To read this content please select one of the options below:

How do retailers increase the benefits of buyer innovativeness? An intra- and inter-organization perspective

Changju Kim (Ritsumeikan University, Ibaraki, Japan)
Katsuyoshi Takashima (Kobe University, Kobe, Japan)
Stephen Newell (Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA)

Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics

ISSN: 1355-5855

Article publication date: 11 June 2018

653

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to develop and empirically test a model investigating the relationship among inter-departmental communication, buyer innovativeness, and retail competitiveness. The authors also explore whether a retail strategy of supply base diversification for managing suppliers moderates the association between innovativeness and competitiveness.

Design/methodology/approach

Hypotheses were tested using a structural equation model and survey data drawn from general merchandise managers of 149 supermarket retailers in Japan.

Findings

The results indicate that inter-departmental communication between merchandising and store divisions drives innovativeness among retail buyers and ultimately strengthens firm competitiveness. Moreover, when buyer innovativeness is evident and less actively the retail buyers utilize supply base diversification, the stronger is the retailer’s competitiveness. The study failed to find any direct impact of inter-departmental communication on retail competitiveness.

Practical implications

This study offers managerial insights into the roles that buyer innovativeness, inter-departmental communications, and supply base diversification play in developing effective competitive strategies.

Originality/value

This study makes two key contributions. First, it is novel in using inter-departmental communication to explain the antecedents of buyer innovativeness. Second, drawing on the power-dependence theory, the authors extend the well-established innovativeness-performance linkage by exploring the moderation effect of supply base diversification.

Keywords

Citation

Kim, C., Takashima, K. and Newell, S. (2018), "How do retailers increase the benefits of buyer innovativeness? An intra- and inter-organization perspective", Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, Vol. 30 No. 3, pp. 571-586. https://doi.org/10.1108/APJML-03-2017-0043

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2018, Emerald Publishing Limited

Related articles