two problem-oriented questions provided by our corporate visitors. One was related to Kaufland’s HR issues, while the other was more related to overall strategy in the changing retail environment (full description cannot be disclosed).

Throughout the day, students had access to both Mr. Bauer and his associate as well as the EMBA management team for further information and counselling. As usual, teams presented their findings and recommendations prior to the session closure. And this is what Mr. Bauer wrote as a reaction:

“Throughout the day, we were inspired by the students’ intense work on these issues. Their final presentations and insightful Q&A sessions provided valuable perspectives and potential solutions that we will definitely explore further.”

During the presentations, questions and comments were provided by Kaufland as to the nature and feasibility of the proposed recommendations. Overall, the day was deemed as extremely successful.

Sincerest thanks to Kaufland having made this day a possibility and their deep participation during the event. Much appreciated by our teams. Lastly, we extend our thanks and kudos for a job well done during the Corporate Workshop which for some, was their last.

Comments shared by the participants

“…Kaufland is a company in a sector that we can all relate to which helped a lot. With the information provided and our own research, we were able to do a lot of preparatory work before the workshop session which meant we could present some useful findings which was more difficult in the previous one. Jörg and Veronika were happy to answer any questions we had and were open with addressing weaknesses.”
“The workshop was incredibly informative and engaging, with a well-prepared organisation that provided clear and practical insights. Great job to the team for delivering presentations.”
“As usual, real business examples are valuable. That applies also to this case that had a lot of similarities with topics I am involved in professionally. I was also happy to work with the former cohort, because I had a chance to get to know these people more. The way the workshop was run by the lecturers was excellent, so no adverse feedback here.”

We also thank Mr. Bauer for his generous comments on LinkedIn.

If you want to know more about the corporate workshops you can read our stories about the workshops with CE Industries and BENEŠ a LÁT.