Search results

The continued poor performance of many retailers trading internationally suggests that effectively managing international operations continues to be a source of great difficulty. This paper presents short case studies of the ways in which two leading UK retailers – Dixons and Laura Ashley – have, by very different mechanisms, expanded their businesses outside the UK. For both companies, a review of their motivations for and philosophies on trading internationally is followed by some observations on the management of their international operations. Both companies have recently restructured their management in an effort to move away from a “multi‐domestic” management style and towards a more integrated “transitional” approach.

Describes the origins and development of the UK retailer, Laura Ashley, emphasizing the internationalization of the company and the emphasis on international comparison from an early stage of the company′s development. Charts the company′s overseas development in North America, Europe and the Pacific Basin with particular reference to the modifications to the trading format of the company that were necessary to gain acceptance in these markets. Considers the factors influencing Laura Ashley′s philosophy in its overseas markets and the recent events establishing Laura Ashley as an international retail brand.

Feminist legal activists in law schools developed what we call critical community tactics beginning in the late 1960s to bring about important cultural change in the legal educational arena. These feminist activists challenged the male-dominant culture and succeeded in making law schools and legal scholarship more gender inclusive. Here, we develop the critical community tactics concept and show how these tactics produce cultural products which ultimately, as they are integrated into the broader culture, change the cultural landscape. Our work then is a study of how social movement activists can bring about cultural change. The feminist legal activists’ cultural products and the integration of them into the legal academy provide evidence of feminist legal activist success in shifting the legal institutional culture. We conclude that critical community tactics provide an important means for social movement activists to bring about cultural change, and scholars examining social movement efforts in other institutional settings may benefit from considering the role of critical community tactics.

The research presented here initiates the process of the detailed analysis of international retail divestment activity through the identification of the volume of global divestment activity and the characteristics of that activity during the timeframe of 1987‐2003.

The methodology followed here is essentially historical in nature and draws on a wide range of contemporary periodicals, reports and other sources.

The paper reports findings on: the form and extent of divestment activity; the year of divestment; divestment by retail sub‐sector; divested chain size; length of time spent in the market of divestment; divestment by retail sub‐sector; and the market of origin of divesting retailer.

This paper provides an initial indication of the volume and nature of international retail divestment in the period considered. Such material has not been available previously. International retailing research has primarily focused on the internationalisation process rather than retail divestment from international markets. However, divestment from international markets is an issue of increasing importance within the competitive global environment. Previously research into retail divestment has focused on individual company experience. For the first time, the research presented here attempts to build a picture of the scale and dimensions of international retail withdrawal. The paper shows that patterns of international divestment are discernible.

MCB is not a company to rest on its laurels. In the vernacular of modern‐day management literature, the company can rightly claim to be a learning organization; one that seeks to regenerate and develop itself in accordance with current trends, most notably those in customer and market requirements.

Whither Public Opinion Polls? One of the bedrocks of marketing intelligence and planning is market information and the activities of market research. There has been one considerable recent blow to the reputation of market research and the researching organizations.

Research into firm internationalisation has identified psychic distance as a key factor in explaining variations in both expansion patterns and organisational performance. Despite the substantial growth in research on the internationalisation of retailing, most contributions have been highly descriptive and generally bereft of coherent theoretical frameworks. This paper postulates that the psychic distance concept may provide an appropriate theoretical framework to explain variations in the organisational performance of retailers operating in the international arena. It is recognised that psychic distance alone cannot explain variations between countries inretailers’ performance. Other factors, such as the strategic decision making process, entry strategy adopted, the nature of the retail offer and the extent of adaptation, and organisational and managerial characteristics also influence the organisational performance of international retailers.

The purpose of this paper is twofold. In its initial stages it undertakes a review of the key fashion industry‐related themes emerging from the IJRDM. Subsequently, it reflects upon these themes in the context of luxury fashion brand Prada and in so doing identifies four key change phases in the evolution of the brand.

Review of literature spanning 20 years.

The paper identifies five overarching general themes. These comprise fashion retailer brands, the internationalisation of fashion retailing, the emergence and challenges of on‐line fashion retailing, changes in the supply chain and changes in consumption.

The paper provides a valuable overview of the main research themes within the context of fashion retailing. In addition, it provides a critical insight into the changing nature of Italian luxury fashion brand Prada.