Learning to become a high reliability organization in the food retail business

Luciano Ciravegna and Esteban R. Brenes

Journal of Business Research, 2016, vol. 69, issue 10, 4499-4506

Abstract: This case discusses Selectos, a retail chain based in El Salvador, which was put under severe strain when Walmart entered its domestic market, threatening the leading position it had acquired through many decades of investment. The case illustrates that Selectos succeeded in competing Vis a Vis Walmart because it implemented the principles of high reliability organizations. First, before Walmart entered the market, the Salvadoran company invested time and financial resources to audit its routines, finding several areas of improvement. Second, its core strategy was to focus on continuous improvements in its operations. Third, it engaged its workforce, and especially the shop floor managers, in the process of executing its strategy at the whole corporate level. Fourth, through consultation with the managers of its functional areas, it enacted systems to manage unexpected events, ranging from hurricanes to violent attacks on its facilities (preparation for unexpected events). The case is designed to illustrate how a domestic firm from an emerging market competes with a leading multinational corporation, emphasizing the importance of organizational learning, especially the development of routines and mechanisms that allow for flexibility and adaptability to changes in conditions.

Keywords: Emerging market enterprises; High reliability organizations; Retail; Business strategy; Multinational enterprises (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0148296316300352
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:69:y:2016:i:10:p:4499-4506

DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2016.03.015

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Business Research is currently edited by A. G. Woodside

More articles in Journal of Business Research from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().