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The purpose of the study is to evaluate whether the selection of accounting method used to value inventory increases or decreases the probability of a retail firm's ability to remain in existence.

This study employs a binary logistic regression model to predict group membership and the probability of failure. The study utilizes an unbalanced sample of US publicly traded failed and functioning retail firms over a ten-year period.

The results clearly support the conclusion that there is a difference in the probability of retail firm failure with respect to the accounting method used to value inventory. Merchants using a cost-based valuation method were 2.3 times more likely to fail than firms using a price-based method. The results also affirm existing bankruptcy literature by finding that profitability, liquidity, leverage, capital investment and cash flow are factors in retail failures.

The results suggest that traditional merchants cannot simply blame e-commerce or shifts in demographics for the retail Apocalypse; good management and proper valuation of stock still matter.

This study is the first to look at firm failure in the retail sector after the great recession of 2008, in an era known as the “retail Apocalypse.” In addition, this study differs from other firm failure literature by incorporating cost- and price-based inventory valuation methods as a variable in firm failure.

The purpose of this paper is to offer a thematic analysis of global sourcing and international purchasing issues in international retail firms.

We review literature that addresses purchasing/sourcing activities of retail firms in foreign markets. We categorize this literature into different themes and analyse how these themes are conceptually or empirically linked to performance. We then use the thematic analysis as a foundation for suggesting potential avenues for future research.

Four distinct themes emerge from our literature review.

There is a lack of research that addresses how retail firms can extract value from global sourcing and international purchasing activities. A thematic review, along with a careful classification of different themes, could lead to an enhanced understanding of the processes and objectives that underpin global sourcing and international purchasing activities in retail firms.

The purpose of this study is to investigate firm‐ and country‐level drivers of retail performance.

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.

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.

This study is focused on the foreign expansion process and characteristics of the top performing retailers and their first foreign expansion destination.

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.

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.

Purpose – This article examines the operating lease cost stickiness characteristics exhibited by retail firms.

Methodology/approach – Anderson, Banker, and Janakiraman (2003) laid important groundwork for the study of asymmetric cost behavior or cost stickiness. The authors found that a firm’s selling, general, and administrative costs (SG&A) costs increase more with a sales increase than those expenses decrease with an equivalent sales decline. Their findings provided avenues for many studies with differing focal variables; however, extant research has not explored the degree of cost stickiness associated with operating lease expenses. Recognizing the nature and magnitude of operating leases and the competitive and changing environment for retailers, this study adapts Anderson et al.’s (2003) model to provide insights into operating lease stickiness. The study uses archival financial data from 1997 through 2016 for specialty retail firms in testing the lease cost stickiness hypotheses.

Findings – The results of this study supported the hypotheses that operating lease expenses exhibit stickiness behavior and are relatively stickier than future lease commitments for retail firms.

Originality/value – By focusing on retail firms and related lease expenses, this study provides insights into the increasingly competitive retailer environment. This article’s findings will enhance understanding of how specialty retail firms’ managers react to reduced revenues. Finally, given recent authoritative pronouncements affecting accounting for leases and the significance of leasing transactions, research providing insights into cost behavior and managerial actions stands to make an important contribution to literature and practice.

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of corporate governance (CG) on the shareholding level of retail investors in Indian listed firms.

Primarily, a broad CG-index was constructed based on the Indian Companies Act, 2013; Clause 49 listing agreement; and Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act, 1956. Thereafter, a panel data approach has been used to examine the association between CG attributes and retail shareholdings (RSs) during 2014–2015 and 2018–2019.

Authors find that the firm-level CG quality positively affects retail investors’ shareholding level. The results explain that among various attributes of CG, retail investors pay more attention to firms’ audit and board information while making investment decisions. The results also reveal that the influence of CG attributes on RSs is lesser for group-affiliated, mature and large-sized firms than for stand-alone, young and small-sized firms.

First, the study provides new insight to the firms for increasing retail-shareholding levels and complying with India’s ongoing minimum public shareholding norms by improving CG practices concerning specific CG mechanisms. Second, it illuminates the regulators and policymakers to monitor and strengthen firms’ governance quality in light of ongoing regulatory reforms.

This study is a new investigation that explores the impact of CG on investment decisions of retail investors from the perspective of an emerging economy.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between manufacturer profit rate and large retailer market share for five matched retailer‐manufacturer groupings.

Basic structure‐performance modeling is used to relate manufacturer return on assets to large retail market share and a group of control variables. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Corporate Statistics of Income size class data provide a sample that covers the full range of firm sizes from the smallest to largest firms in the USA.

Large retail share negatively impacts small manufacturer rate of return for shopping goods, while in convenience good markets large retail share has no impact on manufacturer return.

Shopping goods retailers have opportunities to gain market power from expertise in merchandising, sales assistance, and product expertise. Strong private brands may offer leverage for convenience good retailers in negotiations with national brand manufacturers.

