Lukas Morbe sheds light on important antecedents of international retailers‘ local performance including international strategies and their local implementation, local consumers‘ perceptions as well as the wider country- and format-specific environment. This topic is of exceptional relevance due to the specific challenges that retail companies face with their increasing internationalization. Retailers transfer their formats across the globe while their business is local in nature and requires attention to the performance in each individual host country. The results of the presented analyses aim to inform retail managers’ decisions in international expansion and operation, but also allow for theoretical implications for future research in the fields of retail management and international business. About the Author Dr. Lukas Morbe worked as research assistant at the Chair for Marketing and Retailing at Trier University, where he received his doctoral degree.

Christoph Schröder does one of the first attempts to analyze format transfers within the scope of different strategies, format elements, countries and success with focus on the fashion industry. Three distinct format transfer strategies are identified. The empirically observed design of format elements supports and extends the existing research. Fashion firms standardize their “Retail culture”, which acts as a foundation for a successful format transfer strategy (core elements). New insights are provided with regard to format transfer into foreign countries as well as over a timeframe of five years. International retailers face specific challenges with regard to the decision on their retail format abroad, which is known as an important success driver. They may transfer their format elements unchanged or may adapt those elements. One successful strategy is known to be an unchanged format replication, which is linked to the fashion industry.

Revised edition of International retailing, c2007.

During the past two decades many economies have opened their retail sector to foreign direct investment, yet little is known about possible implications of such liberalization on the economies of developing host countries. Using firm-level data from Romania, this study examines how the presence of global retail chains affects firms in the supplying industries. Applying a difference-in-differences method, the econometric analyses yield the following conclusions. The expansion of global retail chains leads to a significant increase in the total factor productivity in the supplying industries. Their presence in a region increases the total factor productivity of firms in the supplying industries by 15.2 percent and doubling the number of chains leads to a 10.8 percent increase in total factor productivity. However, the expansion benefits larger firms the most and has a much smaller impact on small enterprises. This conclusion is robust to several extensions and specifications, including the instrumental variable approach. These results suggest that the opening of the retail sector to foreign direct investment may stimulate productivity growth in upstream manufacturing and extend our understanding of foreign direct investment in service sectors.

The doctoral thesis investigates various strategies in the area of going and being international of retail firms which is of undisputable relevance due to the fairly narrow research status and the increasing internationalization of retail activities. Issues are investigated concerning the choice of retail market entry modes, i.e., the form of institutional arrangements that retailers use when entering foreign markets, the retail format transfer, i.e., the management of internal processes and the external marketing program elements and the coordination of retail activities, i.e., the implementation of the marketing program by the organizational structure. Regarding this, three important research questions are addressed:1) How do choose retailers their market entry mode in the area of conflict between full and shared-controlled modes and how is this decision influenced by the internal and external environment? 2) How can international retailers transfer their retail format successfully to foreign countries by standardizing or adapting the internal and external elements of their retail format? 3) How can retailers successfully coordinate the implementation of their retail marketing program to culturally diversified markets? These questions are investigated on the basis of established theories applied from the international management literature such as institutional theory, the resource-based view and the profit maximization theory. On the basis of comprehensive primary and secondary datasets, important implications are drawn for research and practice. ​

As potentially the largest retail market, China has attracted a great number of foreign retail operations. Based on case study research, this book provides valuable insights international retailers need for success in China. The newly developed theoretical model helps to extend the body of knowledge on firm internationalization.

Brand management to sustain corporate reputation and customer loyalty is essential for both multinationals and indigenous fi rms in Africa. This book provides a practical overview of country branding and positioning activities in Africa, based on a broad defi nition of base of the pyramid (BoP) marketing, which includes both goods and services, as well as business-to-business marketing, corporate branding, and country branding. The text highlights branding strategies that can be adopted in BoP markets, as well as marketing mix strategies appropriate for much of the continent. Taking into account the role of social networks, culture, and religion, the book explores avenues for developing and building competitive advantage, and how African countries can leverage country branding as part of the development process. The book is ideal for researchers, educators and advanced students in international marketing, management, and brand strategy who are interested in the unique branding characteristics of the African continent.