Program offers comprehensive executive education course for experienced business professionals new to the direct selling channel

(WASHINGTON, DC) – The Crummer Graduate School of Business at Rollins College, in collaboration with the Direct Selling Association (DSA), launched the first executive education course focused on direct selling this week in Winter Park, FL. This inaugural program facilitates the successful integration of new and existing business executives within direct selling companies and delivers a thorough onboarding program to enhance retention, increase self-efficacy, promote company culture, facilitate role clarity, and expedite social integration.

Greg Marshall, Ph.D., Charles Harwood Professor of Marketing and Strategy in the Crummer Graduate School of Business, stated, "An experiential learning approach is essential for professional executive development and something we pride ourselves in doing well here at the Crummer School at Rollins College. By combining real-world expertise from C-Suite direct selling veterans along with insights from top-of-field faculty members, we have created a dynamic learning environmasent that focuses on honing executive talent to foster more innovation in the increasingly competitive marketplace."

Crummer created this course in collaboration for senior-level executives who are experienced in the direct selling channel.  The target audience is individuals who are relatively new to the direct selling channel and who desire a best-practices immersion. Key areas of curriculum focus includes attention to emerging issues as well as nuances unique to leading in the direct selling channel, broad-based executive-level skills, real-world insights from case studies, and situational examples facilitated by marketing and other business professors from across the country paired with seasoned, successful direct selling professionals.

Joseph N. Mariano, president of the DSA, shared, "DSA is committed to helping provide new and interactive methods like the Crummer Graduate School of Business course for members to expose and train talented executives who will be the future of direct selling. We are excited to collaborate in the course offerings and work alongside expert business and marketing professors as they explore the direct selling industry and provide new insight on the channel."

The program, which includes two in-person immersion components and a variety of blended learning elements, began on January 28, 2020, and will conclude on April 1, 2020, with executives receiving a certificate for course completion.

ABOUT THE DIRECT SELLING ASSOCIATION

The Direct Selling Association is the national trade association for companies that offer entrepreneurial opportunities to independent sellers to market and sell products and services, typically outside of a fixed retail establishment. In 2018, direct selling took place across the United States, generating $35.4 billion in retail sales. More than six million entrepreneurs in the U.S. are selling products or services through the direct selling channel, providing a personalized buying experience for more than 36.6 million customers.

ABOUT THE CRUMMER GRADUATE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS AT ROLLINS COLLEGE

Just outside Orlando in Winter Park, FL is the Rollins College Crummer Graduate School of Business, a graduate school distinguished by its renowned faculty, intimate class size, and applied approach to learning. It touts top MBA rankings from Bloomberg Businessweek and Forbes magazines and is among a select group of business schools whose programs carry AACSB International graduate-level accreditation, including the first accredited Executive Doctorate in Business Administration program in Florida. The school also houses its renowned Centers of Excellence, which include the Center for Leadership Development, the Center for Advanced Entrepreneurship, the Center for Management & Executive Education, and the Edyth Bush Institute for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership. For more information, visit crummer.rollins.edu.

ABOUT ROLLINS COLLEGE

Founded in 1885, Rollins College is Florida's oldest college. Located in Winter Park, near Orlando, Rollins is consistently ranked as one of the top regional universities in the South by U.S. News & World Report. In addition to full-time undergraduate programs in the College of Liberal Arts, Rollins offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs for working adults through its evening program at the Hamilton Holt School and graduate business degree programs through its Crummer Graduate School of Business. Rollins serves approximately 3,200 degree-seeking students annually. For more information, visit rollins.edu.