Brian F. Harris

Brian F. Harris is a former university professor at the University of Southern California (USC) and the originator of the study of category management.

Career Originally from Australia, Brian Harris earned a BA in Economics from the University of Queensland and an MBA from Lehigh University. Afterwards he received a PhD in Marketing from Michigan State University. Harris eventually became the Director of the Food Industry Management Program and a marketing professor in the Graduate School of Business Administration at the University of Southern California, where he co-founded the Quaker Oats Buying Skills Seminar.

In 1990, Harris founded a category management consultation services firm in Cincinnati called the Partnering Group. Over time, category management began to be delegated to specific suppliers instead of being used in-house, which was outside the spirit of Harris's original idea and a practice that Harris criticized. The Partnering Group became known for establishing best practice policies for collaborations between retailers and suppliers. These best practice guides have been adopted by the ECR Consortia in the US, Europe, and Brazil. Harris still serves as founder and chairman of the Partnering Group. Since its founding the Partnering Group has worked with retail clients in over 25 countries. Harris serves as an advisory board member for Local Express.