Employee absenteeism results in annual productivity losses of approximately $74 billion and reduced profits for some retail stores. The purpose of this single case study was to explore the strategies used to minimize absenteeism and increase productivity outcomes for organizational effectiveness at a retail store in northwest Florida. The targeted population included managers who had success with minimizing absenteeism and enhancing productivity in the retail store. Herzberg's 2-factor theory was the conceptual framework, and semistructured interviews with 5 participants were the primary data collection technique. The secondary data sources included employee absence data and gross profit reports for 3 years (2014 through 2016), publicly displayed goal charts, and the absence policy that employees sign to document receipt and understanding of the policy. Methodological triangulation was established by analyzing and comparing data from the semistructured interviews with the company documents. Based on the NVivo coding tool used to identify word frequencies and thematic analysis, 3 primary themes emerged: leadership support and comradery, effective communication, and competitive compensation. The implications for social change included the potential to provide retail managers with the tools needed to decrease absenteeism, enhance productivity, increase organizational effectiveness, increase profitability in retail stores, and develop quality customer service to improve living conditions.

<p>Technology based self-service (TBSS) used in supermarket self-scanning checkouts is a relatively new phenomenon in Sweden. Studies on TBSS as a self- checkout device have been formerly carried out but with focus on the customer perspective. The authors therefore saw a challenge in covering the self-scan checkout concept, from a company perspective. The purpose of this research paper is to investigate, through a management perspective, the changes brought about by implementing an innovative TBSS system in Swedish supermarkets, and its effect on the competitiveness of the company. This is done by presenting and linking the theoretical framework and empirical study in the research. The theoretical framework of the paper includes the following topics: role and importance of innovation in a business context and TBSS as innovation as well as product life cycle connected to innovation; competitive advantage theory and complementary concepts, value chain theory, and finally the importance of customer relationship management in the ‘new’ self-service economy. The empirical study consists of two Swedish supermarkets in the city of Linköping, Coop Forum and ICA Maxi. Results of the research paper mainly include the following: Changes brought about by implementing technology-based self-service systems in supermarkets must be discussed in the view of short-term and long- term perspectives separately. Changes involve the value creating activities of supermarkets and include increased quality of services to customers. It has been further found that TBSS can add to the competitiveness of supermarkets. However, positive financial results can only be expected in the long-term which in the case of Swedish supermarkets offering TBSS services is not yet apparent. The empirical findings have shown that Coop Forum and ICA Maxi had to carry out changes and make adjustments to their value activities and customer relationship management in order to operate TBSS checkouts successfully. Competitiveness between them has been also affected due to the TBSS service offering.</p>

Technology based self-service (TBSS) used in supermarket self-scanning checkouts is a relatively new phenomenon in Sweden. Studies on TBSS as a self- checkout device have been formerly carried out but with focus on the customer perspective. The authors therefore saw a challenge in covering the self-scan checkout concept, from a company perspective. The purpose of this research paper is to investigate, through a management perspective, the changes brought about by implementing an innovative TBSS system in Swedish supermarkets, and its effect on the competitiveness of the company. This is done by presenting and linking the theoretical framework and empirical study in the research. The theoretical framework of the paper includes the following topics: role and importance of innovation in a business context and TBSS as innovation as well as product life cycle connected to innovation; competitive advantage theory and complementary concepts, value chain theory, and finally the importance of customer relationship management in the ‘new’ self-service economy. The empirical study consists of two Swedish supermarkets in the city of Linköping, Coop Forum and ICA Maxi. Results of the research paper mainly include the following: Changes brought about by implementing technology-based self-service systems in supermarkets must be discussed in the view of short-term and long- term perspectives separately. Changes involve the value creating activities of supermarkets and include increased quality of services to customers. It has been further found that TBSS can add to the competitiveness of supermarkets. However, positive financial results can only be expected in the long-term which in the case of Swedish supermarkets offering TBSS services is not yet apparent. The empirical findings have shown that Coop Forum and ICA Maxi had to carry out changes and make adjustments to their value activities and customer relationship management in order to operate TBSS checkouts successfully. Competitiveness between them has been also affected due to the TBSS service offering.

