Brenda Sternquist, Carol A. Finnegan and Zhengyi Chen
China’s economy is transforming at a brisk pace. A partially dismantled command economy and introduction of competition have fueled consumer demand for a greater selection of…
Abstract
China’s economy is transforming at a brisk pace. A partially dismantled command economy and introduction of competition have fueled consumer demand for a greater selection of innovative new products in the retail market. The challenge for retail buyers is to adjust their procurement processes to respond to consumer needs in an efficient and effective manner. This study examines factors influencing buyer‐supplier relationships in a transition economy. We present a model to explain the factors driving retail buyer dependence on suppliers. We find that retailer evaluation of supplier credibility mediates the relationship between retailer perceptions of a supplier ability to add value to its business and the ability to achieve its desired goals. In part, this is due to the supplier’s market orientation. Interestingly, guanxi ties have no impact on the retailer perceptions of the supplier credibility, but have a positive affect on retailer dependence on its supplier partners.
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Seng‐Su Tsang and Carol A. Finnegan
This study provides a robust test of a central question in franchising: which factors influence the timing of adopting the first franchised outlet? Using a novel methodology, the…
Abstract
Purpose
This study provides a robust test of a central question in franchising: which factors influence the timing of adopting the first franchised outlet? Using a novel methodology, the purpose of this study is to examine the factors that accelerated or delayed the opening of the first franchisee outlet for the largest franchise chains in the USA.
Design/methodology/approach
The sample addresses a methodological shortcoming in traditional franchising literature. Using duration analysis, the paper captures the timing of the first franchise outlet for a retail concept. This allows us to capture the antecedents that explain the differences in timing between franchise systems.
Findings
By setting initial investment costs lower, the average time to attract the first franchisee is shorter. However, as franchisee net worth requirements rise, the time to attract the first franchisee is longer. Finally, franchisors tend to defer expansion via franchising in favor of managing their own outlets in resource rich industries.
Research limitations/implications
The dataset is limited to the largest US franchise systems.
Practical implications
This study suggests factors that would cause franchisors to decelerate or accelerate the initial franchise timing decision. Businesses time expansion based on industry size, outlet start‐up costs, and franchisee net worth.
Originality/value
This study provides the first examination of the firm and industry drivers affecting when a firm initiates franchising. This study uses rigorous empirical testing of franchising theoretical predictions using duration analysis.
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Carol Finnegan, Seng-Su Tsang, George Woodward and Jean Chang
The purpose of this paper is to provide a robust examination of the factors that accelerate/decelerate the divestment timing of retail banners in international markets.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide a robust examination of the factors that accelerate/decelerate the divestment timing of retail banners in international markets.
Design/methodology/approach
The sample represents 3,235 foreign market banner operations of 132 international retailers across 144 countries using an accelerated failure time (AFT) parametric survival modelling technique.
Findings
Banner divestment is accelerated by both weak financial performance and smaller size. Furthermore, there is a synergistic negative detriment to the combination of both factors on divestment. Banner divestment is decelerated by deploying the corporation’s dominant format in the home country. Moreover, inadequately performing dominant banners are allowed more time to turn around their operations than subpar non-dominant banners. Concurrently, when host country markets are growing, poorly performing dominant banners are given more time to improve performance. When home market performance weakens, smaller, poorly performing banner divestment is accelerated.
Research limitations/implications
The large data set covers more than half of the world so the authors are limited to observing corporate divestments without the benefit of the managerial decision-making process. The authors only have access to divestment data in annual units, which limits the ability to provide precise timing information. Though the authors have a wide variation in country conditions, data on smaller, poorer countries and domestic competitors is limited.
Practical implications
Small, poorly performing retail chains in foreign markets are divested faster than their counterparts. When retailers internationalize with their dominant chains, management tends to give these banners more time to succeed than non-dominant counterparts. Evidence also suggests that managers hesitate to withdrawal from a foreign market when the dominant banner is involved, regardless of a chain’s stunted growth and subpar performance.
Originality/value
This study provides the first examination of factors driving the divestment times of international retail chains using rigorous empirical survival time methodologies.
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Polly Chan, Carol Finnegan and Brenda Sternquist
The purpose of this study is to investigate firm‐ and country‐level drivers of retail performance.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate firm‐ and country‐level drivers of retail performance.
Design/methodology/approach
A database of the top 200 global retailers was primarily constructed from the 2005 Global Powers of Retailing data. Regression was used to test the hypotheses.
Findings
The predictors are able to explain firm level variations in sales growth, but not ROI. While retailers' sales growth is positively related to expansion speed, it is negatively related to number of retail formats and number of countries of operation. Moreover, retailers who choose to expand into a host country that is less developed, with relatively high disposable income, tend to be more successful than others.
