ABSTRACT
This chapter recounts the collaboration between an academic institution and a commercial enterprise: the university was Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) and the commercial enterprise was J Sainsbury pic. The Department of Retailing and Marketing at Manchester Metropolitan University mounted and ran an exclusive Distance/Open Learning version of the BA Retail Marketing Degree for Sainsburys' junior management. Sainsbury's approached Manchester Polytechnic's Department of Retail Marketing in the summer of 1989. They had been a supporter of our Sandwich Degree in Retail Marketing since before its launch in 1984 and have taken placement students and graduates from the programme. In evaluating the first phase of the Sainsbury-MMU relationship, there was a mismatch of understanding on both sides. MMU's Department of Retailing and Marketing received the Sainsbury's degree as a new challenge and an opportunity to earn extra funds outside of government funding.