台灣連鎖零售業發展至今，市場已漸趨成熟，業者亦逐漸累積成功的商業經營模式。然而，連鎖通路勝出的關鍵因子不僅是規模經濟與經營效率，更需要了解每一門市經營效益，具備洞悉當地市場的能力，可以即時發現問題與調整經營方式。例如，如何透過經營活動產生的數值，分析店舖的績效（Ittner and Lacker 1998）；瞭解不同類型門市經營模式的關鍵的經營因素，以及可以提供門市經營變化預警訊息之預警指標，門市經營（李孟熹1994），為連鎖式經營業者應予重視之管理議題，亦為值得深入探討之研究議題。 本研究以國內某3C連鎖零售通路為研究樣本，以其2009年1月至2012年5月的營運數據為資料，實證分析影響該業者門市經營績效的因素。並就商品銷售變化面、營業面積運用效益面與門市獲利面，作進一步之分析。 透過實證模型結果分析，在「商品銷售變化面」，來客數與商品別週邊耗材營業額呈顯著正向關係。週邊耗材商品業績良好與否的變化與門市來客數之增減有密切關係，可做為評估門市經營客群的掌握度。另外，商圈類型為社區型、都市型與鄉鎮型門市商品銷售以2C為主，說明不同商圈類型的門市確實有不同商品組合，門市商品配置時需作調整以利滿足當地顧客購買需求。 在「營業面積運用效益面」，每人負責的坪數與坪效呈顯著負向關係。當每人負責的坪數越大時，該門市的坪效越差，也代表每人業績貢獻度越低，當店業績越少，營業坪數的承租應考量人員守備範圍以利最佳化。 在「門市獲利面」，單一門市經營時，來客數的掌握與特定商圈類型（社區型、都市型與鄉鎮型）門市的週邊配件業績占比可為衡量經營優劣的指標；多家門市共同經商圈時，業績因新設點的加入而擴大，的確透過多家門市可達到較高的商圈覆蓋範圍，在市場上掠奪競爭者的業績；但該商圈的整體獲利鮮少有提升，因需負擔相同的營業費用項目（如租金、人事費用、管理費用），且經營時程拉長，同商圈內的門市相互競爭狀況無法改善，出現將市場越做越小的情形。 / The developments of chain stores market in retailer industry mature gradually right now. Enterprises have accumulated commercial model how to operate successfully as well. However, the key point of success is not only scale economy and operating efficiency, but also operating benefit of per store. Having the ability of insight local market can discover problem and remodel it. For example, we can analyze stores performance by the operation information.（Ittner and Lacker 1998）we can understand the key operation factor in different kind of store. At the same time, that can be a warning sign for observing changing. Stores management is a important issue that enterprise should attach importance to it and it is valuable to investigate deeply. This thesis is based on 3C retailer industry, and the data period is from January, 2009 to May, 2012. Practical demonstration analyzes which kind factors will influence stores performance, and seperately discuss different aspect, sale change of product, average sale of per unit area, and profit &loss to do advanced analysis. According to the result of practical model, in the aspect of changing of product sales, consumer flow is positive related with accessory sales. The increase of the accessory sales will raise consumer flow. On the other hand, marketplace types are community type, city type, and countryside type which sale more consumer product than other marketplace type. So, different market type has different product portfolio, and need to adjust to fit the demand of local customer. In the aspect of average sales per unit area, average space per person is negative related with average sales per unit area. If area space per person is larger, average sales per unit area is less. It also means an average sale per person is lower. If the store sales decrease, we should consider optimizing average space per person. In the aspect of profit & loss on chain stores, accessory ratio can be an indicator whether the operation is excellent on particular marketplace type and consumer flow. When several stores cooperate to manage one marketplace, the sale will increase due to new store adding, and expand the market share. However, the total profit is rarely increasing due to expending double overheads (rental, salary, administration fee, etc.). These stores in same marketplace compete with each other in the long term. If this situation can’t improve, the market share will become more and more less.