The paper examines the impact of retail channel power on small, medium, and large size manufacturing firms in five retailer/manufacturer categories over a period of extensive change in retail concentration.

The purpose of this paper is to focus on human resource practices contribution to retail SMEs performance through its role in developing organizational learning capability (OLC).

A cross-sectional design was adopted, where data were collected from a sample of 214 managers of retail SMEs, utilizing a survey questionnaire. Structural equation modeling was used to test the hypothesized relationships.

The results indicate that incentive reward has the strongest significance on firm performance with a stronger influence on economic performance. Performance appraisal has the greatest effect on system perspective, followed by the impact of employee selection on managerial commitment (MC). MC strongly affects firm performance while openness and experimentation influences satisfaction performance. Additionally, OLC fully mediates the relationship between high-performance human resource management (HRM) practices and firm performance.

It did not include large organizations nor consider other SME contextual variables which may otherwise exert significant impact on OLC.

A profound understanding of distinctive high-performance HRM practices effect on firm performance and the needed employee capabilities that would assist organizations to implement strategies to attain sustainable competitive advantage.

The study advances knowledge on HRM practices among SMEs by proposing that distinctive high-performance HRM practices can leverage OLC to enhance firm performance.

The purpose of this paper is to examine whether there is a systematic real estate risk factor in retail firms' common stock returns and whether this risk is priced in the stock market. In addition, whether the real estate risk sensitivities of retail stocks are linked to each firm's real estate intensity is investigated.

With a sample of 556 retail firms from 15 countries and a three‐index model with a domestic stock market and a retail market factor, as well as a real estate risk factor as the three explanatory variables, the paper appeals to the maximum likelihood methodology of Gibbons which estimates factor sensitivity coefficients and factor risk premia simultaneously using an iterative seemingly unrelated regression (ITSUR) technique, as well as the generalized method of moments (GMM) procedure. In addition, the paper investigates whether the individual retail firms' real estate βs are affected by the firms' CRER levels and other financial characteristics, using instrumental variables estimation technique via three‐stage least squares (3SLS).

The paper finds property market risks carry positive risk premia after controlling for sensitivities to general market and retail market risks, implying that real estate is an important factor priced in the stock market value of the sample retail firms. However, higher real estate concentration does not necessarily cause higher real estate exposure after controlling for firm size, leverage and growth, implying that stock market investors are unwilling or unable to understand and capture the full risk real estate ownership risk in corporate valuation.

From the corporate management viewpoint, those retail firms with a significant real estate portfolio should always consider the “real estate exposure” factor in their overall corporate strategy. Their high real estate exposure renders them vulnerable to shocks in the real estate market.

The paper offers insights into whether real estate is an important factor in corporate valuation

To investigate the evolutionary process of the retail logistics network formation, and to propose a relationship framework between the logistics asset buyer (the retailer) and the logistics asset supplier (the third‐party logistics firm).

The evolutionary process is based on the way the asset specificity element of transaction costs theory can be perceived by the logistics asset buyer and the logistics asset supplier. The asset specificity element is linked to both network and buyer‐supplier relationship theories with the aim of conceptualising a buyer‐supplier relationship framework. Secondary data for the UK food retail chain are also employed.

A new relationship framework is developed based on the buyers’‐suppliers’ perceptions in relation to logistics asset specificity, and the conditions required for the formation of the retail logistics network are illustrated. If transaction costs are perceived as high by both the buyer and the supplier of a logistics asset, the retailer will engage into a fourth‐party logistics network formation where the use of information technology systems is of critical importance. At this stage, these systems will become the primary co‐ordination device for the reduction and absorption of complexity in the retail chain.

The paper offers a unique buyer‐supplier partnership framework by proposing that the formation of a fourth‐party logistics network will decrease the complexity of modern retail logistics operations. The paper will assist retail managers responsible for the development of logistics strategies and will be beneficial to researchers examining logistics and supply chain management operations.

The purpose of this study was to ascertain the determinants of firm performance for Malaysian retailers.

An online survey was conducted to collect responses from members of the Malaysian Retailers' Chain Association. A total of 126 responses were obtained. Data analysis was done by using the PLS-SEM method.

The results of the study indicate that Retail 4.0 adoption is able to improve retailers' performance as-a-whole by improving the four perspectives of firm performance as given in the Balanced Scorecard, i.e. the finance perspective, the customer perspective, the internal processes' perspective and also learning and growth perspective. Further, enterprise risk management was found to have a positive moderating effect on retailers' performance as-a-whole and also on the finance and customer perspectives of performance.

The study was conducted only in Malaysia and so, it might be geographically limited. Besides, it is cross-sectional in nature and therefore, the impact might be different if the study had been conducted over a longer period.

This study provides a useful framework for retailers who are seeking to improve firm performance.

This is one of the first studies to show the impact of Retail 4.0 adoption on firm performance. Besides, this is also the first time, enterprise risk management has been introduced as a positive moderator on the impact of technology adoption on retailers' performance.