Research limitations/implications
This study is focused on the foreign expansion process and characteristics of the top performing retailers and their first foreign expansion destination.
Practical implications
Findings reflect differences in internationalization strategies of top retailers. Findings also provide guidance for companies who already have foreign subsidiaries, and for those who are interested in opening new markets.
Originality/value
This paper examines the impact of the economic characteristics of the first host country entered and firm level resources and capabilities on two measures of firm performance. Empirical tests of the impact of retail portfolio management capabilities and international market portfolio management capabilities on retail sales growth are offered.
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At the turn of the century, I was hunched over a clammy steel desk in a far-flung project office, listening to my counterparts explain how many times in the recent past this…
Abstract
At the turn of the century, I was hunched over a clammy steel desk in a far-flung project office, listening to my counterparts explain how many times in the recent past this particular Ministry had been bombed. Hearing something like this would be enough to get anyone thinking about their future. And it did stimulate my thinking. Over the next year, as I journeyed from Central Asia to the Caribbean on various development projects, I plotted my next move.
Looks at the 2000 Employment Research Unit Annual Conference held at the University of Cardiff in Wales on 6/7 September 2000. Spotlights the 76 or so presentations within and…
Abstract
Looks at the 2000 Employment Research Unit Annual Conference held at the University of Cardiff in Wales on 6/7 September 2000. Spotlights the 76 or so presentations within and shows that these are in many, differing, areas across management research from: retail finance; precarious jobs and decisions; methodological lessons from feminism; call centre experience and disability discrimination. These and all points east and west are covered and laid out in a simple, abstract style, including, where applicable, references, endnotes and bibliography in an easy‐to‐follow manner. Summarizes each paper and also gives conclusions where needed, in a comfortable modern format.
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Virginia Quick, Carol Byrd-Bredbenner and Kirsten W. Corda
The purpose of this paper is to examine key determinants (i.e. knowledge, perceived susceptibility, attitudes, confidence, behavioral intentions) associated with practicing…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine key determinants (i.e. knowledge, perceived susceptibility, attitudes, confidence, behavioral intentions) associated with practicing health-protective behaviors that could inform development of programs and strategies for improving food handling behaviors of middle school youth.
Design/methodology/approach
Middle schoolers (n=1,102; 50 percent boys) completed a questionnaire with the following topics: demographics, food safety knowledge, usual food safety behaviors, perceived susceptibility to foodborne illness, attitude toward food safety, confidence (self-efficacy) in practicing safe food handling procedures, and intended safe food handling behaviors.
Findings
Middle schoolers had insufficient food safety knowledge ( ˜50 percent incorrect responses) even though most reported washing their hands before making a snack and washing fruits and vegetables before eating them. Spearman correlation analyses indicated that food safety knowledge and perceived susceptibility to foodborne illness was weakly correlated (r s≤0.18) and in some instances not significantly correlated with actual behaviors, attitudes, self-efficacy, and behavioral intentions. Attitudes, behavioral intentions, and self-efficacy were key determinants that were significantly and highly correlated (r s<0.70) with each other. Additionally, knowing when to wash hands was significantly correlated (r s≤0.13) with actual handwashing behaviors, and attitudes, behavioral intentions, and self-efficacy whereas knowing how to wash hands was not.
Originality/value
Food safety interventions for youth should aim to increase knowledge, challenge perceptions of susceptibility to foodborne illness, and motivate adoption of new safe food handling behaviors, while supporting their already positive food safety attitudes, self-efficacy, and behavioral intentions.
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Virtually, all countries in sub-Saharan Africa (perhaps with the exception of South Africa) have still not achieved the economic, social and political self-sufficiency that the…
Abstract
Virtually, all countries in sub-Saharan Africa (perhaps with the exception of South Africa) have still not achieved the economic, social and political self-sufficiency that the pioneers of decolonization had envisaged by the closing years of the millennium. Despite the active presence of the World Bank (WB) and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) on the sub-region development scene, initial gains immediately after colonial rule have disappeared, resulting in economic and social stagnation and, in extreme cases, disintegration (Sierra Leone, Democratic Republic of Congo and Liberia). According to the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) (1996, 2000) in many post-colonial countries, real per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has fallen and welfare gains achieved since independence in areas like food consumption, health and education have declined. As a whole, in sub-Saharan Africa, per capita incomes dropped by 21% in real terms between 1981 and 1989.1 Madagascar and Mali now have per capita incomes of $799 and $753, down from $1,258 and $898 twenty-five years ago. In 16 other sub-Saharan countries per capita incomes were also lower in 1999 than in 1975.2 Nearly one-quarter of the world's population, but nearly 42% of the population of sub-Saharan Africa, live on less than $1 a day. Levels of inequality have also increased dramatically worldwide. This phenomenon is vividly reflected in the well-known graphic presentation of the UNDP (1992) in Fig. 1.