The recent explosion of digital data has led the business world to a new era towards a more evidence-based decision making. Companies nowadays collect, store and analyze huge amount of data and the terms such Big Data Analytics are used to define those practices. This paper investigates how Big Data Analytics (BDA) can be perceived and used as a driver for companies’ Competitive Advantage (CA). It thus contributes in the debate about the potential role of IT assets as a source of CA, through a Resource-Based View approach, by introducing a new phenomenon such as BDA in that traditional theoretical background. A conceptual model developed by Wade and Nevo (2010) is used as guidance, where the concept of synergy developed between IT assets and other organizational resources is seen as crucial in order to create such a CA. We focus our attention on the Food Retail industry and specifically investigate two case studies, ICA Sverige AB and Masoutis S.A. The evidence shows that, although this process is at an embryonic stage, the companies perceive the implementation of BDA as a key driver for the creation of CA. Efforts are put in place in order to develop successful implementation of BDA within the company as a strategic tool for several departments, however, some hurdles have been spotted which might impede that practice.

The purpose is to gain a deeper understanding concerning the changes tocommunication and how these changes are perceived from customers and retail companies.Furthermore the intention is to see if these experiences affect the relationship between customer and company through Facebook. This study is based on a combination of quantitative and qualitative approach.Data has been collected with surveys and interviews from two Swedish retail companies and 17 of their customers also participated. The result is based upon the answers from only two Swedish retailcompanies and their customers. Because of the few components involved the findings cannotbe generalized. The findings are that both companies and customers agree regarding the importanceof a company Facebookpage. They also believe the significance of a company beingconstantly active as well. Though they disagree about the main purpose with the company Facebookpage since the customers and companies’ expectations differ. Both parties believethat the company Facebookpage has the possibility to improve the relation however it seemsto depend on personal experiences and opinions when applying to reality-cases. / Syftet med den studie är att få en djupare förståelse för hur den förändrade kommunikationsmöjligheten via Facebook upplevs av kunder och företag inom dagligvaruhandeln. Vidare är syftet att också få en djupare förståelse för hur dessa upplevelserpåverkar relationen mellan kund och företag inom dagligvaruhandeln. Studien bygger på både en kvantitativ och kvalitativ undersökningsmetod. Undersökningen har genomförts med både enkät och intervjuer, på två företag och 17 kunder. Resultatet är endast baserat på två svenska dagligvaruhandelsföretag och desskunder. Studien går inte att generalisera eftersom det är för få komponenter som undersökts. Både kunder och företag är överens om att företag ska ha Facebooksidor, och det ärviktigt att företagen är aktiva på dessa. Däremot är de inte överens om vad huvudsyftet med Facebooksidorna faktiskt är, företagen respektive kunderna har olika önskemål. Båda tror att Facebooksidan kan bidra till en ökad relation men om det i praktiken gör det, varierar pågrund av personliga upplevelser och åsikter. Resultatet är endast baserat på två svenska dagligvaruhandelsföretag och dess kunder. Studien går inte att generalisera eftersom det är för få komponenter som undersökts.

During recent years, technology has played a crucial role in shaping the retail industry. Digitalisation and e-commerce are seen as the future of retailing. However, big online retailers have shown increasing interest in offline shopping by heavily investing in brick and mortar stores. The strategy of a retailer making use of both offline and online channels is called omnichannel strategy. This study investigates why online retailers are investing in physical stores and what is the impact of this decision on their customer base. The study uses a two-step research. First, a case study on the Swedish retailer NetOnNet is conducted to confirm the theoretical framework and build the research model. Then, a quantitative research with questionnaire is used to investigate the impact of an omni-channel strategy on the consumers’ attitudes towards the retailer. The results show that awareness and control are the factors most affected by an omni-channel strategy. Instead, having both an online and offline presence does not have a relevant impact on the factors trust, perceived risk and personalisation.

