IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/amsrev/v5y2015i3d10.1007_s13162-015-0067-7.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Retail capability systems

Author

Listed:
  • Efua Obeng

    (Howard University)

  • John E. Prescott

    (University of Pittsburgh)

  • John Hulland

    (University of Georgia)

  • Robert Gilbert

    (University of Pittsburgh)

  • James Maxham

    (University of Virginia)

Abstract

Drawing on the retail literature, archival records, and managerial interviews, we identify twelve capabilities associated with retail success. These capabilities are hierarchically grouped as foundational or supportive. Foundational capabilities are the basis upon which retail advantages are built, while supportive capabilities principally enhance the value of foundational capabilities. Drawing on systems theory, the loosely coupled systems perspective, and the Resource Based View, we propose that unique combinations of a foundational capability and an interdependent subset of supportive capabilities form four capability systems: brand management, merchandising, service, and market information management. The capability systems are socially complex and causally ambiguous making imitation by rivals particularly difficult. A retailer’s strategy determines the emphasis and focus placed on each of the four capability systems. We use the Miles and Snow (1978) strategy typology and the strategic fit literature to develop propositions linking our four capability systems to Defender, Analyzer, and Prospector strategies. We further propose that maintaining status-quo investments in all capabilities is necessary to achieve competitive parity. Ultimately, our capability systems perspective adds to the retail literature by enhancing our understanding of firm heterogeneity and performance.

