From Marketing Mix to Relationship Marketing: Towards a Paradigm Shift in Marketing

What makes organizations so similar? We contend that the engine of rationalization and bureaucratization has moved from the competitive marketplace to the state and the professions. Once a set of organizations emerges as a field, a paradox arises: rational actors make their organizations increasingly similar as they try to change them. We describe three isomorphic processes-coercive, mimetic, and normative—leading to this outcome. We then specify hypotheses about the impact of resource centralization and dependency, goal ambiguity and technical uncertainty, and professionalization and structuration on isomorphic change. Finally, we suggest implications for theories of organizations and social change.

The iron cage revisited: Institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields (Chinese Translation)

International Entrepreneurship research (1989–2009): A domain ontology and thematic analysis

Presents the findings of a comparative study into the export behaviour and internationalization of small computer software firms in Finland, Ireland and Norway. These findings challenge many of the underlying assumptions of conventional internationalization “stage” theories and lead to the conclusion that such theories do not adequately reflect the internationalization process among small computer software firms.

The internationalization of small computer software firms

https://www.icesi.edu.co/blogs/semillerosi3/files/2013/12/3-SUPPLY-CHAIN-MANAGEMENT-A-ANALYTICAL-FRAMEWORK-FOR-CRITICAL-LITERATURE-REVIEW.pdf

Supply chain management: an analytical framework for critical literature review

Global Marketing: A Decision Oriented Approach

Considers the development of international retail thought and the need for an integrated conceptual approach to the process of retail internationalisation. The paper considers the development of international retail thought within the context of international retail activity and subject development and suggests the intellectual influences on the development of retail thought have, at times, constrained the development of a better understanding of the internationalisation process. Having established the parameters of debate, the paper considers the search for a synthesised approach to the understanding of the internationalisation process and integration of retail international theory within broader economic and international business frameworks. In the context of this theoretical material, the paper presents a framework within which international activity may be considered.

The retail internationalisation process

Purpose – This paper aims to consider the process of creating and maintaining brand auras through the assertion of authenticity and to address the gap in the literature.Design/methodology/approach – A case study research strategy was adopted. The organisational processes considered justified the case study approach. Interviews with key actors were supported by other methods of gathering data and the triangulation of findings: documentary analysis and participant observation also provided valuable insights.Findings – The paper evaluates the validity of Beverland's six attributes of authenticity to the brand considered in this research. The results show that three of the attributes are more significant in the case considered here: stylistic consistency, relationship to place and downplaying commercial motives.Research limitations/implications – Future research may wish to consider other mass‐market products and the relative importance of identified sources of authenticity. Consideration should be given to t...

Brand authentication: creating and maintaining brand auras

Multinational retail operations are becoming an increasingly important element in the modern retail environment. Until recently, multinational organisations have been limited in number, particularly because of the inhibiting cultural and organisational problems associated with international retail operations. The under‐researched issue of the motivations which lie behind multinational retail operations is addressed by discussing the findings of earlier relevant research and presenting the findings of a survey carried out among leading United Kingdom multinational retailers. An investigation is made of the motivating factors behind international expansion and the significance of problems encountered. The survey suggests retailers′ attitudes to international operations changed during the 1980s and this has important implications for future developments in multinational retailing.

Retailers and International Markets: Motives for Expansion

The divestment of international retail operations is an under‐explored area of research. Conceptual and theoretical developments within retailing have tended to focus on those organisations that have sustained international development rather than on those organisations who have experienced market failure and strategic withdrawals from international markets. The paper discusses two prominent UK cases where market withdrawal has been a feature of international activity. A cross‐case analysis is then used to identify issues for further research activity. In particular, the cross‐case analysis uses the existing constructs that have emerged from the general literature to explain divestment activity while highlighting the limitations of using these constructs within the retail sector. The paper concludes by noting the limitations of existing frameworks that seek to explain the internationalisation process without due consideration of the divestment process.

Nicholas Alexander

Papers

Global Marketing: A Decision Oriented Approach

The retail internationalisation process

Brand authentication: creating and maintaining brand auras

Retailers and International Markets: Motives for Expansion

International retail divestment