The year 2000 saw many dot-com companies created and many existing companies going into E-commerce. However, with many companies failing, it is clear that companies need to follow a well thought out strategy for E-commerce. The main research aim was to assist companies towards a successful E-commerce strategy. This research was sponsored by NSB Retail which offers software solutions to high street retailers. Published literature on E-commerce was studied to determine success and failure factors in establishing a viable E-commerce business and lessons that can be learned from this. As a result of the studies of E-commerce company experiences a strategy formulation framework was created to help companies carry out feasibility study and form a strategy for implementing E-commerce. At the heart of this framework were twenty key questions for managers considering entering E-commerce and twelve critical success factors needed for sustained E-commerce success. This strategy formulation framework was tested by applying the initial stages in a feasibility study for an established, traditional retail company to determine whether it should move into E-commerce. The later stages of the framework were then retrospectively applied to successful and unsuccessful E-commerce companies. The case studies were also used to investigate whether traditional business and marketing theory could still be applied to an E-commerce company. To further test the concepts behind the strategy formulation framework, a series of papers were submitted to peer reviewed conferences and journals. Feedback from the reviews of these papers and from the audiences at the conferences was very positive and showed that the experiences of experts in the E-commerce field generally agreed with the findings. Investigations from the research has also revealed there is a shortage of case study material for training E-commerce workers. Three case studies used in this research were published in an MBA course book to be used by Ball State and other universities. It is concluded that this research has made a valuable contribution for companies contemplating an investment in E-commerce, and further work is identified to continue to assist companies to form a strategy for E-commerce implementation in the future.

近年來行動網路及數位商務的蓬勃發展，促使O2O(Online to Offline/ Offline to Online)模式的興起。如何有效的結合實體通路與電子商務平台，以發展線上及線下之O2O模式，已成為提升產業競爭力的重要關鍵。 銷售商品不只透過實體店面進行販售，網路的普及化造就了網路銷售平台的架設，大型的購物平台對於零售業產生巨大的影響，因此企業不得不將實體及網路做整合。在傳統的電子商務，不外乎為 B2B、B2C、C2C 等型態，這些模式均屬於單方面虛擬店面的交易。隨著智慧型手機的普及，行動商務已是企業不可忽視的商機。 在現今的社會裡，網際網路帶動了電子商務的流行趨勢，也引導企業走向資訊化行銷的經營模式。利用虛實整合的策略，可以在真實世界與網路虛擬世界間，搭起一座溝通的橋樑，由傳統企業擴展電子商務的市場。在網際網路新世紀中，唯有把實體與虛擬作良好的整合，才能建立並維持競爭優勢。 當企業將實體及網路零售做整合時，實體店面增加了網路上的通路宣傳資源，方便追蹤消費者每筆消費紀錄，對企業來說能夠更輕鬆掌握消費者數據，可以提升對消費者的營銷效果及維護。本論文研究探討對於線上線下的整合，是否有利整體績效呈現，運用對O2O的文獻回顧探討線上線下的整合如何提升營運績效與競爭力。 / In recent years, the vigorous development of the action network and digital commerce has prompted the rise of the O2O model (Online to Offline/ Offline to Online). How to effectively combine physical access and e-commerce platform to develop the model O2O of online and offline has become an important key to enhance the competitiveness of the industry. Sales goods are there are nothing more than pattern sold through physical stores, but the popularization of Internet has created the network sales platform. Large shopping platforms have a huge impact on the retail industry, so enterprises have to integrate entities and networks. In the traditional e-commerce, not only for B2B, B2C, C2C, and so on, these patterns belong to the unilateral virtual store transaction. With the popularity of smart phone, mobile commerce is a business is a business opportunity to be reckoned with in enterprises. In today's society, the Internet has led to the trend of e-commerce, and also leads to the business model of information marketing. The strategy of virtual reality integration can set up a bridge of communication between the real world and the virtual world of the Internet, and expand the market of e-commerce by traditional enterprises. In the new century of the Internet, the competition advantage can be established and maintained only if the entity and the virtual are well integrated. When enterprises integrate entities and online retailers, the physical stores increase the channel publicity resources on the Internet, which is easy to track consumers' consumption records, and can easily grasp the consumer data, and enhance the effectiveness of consumer marketing and maintenance. This paper investigates whether the integration of online and offline whether beneficial to the overall performance or not, and uses literature reviews of O2O to explore how online-offline integration can improve operational performance and competitiveness.