Suggested Citation

  • Efua Obeng & John E. Prescott & John Hulland & Robert Gilbert & James Maxham, 2015. "Retail capability systems," AMS Review, Springer;Academy of Marketing Science, vol. 5(3), pages 103-122, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:amsrev:v:5:y:2015:i:3:d:10.1007_s13162-015-0067-7
    DOI: 10.1007/s13162-015-0067-7
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s13162-015-0067-7
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s13162-015-0067-7?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Turley, L. W. & Milliman, Ronald E., 2000. "Atmospheric Effects on Shopping Behavior: A Review of the Experimental Evidence," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 49(2), pages 193-211, August.
    2. Amrit Tiwana & Mark Keil, 2007. "Does peripheral knowledge complement control? An empirical test in technology outsourcing alliances," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(6), pages 623-634, June.
    3. Edward J. Zajac & Matthew S. Kraatz & Rudi K. F. Bresser, 2000. "Modeling the dynamics of strategic fit: a normative approach to strategic change," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(4), pages 429-453, April.
    4. Daniel A. Levinthal & James G. March, 1993. "The myopia of learning," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 14(S2), pages 95-112, December.
    5. Grewal, Dhruv & Levy, Michael & Kumar, V., 2009. "Customer Experience Management in Retailing: An Organizing Framework," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 85(1), pages 1-14.
    6. Anandhi S. Bharadwaj & Sundar G. Bharadwaj & Benn R. Konsynski, 1999. "Information Technology Effects on Firm Performance as Measured by Tobin's q," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 45(7), pages 1008-1024, July.
    7. Rajshree Agarwal & Constance E. Helfat, 2009. "Strategic Renewal of Organizations," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 20(2), pages 281-293, April.
    8. Ingemar Dierickx & Karel Cool, 1989. "Asset Stock Accumulation and Sustainability of Competitive Advantage," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 35(12), pages 1504-1511, December.
    9. Peter Wright & Stephen P. Ferris, 1997. "Agency Conflict And Corporate Strategy: The Effect Of Divestment On Corporate Value," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(1), pages 77-83, January.
    10. Neil A. Morgan & Douglas W. Vorhies & Charlotte H. Mason, 2009. "Market orientation, marketing capabilities, and firm performance," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(8), pages 909-920, August.
    11. David J. Teece & Gary Pisano & Amy Shuen, 1997. "Dynamic capabilities and strategic management," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(7), pages 509-533, August.
    12. Kathleen M. Eisenhardt & Jeffrey A. Martin, 2000. "Dynamic capabilities: what are they?," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(10‐11), pages 1105-1121, October.
    13. Basker, Emek, 2011. "The Causes and Consequences of Wal-Mart’s Growth," Ekonomicheskaya Politika / Economic Policy, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, vol. 5, pages 110-134.
    14. Amrit Tiwana, 2008. "Does interfirm modularity complement ignorance? A field study of software outsourcing alliances," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(11), pages 1241-1252, November.
    15. Thomas C. Powell, 2003. "Varieties of competitive parity," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(1), pages 61-86, January.
    16. Ruth N. Bolton, 1998. "A Dynamic Model of the Duration of the Customer's Relationship with a Continuous Service Provider: The Role of Satisfaction," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 17(1), pages 45-65.
    17. Ingemar Dierickx & Karel Cool, 1989. "Asset Stock Accumulation and the Sustainability of Competitive Advantage: Reply," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 35(12), pages 1514-1514, December.
    18. Palmer, Mark, 2005. "Crossing Threshold Periods in the Retail Life Cycle:: Insights from Wal-Mart International," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 23(6), pages 717-729, December.
    19. Daniel M.G. Raff, 2000. "Superstores and the evolution of firm capabilities in American bookselling," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(10‐11), pages 1043-1059, October.
    20. Wayne S. DeSarbo & C. Anthony Di Benedetto & Michael Song & Indrajit Sinha, 2005. "Revisiting the Miles and Snow strategic framework: uncovering interrelationships between strategic types, capabilities, environmental uncertainty, and firm performance," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(1), pages 47-74, January.
    21. Shantanu Dutta & Om Narasimhan & Surendra Rajiv, 1999. "Success in High-Technology Markets: Is Marketing Capability Critical?," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 18(4), pages 547-568.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Marisela Rodriguez & Francisco Paredes & Gaofeng Yi, 2016. "Towards Future Customer Experience: Trends and Innovation in Retail," Foresight and STI Governance (Foresight-Russia till No. 3/2015), National Research University Higher School of Economics, vol. 10(3), pages 18-28.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Efua Obeng & John Prescott & John Hulland & Robert Gilbert & James Maxham, 2015. "Retail capability systems," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 5(3), pages 103-122, December.
    2. Sudharshan, Devanathan & Furrer, Olivier & Arakoni, Ramesh A., 2013. "Robust Imitation Strategies," FSES Working Papers 446, Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences, University of Freiburg/Fribourg Switzerland.
    3. April M. Franco & MB Sarkar & Rajshree Agarwal & Raj Echambadi, 2009. "Swift and Smart: The Moderating Effects of Technological Capabilities on the Market Pioneering-Firm Survival Relationship," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 55(11), pages 1842-1860, November.
    4. Manisha Mathur, 2022. "Who pulls the strings: firm strategy or firm environment in controlling firm risk?," Journal of Marketing Analytics, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(4), pages 341-359, December.
    5. Hazhir Rahmandad, 2012. "Impact of Growth Opportunities and Competition on Firm-Level Capability Development Trade-offs," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 23(1), pages 138-154, February.
    6. Wenbin Sun & Shanji Yao & Rahul Govind, 2019. "Reexamining Corporate Social Responsibility and Shareholder Value: The Inverted-U-Shaped Relationship and the Moderation of Marketing Capability," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 160(4), pages 1001-1017, December.
    7. Knudsen, Eirik Sjåholm, 2019. "Bad weather ahead: Pre-recession characteristics and the severity of recession impact," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 118-130.
    8. Mehmet Ali Köseoglu & John A. Parnell & Melissa Yan Yee Yick, 2021. "Identifying influential studies and maturity level in intellectual structure of fields: evidence from strategic management," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 126(2), pages 1271-1309, February.
    9. Sora Lee & Jaewon Yoo, 2021. "Determinants of a Firm’s Sustainable Competitive Advantages: Focused on Korean Small Enterprises," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-16, January.
    10. Jan-Erik Vahlne & Jan Johanson, 2017. "From internationalization to evolution: The Uppsala model at 40 years," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 48(9), pages 1087-1102, December.
    11. Liu, Yi & Liao, Yonghai & Li, Yuan, 2018. "Capability configuration, ambidexterity and performance: Evidence from service outsourcing sector," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 200(C), pages 343-352.
    12. Pinho, José Carlos & Prange, Christiane, 2016. "The effect of social networks and dynamic internationalization capabilities on international performance," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 51(3), pages 391-403.
    13. Basu, Sandip & Phelps, Corey & Kotha, Suresh, 2011. "Towards understanding who makes corporate venture capital investments and why," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 26(2), pages 153-171, March.
    14. Frank T. Rothaermel & Andrew M. Hess, 2007. "Building Dynamic Capabilities: Innovation Driven by Individual-, Firm-, and Network-Level Effects," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 18(6), pages 898-921, December.
    15. Koen H. Heimeriks & Geert Duysters, 2007. "Alliance Capability as a Mediator Between Experience and Alliance Performance: An Empirical Investigation into the Alliance Capability Development Process," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(1), pages 25-49, January.
    16. J. P. Eggers & Sarah Kaplan, 2009. "Cognition and Renewal: Comparing CEO and Organizational Effects on Incumbent Adaptation to Technical Change," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 20(2), pages 461-477, April.
    17. Ansari, Shahzad (Shaz) & Krop, Pieter, 2012. "Incumbent performance in the face of a radical innovation: Towards a framework for incumbent challenger dynamics," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(8), pages 1357-1374.
    18. Inseong Song & Jonghoon Bae, 2016. "Politics, strong institution and competitive advantage: an examination of organizational aspiration for competition," Computational and Mathematical Organization Theory, Springer, vol. 22(4), pages 412-443, December.
    19. Heimeriks, K. & Duysters, G.M., 2004. "A study into the alliance capability development process," Working Papers 04.21, Eindhoven Center for Innovation Studies.
    20. Voola, Ranjit & Casimir, Gian & Carlson, Jamie & Anushree Agnihotri, M., 2012. "The effects of market orientation, technological opportunism, and e-business adoption on performance: A moderated mediation analysis," Australasian marketing journal, Elsevier, vol. 20(2), pages 136-146.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:amsrev:v:5:y:2015:i:3:d:10.1007_s13162-015-0067-7. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.