International retailers' strategic responses to institutional environment of emerging market : Multiple case studies in China

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze the international retailers' strategic responses to the institutional environment in emerging markets. Design/methodology/approach – Based on in‐depth interviews with top managers from a grounded‐theory perspective, the research provides a comprehensive analysis of the implications of the institutional environment for the strategic choices of international retailers in an emerging market, especially in China. Findings – The international retailer's strategic choices are often identified as pragmatism, dynamism, public policy‐orientation, seeking lead position in the market and decentralization if the institutional distance between the home country and host country is high. Moreover, when international retailers can commit to cultivating local markets and creating shared added value, they are better able to respond proactively to an institutional environment that is geared to a collective social network and still in a phase of transition. Research limitations/implications – This paper focuses on only one country, China. Originality/value – The major value of this paper is to highlight the specificities of international retailers' strategic responses to the institutional environment of an emerging market. Attention to these specificities would enable researchers to analyze better the reality of retail internationalization process in an emerging market.