Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the role played by leadership in divestment decision making and indeed during the corporate restructuring phase for retail organisations. In doing so, the paper aims to contribute to a growing body of research that seeks to develop...

Purpose – This paper seeks to examine the internationalisation process of small, specialist retailers with the aim of identifying the key characteristics that define this specific category of international retailer. Design/methodology/approach – Qualitative case studies of nine UK‐based...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the internationalisation process of small, specialist retailers with the aim of identifying the key characteristics that define this specific category of international retailer. Design/methodology/approach – Qualitative case studies of nine...

Purpose – In the stakeholder marketing literature, there have been calls by several researchers to expand the stakeholder domain to incorporate a broader array of stakeholders. In developing this argument in this paper the authors aim to explore a set of stakeholder relationships in an...

Purpose – The purpose of this research is to specifically explore the role of management characteristics in the international development of SMEs. Design/methodology/approach – Since the intention of this study was to build theory from an unexplored area of research, a multiple case approach...

Franchising is fast becoming one of the most popular entry mode strategies for international retail companies when moving into international markets. Academic research, however, has only recently begun to examine international franchising within the context of retailer internationalisation. A...

Purpose – This paper aims to explore the nature of divestment within the context of retailer internationalisation. Design/methodology/approach – It focuses on the activities of the Dutch food multinational retailer Royal Ahold (Ahold). Drawing on 37 in‐depth interviews with investment...

International retailers are increasingly using franchising as a means of entering foreign markets. However, international retail franchising lacks a conceptual basis from which an explanation of the major elements of this activity can be generated. Agency theory and its major premises of...

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...

Franchising has become a major driving force in the globalisation of service businesses. Likewise, international retailing has become an important feature of global distribution systems. This has been brought about through changing socio‐economic patterns, favourable political and cultural...