Handelsbranschen utgör en betydande del av den svenska arbetsmarknaden och har under senare år stått inför stora förändringar till följd av den växande näthandeln, något som kan tänkas ha förändrat situationen för säljare i fysiska butiker. För att undersöka hur anställda i detaljhandel upplever sin arbetssituation har kvalitativa intervjuer med personer från sport- och fritidsbutiker genomförts. Säljarnas arbetssituation förstås utifrån upplevelsen av vilka krav som ställs i arbetet, möjligheten att påverka arbetssituationen och vilket socialt stöd som ges, således tolkas säljarnas upplevelser med hjälp av Karaseks och Theorells krav-kontroll-stödmodell som kompletterats med en fördjupad del om stöd till lärande och utveckling. Det empiriska resultatet visar att kundbemötande och service upplevs vara det största och viktigaste kravet att leva upp till. Dessutom ställs kvantitativa krav på säljarna i form av att arbetsgruppen ska leva upp till dagliga försäljningsmål. Till följd av begränsade möjligheter att påverka arbetstidens förläggning och en vilja att spara in på personalresurser, kan perioder av hög arbetsbelastning leda till upplevelsen att inte hinna utföra arbetsuppgifterna på utsatt tid. Socialt stöd framstår som en viktig förutsättning som möjliggör att säljarna lyckas hantera kraven som ställs i arbetet och utökar möjligheten att själv påverka när och hur arbetet utförs. Särskilt avgörande är möjligheten att kunna lämna över arbetsuppgifter till sina kollegor, något som däremot förutsätter att enskilda säljare i arbetsgruppen har tillräcklig kunskap och kompetens för att kunna utföra arbetsuppgifter på olika avdelningar i butiken. Trots att kundbemötandet uppges vara det enskilt största kravet i yrket som butikssäljare, upplevs däremot varken tillräckligt fokus eller tillräckliga resurser läggas på att utveckla säljarna i just det avseendet. / The retail industry is a significant part of the Swedish labor market and has in recent years been facing major changes because of the growing ecommerce. Something that may have changed the situation for sellers in physical stores. To investigate how employees in retail industry experience their work situation, have qualitative interviews with people from sport shops been conducted. The sellers’ work situation is understood based on the experience of the demands placed on the worker, the possibility of influencing the work situation and what kind of social support is provided. The theoretical framework underpinning the experiences is Karsek’s and Theorell’s job demand-control-social support model, which is supplemented by an in-depth section on support for learning and development. The empirical result shows that costumer service is perceived to be the biggest and most important demand to live up to. In addition, quantitative demands are set for the sellers in the form of the working group living up to the daily sales goals. Due to limited opportunities to influence the organization of working hours and a willingness to save on human resources, periods of high workload can lead to the experience of not having to carry out their tasks on time. The social support facilitates the sellers’ ability to fulfill their tasks, manage the demands and extend the possibility to influence when and how the work is done. Particularly crucial is the possibility of handing over tasks to other colleagues, which, on the other hand, requires that individual employees in the working group have sufficient knowledge and competence to be able to perform tasks in different departments in the store. Although customer satisfaction is said to be the single largest recruitment in the profession as a store salesman, neither sufficient focus nor sufficient resources are devoted to developing salespeople in that regard particularly.