EconPapers    
Economics at your fingertips  
 

The Intrafirm Context of Retail Expansion Planning

Steve Wood and Jonathan Reynolds
Additional contact information
Steve Wood: School of Management, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, England
Jonathan Reynolds: Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, Park End Street, Oxford OX1 1HP, England

Environment and Planning A, 2011, vol. 43, issue 10, 2468-2491

Abstract: The benefits that rigorous analysis can have for retail-store portfolio management in guiding and informing investment decisions (store expansion, closure, extension, refascia, and acquisition) is well established within the economic geography research literature. However, studies of retailers addressing location planning in practice have identified wide variation in the sophistication of techniques and resources employed as well as in terms of the credibility that such research and analysis receives from senior management within the firm. By drawing on a qualitative research project involving some forty location planning analysts, consultants, and managers at UK-based retailers, we differentiate between three approaches to store portfolio decision-making that differ in terms of resource allocation, sophistication, and legitimacy. We seek to explain those differences that are embedded within the context of intrafirm relations and social communities by drawing on theories from strategic management concerning core rigidities, lock-in, and legitimisation, and review the challenges that location planners face in gaining legitimacy within the organisation, along with strategies appropriate for increasing their acceptance and influence across the firm.

Date: 2011
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1068/a43503 (text/html)

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:sae:envira:v:43:y:2011:i:10:p:2468-2491

DOI: 10.1068/a43503

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Environment and Planning A
Bibliographic data for series maintained by SAGE Publications ().

 
Page updated 2025-03-19
Handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:43:y:2011:i:10:p:2468-2491