Dr. Janice Rudkowski
Overview
Dr. Janice Rudkowski is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Retail and Interim Director of the Retail Leadership Institute. Janice is a proud alumna of Toronto Metropolitan University, where she earned a Bachelor of Applied Arts from the School of Fashion. She earned an MBA from Schulich School of Business at York University (Canada), a Master of Science in Business Management Research and a Doctor of Business Administration in Marketing Reputation from Henley Business School at the University of Reading (UK).
Her research is structured around four interconnected pillars: 1) Retail People, examining how employees’ perceptions of their employer influences retailer brand equity; 2) Innovative Retail Spaces, exploring physical and digital retail pop-ups and understanding how Artificial Intelligence is shaping retail; 3) Retail Community, exploring the intersections of maker culture, third places, social capital and circularity; and 4) Retail Education, investigating innovative and experiential pedagogy and curriculum design to advance business school scholarship. Collectively, her scholarly research and creative (SRC) activity demonstrate how these dimensions converge to drive a more sustainable, innovative, and socially conscious future for the global retail landscape.
Prior to joining academia, Janice worked in the private sector in fashion, consumer packaged goods and consumer health industries. She also worked in the non-profit sector and ran a successful marketing consulting practice for several years.
Google Scholar profile: https://scholar.google.ca/citations?user=RG2WPbkAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao (external link)
Making it Circular Research Project Website: https://makingitcircular.ca/ (external link)
Innovative retail spaces; customer journey and experience; employee brand influencers; brand equity; circular economy; third places; retail AI; SMEs; creativity in business education
| Publications: |
|---|
| Fares, O., Hernandez, T., Rudkowski, J., & Gunn, F. (2026). Building online communities in marketing education: Undergraduate student experiences of peer e-mentoring programs. Marketing Education Review, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/10528008.2026.2690012 (external link) |
| Rudkowski, J., Robichaud, Z., Fares, O., & Aversa, J. (2026). Learning by doing: Factors associated with business students’ intentions to engage in experiential learning. Journal of Marketing Education, 1-22. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/epdf/10.1177/02734753261430622 |
| Staniszewski, M., Rudkowski, J., & Sekercioglu, F. (in press). An exploration of circular economy practices in rural public library makerspaces. International Health Trends and Perspectives. |
| Rudkowski, J. (2024). Measuring employee-consumer integrated retailer brand equity. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 76, 103590. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2023.103590 (external link) |
| Jacobson, J., Gomez Rinaldi, A. & Rudkowski, J., (2023). Decoding the employee influencer on social media: applying Taylor’s six segment message strategy wheel. European Journal of Marketing, 57(1), 29–59. https://doi.org/10.1108/EJM-06-2021-0418 (external link) |
| Smith, D., Jacobson, J., & Rudkowski, J. L. (2021). Employees as influencers: Measuring employee brand equity in a social media age. The Journal of Product & Brand Management, 30(6), 834-853. https://doi.org/10.1108/JPBM-03-2020-2821 (external link) |
| Rudkowski, J., Heney, C., Yu, H., Sedlezky, S., & Gunn, F. (2020). Here today, gone tomorrow? Mapping and modeling the pop-up retail customer journey. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 54, 101698. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2018.11.003 (external link) |
| Conference Proceedings: |
| Rudkowski, J. (2026). Twenty years of makerspace literature: Making space for third places, prosumers and learning. Colloquium on European Research in Retailing. Linz, Austria. |
| Rudkowski, J. (2026). Sparking creative thinking and collaborative problem solving in undergraduate business education using LEGO SERIOUS PLAY. Recent Advances in Retailing and Consumer Science Conference. Berlin, Germany. |
| Rudkowski, J., Lynch, N. & Phelan, C. (2024). Mapping the maker movement: A bibliometric review & analysis. Recent Advances in Retailing and Consumer Science Conference. Canary Islands, Spain. |
| Rudkowski, J., Robichaud, Z., Aversa, J., & Fares, O. (2024). Learning by doing: The influence of external beliefs on experiential learning adoption in business education. Recent Advances in Retailing and Consumer Science Conference. Canary Islands, Spain. |
| Rudkowski, J. (2023). Do your employees want to buy your products? Exploring employee patronage motivations and behaviours in fashion retailing. Workshop in Management Science. San Pedro de Atacama, Chile. |
| Robichaud, Z., Rudkowski, J., Yu, H., Gunn, F. & Tangri, K. (2023). Hurry up! Gen Z’s motivations to shop on digital pop-up shops, an expectancy theory approach. Recent Advances in Retailing and Consumer Science Conference. Lyon, France. |
| Book Chapter: |
| Rudkowski, J., Robichaud, Z., & Gunn, F. (2024). SMEs COVID-19 experiences through a liminality lens. In: Ivcevic, Z., Reiter-Palmon, R., Tang, M. & Grohman, M.G. (eds) Crises, Creativity and Innovation. Palgrave Studies in Creativity and Innovation in Organizations. (Chapter) Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. |
| Open-Source Learning Resources |
| Rudkowski, J. (2023). Category management principles: An immersive VR convenience store learning experience (Student and Instructor Guides). eCampus Ontario Open Library. (Open Learning Resources) OCL-ND 1.0. |
| Recent Undergraduate Retail Courses: | |
|---|---|
| RMG 400 | Merchandise Buying and Planning I |
| RMG 806 | Retailer Perspectives on Category Management |
| RMG 908 | Issues and Innovations in Retail Management II |
| RMG 434 | Intro to Logistics and Supply Chain Management |
| RMG 302 | Retail Consumer Insights |
| RMG 917 | Experiential Learning – Travel Study |
| Year | Funding | Amount |
| 2026-2031 | PI, SSHRC Insight Grant: “Making it Circular: An Investigation of Making, Repairing, Reusing and Recycling in Third Places” | $117,115.00 |
| 2026 | Co-PI, Mitacs Globalink Research Internship: “Exploring the Value and Impact of Community-Based Pop-Up Retail: Extending Experiential Retail Models” | $10,000.00 |
| 2022-2025 | Co-PI, SSHRC Imagining Canada’s Future Ideas Lab: “Making Culture and The Circular Economy” | $200,043.00 |
| 2022 | PI, e-Campus Ontario. Virtual Learning Strategy: “Category Management Principles: An Immersive Virtual Reality Convenience Store Learning Experience | $149,800.00 |