For a field of social science to have usefulness, it must have a conceptual framework that explains and predicts a set of empirical phenomena not explained or predicted by conceptual frameworks already in existence in other fields (Shane 2000). This study explored entrepreneurial oppòrtunities within franchising. On the surface, franchising appears to create a system whose underpinnings are standardization, replication, and compliance with detailed long-term contracts--a seemigly unpromising environment in which to explore entrepreneurial opportunities. I argue that heterogeneity and organizational complexity exist among franchising firms, attributes overlooked in studies that characterized the phenomenon narrowly as a uniform, dyadic relationship between franchisors and franchisees. This study found that contractual provisions, franchisee obligations, and organizational hierarchies varied among franchises, and that a relationship existed between the presence of these attributes and differential performance among franchising firms. As a contractual relationship between distinct entities, franchising is governed by a variety of disclosure, trade, and intellectual property laws. Its contractual provisions and formal disclosure documents defme a formal context in which franchising is conducted. In addition to franchising's formal context, an operational realm also exists, one in which daily operations of franchised businesses take place. This study revealed that franchising's operational realm is not always contained within the defined limits of its formal agreements, suggesting greater franchisee discretion may exist than revealed in the agreement. As a result of organizational discontinuities in franchising's formal context, and franchisee discretion within its operational context, diverse opportunities for entrepreneurship exist within franchising beyond the birh of a franchisor's firm.

Supplier integration in category management means that a supplier takes part in the activities that are traditionally performed by retailers. These activities are the selection of which products to sell, decisions on how to price and market the products, and making sure that the products are delivered to the stores in a timely manner. Depending on the situation, an integration of suppliers in these activities can be more or less suitable. As more research is needed to understand when supplier integration in category management is suitable, the purpose of this thesis is to describe and analyze how situational factors affect the relationship consequences of supplier integration in category management. Specifically, the relationship consequences are expressed in terms of relationship performance and interdependence between the firms. The study builds on empirical data about British and Swedish builders’ merchants and their suppliers, with a particular focus on timber suppliers. Data has mainly been collected through participative observations and interviews. Five situational factors that improve the relationship performance of supplier integration in category management are identified: large retailer firms, supplier product knowledge, homogeneity of market demands for the supplier’s products, mutual trust and a shared view on customer value between the supplier and retailer. Three situational factors are identified that affect the interdependence between the retailer and the supplier when supplier integration in category management is implemented: supplier product knowledge, whether the supplier or the retailer initiates the integration and whether coercive or non-coercive power has to be used in the implementation. This thesis contributes to retail literature by highlighting the need to include situational factors in the analysis of supplier integration, clarifying which activities are comprised by category management and suggesting a theoretical foundation based on the resource-based view and the transaction cost framework to analyse relationship performance in retailer-supplier dyads. When making decisions on integration, managers of retailers and their suppliers are advised to consider the fit with their overall strategy, the fit with the surrounding situation and the effects both in terms of interdependence and relationship performance.

The research concerns one of the more central components of store image, that of prestige or status. Relevant literatures include store image, occupational prestige, social class, and life style. The investigation focuses on two primary areas of inquiry. The first concerns establishing the construct validity of store prestige using a structural equations methodology. The second area examines the characteristics which cause individuals to differ in prestige grading and uses a similar methodology. Two scales are used to measure prestige, price, and quality of fifteen stores where clothing can be purchased. The results indicate that for this product class and the stores considered, individuals equate the three image dimensions at near unity. In this study the construct validity of store prestige is not supported. Future research using a broader range of retail institutions and different measurement techniques will lead to more definitive conclusions. Without firm conceptual standing of the measurement of store prestige, the second part of the dissertation is re-conceptualized. Store prestige dissensus and articulation are defined more generally as store image dissensus and articulation. The sample as a whole exhibits a substantial degree of agreement when ranking the stores according to any of the three image dimensions. Yet, for stores which may be considered more high culture, there is significantly less agreement in rankings. Although not statistically significant, there is a substantive trend toward increasing consensus in rankings among groups higher in education, occupational prestige, income, browsing, purchasing, and clothing involvement. Finally, with the exceptions of occupational prestige and income, all of these same characteristics are statistically significant predictors of store image articulation. The dissertation concludes with a model proposing cause and effect linkages of retail cognitive complexity. While the research was not originally pursued from a cognitive psychology framework, the results concerning store image articulation suggest several hypotheses involving the more general concept of cognitive complexity.

Thesis (DTech. degree in Marketing)--Tshwane University of Technology, 2009. / This study focuses mainly on the marketing orientation of a franchisor in the optometric industry. Aspects such as the needs of franchisees with regard to products and services, prices and promotions, distribution, people and processes were investigated.

Written in the wake of the 2007-08 financial crisis, the following essays explore the nature and implications of firm-level financial distress. The first essay examines the external effects of financial distress, while the second and third essays examine its internal consequences. The first essay investigates the potential contagion effects of financial distress among retail firms using a novel measure of retailers' geographic exposure to one another and, in particular, to liquidated chain stores. The second essay draws on new, hand-collected data on firm-level layoff instances to look into the ways in which financial distress impinges on firms' employment behavior. Building on the second essay, the third essay considers financial market reactions to layoff decisions, particularly those resulting from financial strain. Each essay sheds additional light on the ways in which financial distress propagates through to affect the economy at large. Overall, the picture that emerges is one in which firm-level financial distress appears to be an important factor behind the long and protracted nature of the current economic recovery. / Economics

The concept of sustainable consumption is today an important area, due to the fact that humans of the world consume goods and services on a regular basis which contributes towards environmental change and deprivation of both renewable as well as nonrenewable resources. One of the areas that this concept can be applied within is the retail apparel industry. The consumption of clothing is an influential cause of the ongoing environmental alteration and the unsustainable consumption of textile and apparel is becoming an increasingly important phenomena. This study investigates how the retail apparel industry in Shanghai perceive consumers behavior towards sustainable consumption. The Chinese middle class is anticipated to increase a certain percentage the upcoming years. As a result it will lead to a heave in the consumption of all resources which will leave a considerable environmental impact. Sweden is considered to be one of the leading countries when it comes to sustainable living. In order to follow Sweden path of success in sustainable consumption a review has been conducted regarding important drivers which Sweden has adapted in order to improve attitudes towards sustainable consumption. These drivers are then later on compared to Shanghai’s current situation to see if they can be used to achieve the same result in Shanghai as they did in Sweden.The primary data consists of semi-structured interviews which have been conducted in Shanghai with established recycling retailers and Nordic retail vendors with a strong base in Sweden that have managed to establish their brand in China. The research findings that were concluded in the theoretical framework and the organizational review positioned three important drivers that can be used when analyzing the concept of sustainable consumption - consumers, businesses and the government. It has also been empirically proven that in comparison to Sweden where consumer’s behavior and attitudes towards sustainability are increasing and socially accepted, Shanghai demonstrates that the concept of sustainable consumer behavior and consumption is not as equally developed and accepted.

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