Jeff Shockley Doctoral Candidate Operations and Supply Chain Management Group Department of Management College of Business and Behavioral Science

The purpose of my research is to develop and empirically test a comprehensive theory of retail service design strategies. This theory will focus on the impact of physical channel design strategies on merchandise retailer effectiveness, measured in terms of satisfaction, operating, and long-term market performance. To develop this theory, I draw from a multidisciplinary literature base including organizational design, service operations management and strategy, economics, information systems, consumer marketing, and studies analyzing capital markets. This theory will enlighten future academic research and provide retail managers and store designers a method to weigh the tradeoffs associated with well-established physical channel design strategies. Retailers can test the “fit” of key design choices based on 1) retail environmental and information uncertainty and 2) firm operating and financial performance measures.