Dissecting embeddedness in international retailing

Abstract

Embeddedness, and its constituent types, has been employed as a conceptual framework to explain the processes of host market acculturation in retail internationalisation. The retail industry is not, however, a homogeneous business sector. Differences exist between retail sectors, retail formats and governance modes in how retail business models evolve and how a retail business operates in a market. These differing characteristics alongside the coercive, mimetic, and agency pressures arising from interactions amongst institutions, consumer market cultures and firms determine the emphasis placed upon different embeddedness types and how embeddedness occurs. Consideration of these factors allows us to "dissect" the generic embeddedness concept and gain a more nuanced understanding of the processes involved. A deeper understanding of the nature and process of embeddedness will support future studies using the concept across many economic sectors.

Exploring key logistics characteristics supporting embeddedness in retailers’ geographical expansion

“…It is recognised that economic actions always, to some extent, tend to be influenced, or sometimes restricted by, the social structures and behaviours that surrounds the actions of individuals and organisations. Embeddedness has been highlighted as vital to market competitiveness (Frasquet et al 2018;Lowe and Wrigley 2010), and inability to generate appropriate embeddedness may result in failure regarding a geographical expansion (Appel 2016;Burt, Johansson, and Dawson 2017). All company functions, including logistics as is targeted in this research, must therefore contribute to such an embeddedness.…”

“…The societal embeddedness refers mainly to the legacy of the cultural, institutional and economic environment of the expanding company's home market (Tacconelli and Wrigley 2009), but also its history and former experiences outside the home market such as previous expansions (Burt, Johansson, and Dawson 2016). The societal embeddedness, described by Hess (2004) as the genetic code of the company, could hence be considered as the attribute of the expanding company, which is continuously shaped by its experiences (Appel 2016;Burt, Johansson, and Dawson 2017;Frasquet et al 2018;Lowe and Wrigley 2010).…”

“…From the individual firm perspective, the network embeddedness is typically shaped by factors such as the design, durability and stability of the relationships (Hess 2004). In contrast to territorial embeddedness (see below), the network embeddedness is not limited to include relationships at the new market, but include relevant relationships throughout the entire company including activities and nodes also in the home market (Burt, Johansson, and Dawson 2017;Frasquet et al 2018;Wood and Reynolds 2014). Of particular importance, the transfer and capture of knowledge have been acknowledged as important features of network embeddedness (Frasquet et al 2018;Dawson 2007).…”

“…An appropriate embeddedness, including involved logistics operations, is decisive for a successful geographical expansion (e.g. Appel 2016;Burt, Johansson, and Dawson 2017). Considering the embeddedness of a geographical expansion offers new insights into how strategies and operations related to new technologies, products and processes could be designed and introduced (Appel 2016).…”

Foreign Divestment in the Retail Sector – The Host Market’s Perspective

“…First, considering FD in grocery retail separately from the overall retail sector has often been overlooked, even though the retail industry is not a homogeneous business sector (Burt et al . ). Second, there are a number of company‐specific case studies (e.g.…”