The article examines trends in the market power relationship between UK grocery manufacturers and retailers over the past 10‐15 years. It identifies the underlying causes of…
Abstract
The article examines trends in the market power relationship between UK grocery manufacturers and retailers over the past 10‐15 years. It identifies the underlying causes of trends in this area, the implications for consumer welfare, and the legislative framework relating to these relations. Contributory factors to the changed market‐power relationship are relative manufacturer and retailer firm size and market share, individual manufacturing firm market dependence upon particular retailers, information technology, private label merchandise and product development activities, logistics arrangements and other vertical links between manufacturers and retailers. Aspects of welfare economics are examined as a basis for assessing consumer outcomes in this area, and past and present government legislation in the matter is considered, together with some reference to international comparisons. A case is made for some further strengthening of the relevant legislation in the UK.
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The Marks & Spencer case is concerned with the development of the UK’sleading retailer of food and fashion in international markets. Keyissues in the process are: (1) the question…
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The Marks & Spencer case is concerned with the development of the UK’s leading retailer of food and fashion in international markets. Key issues in the process are: (1) the question of the choice of market entry strategies, what strategic routes are available to retail organizations in entering new markets and the extent of strategic fit between acquired companies and the UK business; (2) the development of a retailer brand as an international brand. Significant differences exist between the development of a retailer brand and that of the development of a manufacturer brand in international markets.
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International franchising has proved a valuable strategic option inthe overseas expansion of British mixed retailing businesses. It offersthe opportunity to gain access to…
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International franchising has proved a valuable strategic option in the overseas expansion of British mixed retailing businesses. It offers the opportunity to gain access to overseas markets with minimal investment and high returns. For Marks & Spencer, one of the UK′s leading retailers, the franchising group acts in a pioneering role.
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Leeds, Yorkshire, 1884. Michael Marks, a Polish immigrant, opens his first penny bazaar under the laconic slogan: Don't ask the price — it's a penny. Today, Marks & Spencer is…
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Leeds, Yorkshire, 1884. Michael Marks, a Polish immigrant, opens his first penny bazaar under the laconic slogan: Don't ask the price — it's a penny. Today, Marks & Spencer is Britain's biggest retailer, and the fifth‐ranked company in Europe in terms of market capitalisation. Group sales in the last financial year, achieved during a time of recession, increased unemployment and the worst winter in living memory, were in excess of £2,000 million, while profits were £222 million. Additionally sales and profits were swollen from overseas earnings, notably from the stores in Paris and Dublin.
Retailers, it is said, are behaving as brands. Tests whetherretailers can be considered to be brands by comparing the currentpractices of British retailers against four criteria…
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Retailers, it is said, are behaving as brands. Tests whether retailers can be considered to be brands by comparing the current practices of British retailers against four criteria for a brand which are developed from the existing literature on branding. The four criteria are that the brand should: differentiate; be capable of a separate existence; command a premium price and; offer the customer some psychic value. Concludes that retail brands not only exist but also exist in two forms: the more obvious merchandise brands, commonly known as own‐brand that are now marketed as more than generic commodities; and the less obvious process brand that represents the experience that retailers provide. Argues that the process brand is purchased with the shoppers′ time rather than with their money. The process brand has value to the retailer as it generates customer flow, customer loyalty and higher expenditure.
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Scurvy was at one time one of the most wide‐spread diseases, especially among seamen on long voyages. Little was known about the causes or treatment of the disease, but in 1753…
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Scurvy was at one time one of the most wide‐spread diseases, especially among seamen on long voyages. Little was known about the causes or treatment of the disease, but in 1753 James Lind showed that it could be prevented and cured by eating fresh fruits and vegetables. Captain Cook in his voyages made full use of this discovery to keep his crew in good health. In 1842, Budd suggested that scurvy was the result of ‘abstinence from vegetables and fruits’, but it was not until 1907 that this was demonstrated in practice, when Hoist and Frölich produced experimental scurvy in guinea pigs by using a restricted diet. In 1932 the active factor, ascorbic acid, was isolated in a pure form from lemons by Zilva and found to be identical with a compound obtained by Szent‐Györgyi from cabbages and adrenal glands in 1928. Finally, Haworth and Hirst identified the structure of ascorbic acid or vitamin C, which was synthesised in the same year by Reichstein and others.
The management of a warehouse facility has often been viewed as a problem in facility layout, inventory management, or logistics. Seldom has the management of a warehouse been…
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The management of a warehouse facility has often been viewed as a problem in facility layout, inventory management, or logistics. Seldom has the management of a warehouse been viewed as a process of succeeding operations that can be analyzed as a unique operating production system. Yet, warehouses are process oriented and can show significant improvements in productivity by applying methods usually used in production environments. One such method if called V‐A‐T analysis. This method examines the process, determines the logical structure of the process and defines critical control points for management to use to improve the overall process performance. This article describes the V‐A‐T analysis and applies the method to three different types of warehouse facilities.
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Patricia J. Daugherty, Dale S. Rogers and Michael S. Spencer
It has been proposed that the just‐in‐time (JIT) philosophy can beeffectively integrated systemwide to yield increased efficiencies andexcellence throughout an organization…
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It has been proposed that the just‐in‐time (JIT) philosophy can be effectively integrated systemwide to yield increased efficiencies and excellence throughout an organization. Greater understanding is needed as to what this entails. The researchers empirically test and attempt to validate a previously developed basic functional model of JIT comprising three components – respect for people in the system, the execution system and planning process prerequisites – needed to support JIT′s goal of elimination of waste through a process of continual improvement. Regression model results support the hypothesized relationships between the model components and the JIT waste‐elimination goal.
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Rap music subordinates music to language. It is this emphasis on language that can make rap a vehicle for many ideas, if that is the rapper's intention. Playthell Benjamin, former…
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Rap music subordinates music to language. It is this emphasis on language that can make rap a vehicle for many ideas, if that is the rapper's intention. Playthell Benjamin, former academic and freelance writer for such magazines as the Village Voice and Emerge, believes that rappers can be divided into distinct groups, based on the message or non‐message conveyed. He groups rappers as “Narcissists, didactics, party‐time rappers, or gangsters” based on the content of their rapping. Any rapper who falls into one of these groups can have political significance for blacks, whites, women, liberals, conservatives, Jews, Muslims, and Christians. Narcissists frequently refer to women as mere sex objects, the worst example being the group 2 Live Crew, and less offensive examples being L.L. Cool J. and Big Daddy Kane. Didactics are the chief proponents of Afrocentric thinking and revisionist history. Representatives of this style would be Public Enemy, KRS‐One, and X‐Clan. Party‐time rappers, such as Heavy D and the Boyz or Biz Markie, are rarely serious, but sexism and homophobia can be elements in their raps. Gangster rappers N.W.A., Ice‐T, and Ice Cube are currently receiving a lot of attention from the press, and violent behavior characterizes their lyrics.