Divestitures have become an important topic on the agenda of many firms, especially during the recent economic downturn. Based upon psychological constructs of cognitions, emotions, and hope, this paper presents a framework to explain how managerial reluctance to divest might evolve in the formation of divestiture decisions and is likely to affect the timing of the divestiture. From this framework, a set of testable propositions is derived and discussed for future empirical research endeavours. The paper concludes that the timing of divestiture decisions can be improved by rationalizing the decision process through the definition of formal divestiture criteria and implementing processes to ensure that divestiture is routinely considered. Moreover, it is important to build managerial and organizational capabilities that recognize divestitures as an unavoidable strategic process to explore future growth opportunities rather than a managerial failure.
Der intensive Wettbewerb in weit gehend gesättigten westlichen Handelsmärkten zwingt viele Manager führender Handelsunternehmen über neue Wachstumsmöglichkeiten nachzudenken. Vor diesem Hintergrund stellt die Diversifikation in neue Handelsformate eine häufig eingeschlagene Wachstumsstrategie auf der Gesamtunternehmensebene dar. Doch die Diversifikation in neue Handelsformate, d.?h. das Zusammenführen von Handelsformaten in einem Portfolio, ist nur unter bestimmten Bedingungen profitabel. Handelsunternehmen sollten die Ausprägungen der Diversifikation und vor allem die Bedingungen deren Profitabilität beachten, um entsprechende Entscheidungen fundiert treffen zu können. Die Profitabilität der Formatdiversifikation variiert im Food-Handel, je danach welche Form der Diversifikation in der Vergangenheit gewählt und umgesetzt wurde.
This study examines the performance implications of the world's leading retailers' assortment diversification behavior over thirteen years (from 1997 to 2009). Results show that assortment diversification into food and non-food retailing increases retailers' sales, while it decreases their profits. Thus, our findings indicate that retailers' decision to diversify across food and non-food assortments results in a trade-off between the objectives of market-based (i.e., sales) and accounting-based (i.e., profits) performance maximization. Moreover, beside the negative effect of assortment diversification on profits, we find suggestive evidence that retailers can decrease the volatility of their profits by diversifying into food and non-food assortments
Press Release - Vom 4. bis 6. Juni 2009 fanden zum dritten Mal die unter der Schirmherrschaft des Retail Lab - eine Initiative des
Forschungszentrums für Handelsmanagement der Universität St.Gallen - ausgerichteten Retail Talent Career Days statt. Bei dem zweitägigen Recruiting Event auf Mallorca stellten Handelsunternehmen ausgewählten Studierenden die Welt der Handelsbranche und deren Karriere-Möglichkeiten vor.
Over the last decades, corporate strategy research on cross-industry diversification has typically perceived industries as homogeneous. This view downplays a firm's strategic options of diversification within its base industry. As a result, little research is available to conceptualize the diversification strategies of multiunit firms within a single industry and empirically investigate why diversified firms in the same industry perform differently. This thesis addresses this research gap by focusing on the diversification behavior of multiunit firms in the global retailing industry over a time period of thirteen years (from 1997 to 2009). Specifically, this thesis explores in three essays how a parent retailer's assortment diversification, retail format diversification, and international diversification decisions are linked to its firm performance. Essay 1 shows that corporate-level assortment diversification into food and non-food retailing increases a corporate parent's costs more than its sales, which in turn decreases its profits over time. In addition, this essay indicates that the relationship between corporate-level assortment diversification into food and non-food retailing and profit variability is an inverted U-shaped curve. Essay 2 conceptualizes related and unrelated retail format diversification based on the similarity of the retail formats' value chains and finds that parent retailers are able to outperform competition by concentrating more intensively on related retail format diversification. In contrast, the results suggest that diversification into unrelated retail formats destroys firm value. In addition, this essay indicates when parent retailers are able to develop implementation capabilities for synergy creation, which in turn enables them to create super-additive value at the corporate level. Essay 3 investigates the relationship between international diversification and firm performance. In particular, this essay examines how a retailer's ownership structure moderates the effects of intra-regional, inter-regional, and total international diversification on firm performance. The findings suggest that public firms are especially well equipped to spread their boundaries more intensively across world regions. In the last section, this thesis develops an actionable plan that can be used by corporate retail managers to develop a thoughtful diversification strategy.
Wagner, T./ Schmitz, C. (2007): Satisfaction In International Channel Relationships: A Local Channel Member Perspective, Proceedings AMA Winter Eudcators 2007 Conference, San Diego, Californien.
The article focuses on consumer confusion related to the wide array of choices in modern society among diverse name brand products. The article focuses on research into how consumers make choices among competing brands and different types of products and services. While some business leaders and economists have termed the large number of choices "consumer democracy," others have identified the problem of "consumer confusion." The article presents research into both the number of choices consumers face and their emotional reactions to having to make a choice.
