When Global Expansion Meets Local Realities in Retailing: Carrefour's Glocal Strategies in Taiwan

Abstract

Prior studies suggest that the intersection of globalization and localization produces glocalization. Little research though has investigated the ways in which global retailers conduct this glocalization process from a strategy view point. To redress this gap, an investigation is made on how Carrefour as the research case study, has successfully glocalized its strategies in Taiwan. A triangulation approach consisting of interviews, document exploitation and observations were used to collect the data from multiple sources in this qualitative study. The study found that Carrefour glocalized their strategies to suit unique conditions in Taiwan such as Chinese culture, language, local competition and government policy. It is found that glocalization process can be traced in Carrefour's entry, expansion, position, sourcing, human resources development and promotion strategies. Based on the findings this study submits that Carrefour's glocal strategies in Taiwan might account for its success to some extent. Limitations of the study and suggestions for future research directions are provided.

Dissecting embeddedness in international retailing

“…In the context of retail internationalisation, social embeddedness in the local market is an important aspect of market success. The term glocalisation has been used to describe particular approaches to the activities of international retailers by Matusitz and Forrester, (2009); Matusitz and Leanza, (2009); Matusitz and Reyers, (2010); Dupuis and Fournioux, (2006); and Chinomona and Sibanda, (2012), but in effect glocalisation is a part of social embeddedness.…”

Retailing, Consumers, and Territory: Trends of an Incipient Circular Model

“…Today, there is an excessive concentration of chain stores and franchises in all cities, leading to a loss of commercial identity as emblematic and historical shops are disappearing, which irrevocably leads to an extreme similarity between different cities (Chinomona and Sibanda 2013). The competitiveness of small shops in the face of these powerful brands is decreasing and they are now in the background.…”

Use-Adoption Gaps in Food Retailing

“…Similar findings were reported in a recent study by Maruyama and Wu (2014) on shopping habits of consumers in China's second–tier city. Moreover, mounting evidence indicates that these patterns are predominant not only in emerging economies, but also in non-Western (more) developed ones, such as Hong Kong, South Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Singapore (Chinomona and Sibanda 2013; Goldman, Ramaswami, and Krider 2002; Halepete, Iyer, and Park 2008; Roslin and Melewar 2008). The magnitude and nature of the gap between consumers’ adoption of modern food formats and their actual use of these, measured as a portion of the household’s overall shopping expenditures, varies across product categories as well as across the different supermarket formats.…”