John Dawson

Specialist in Retail Innovation

Research Themes

Whilst some of the recent research has continued themes in retailing that have been under exploration for many years, new areas are now being explored. Research, publication and doctoral supervision are mainly in five areas. These are:

1. The nature of change and innovation in European retailing
2. International activity of retailers
3. e-retailing and information management in retailing
4. The measurement of performance in retailing and distribution
5. Inter-relationships between European and Asian approaches to retail management

This is a long-term programme of study involving, over 30 years, many inter-related projects. Whilst it began in the 1960s, using statistical sources it has become, since the mid 1980s more firmly based around an on-going interview programme with retailers, suppliers of goods and services to retailers, and various public sector bodies involved in policies towards retailers and wholesalers. The overall aim is to understand the dynamics of retail firms and the changes in structure of the retail sector within the context of the changes, particularly ones with a spatial dimension, in European economy, society and politics. Whilst this is a long term research strand there are still many projects needed before we have a full understanding of the way retailing in Europe has developed over the last 60 years or so.

Examples of major current research issues requiring more research in the general area of contemporary structural change include:

the nature of the concentration process in retail markets,
the changes in branding activity by retailers,
the processes that result in format adaption and formulae creation,
the link between vertical and horizontal competitive processes affecting retailers, and many others.

There is also need for more historical work on structural-spatial change so that a better understanding is possible of the origins of current structural change. The various European retail censuses undertaken between the early 1930s and mid 1950s provide a valuable detailed research resource that has been used barely at all to analyse historical change using contemporary methods.

There is still a strong need for more conceptual and empirical work within a European framework. Such work would enable advances in theory and in its application to the management of retail firms.

Some papers on these topics over the last 10 years include:

• Wholesale distrbution: The chimera in the channel. International Review of retailing, Distribution and Consumer Research, 2007, 17(4), 313-326
• Factores determinantes del nuevo papel de la distribución minorista en Europa, Información Comercial Española, 2006 828, 11-24 (with Marta Frasquet Deltoro)
• Retail trends in Europe, in: M Krafft and M K Mantrala (editors) Retailing in the 21st century, Springer, Berlin 2006 pp 41-58 ISB
• New cultures, new strategies, new formats and new relationships in European retailing: Some implications for Asia, Journal of Global Marketing 2005, 18(1/2), 73-97
• Retail change in Britain during 30 years: The strategic use of economies of scale and scope. In: Distribution and Society in Modern Japan: Essays in Honour of Yoshiaki Shiraishi, Minerva Press, Kobe, 2004, pp 56-68
• Is there a new commerce in Europe? International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research, 2001, 11(3), 287-299.
• Retail investment in central Europe and its implications. Thexis, 2001, 18(3), 23-28.

The background to some of these studies is provided in John Dawson, Anne Findlay and Leigh Sparks, The Retailing Reader, published by Routledge in 2008.

T

One of the features of retailing, across the world, has been its strong domestic operational orientation compared with the manufacturing sector and some other service sectors. In sourcing activity, however, retailing has had a strong international presence for many centuries. In retail operations although the history is extensive the number of firms involved has been small until the last decade or so of the twentieth century. Not only has there been extensive cross border movement within Europe, since the early 1980s, but also an increasing number of retailers are moving inter-continentally.

Research on this topic has expanded considerably in recent work with a number of joint projects with Professor Masao Mukoyama and his team of researchers at University of Marketing and Distribution Science, Kobe. These projects have been exploring the nature of adjustments made by retailers as they move to and develop stores in new countries. This work is continuing with a major study underway on Global Portfolio Strategies of retailers. R

Publications around this theme are:

• Categorizing patterns and processes in retail grocery internationisation, Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 15, 2008, 78-92 (with Steve Burt, Keri Davies and Leigh Sparks)
• Scoping and contextualising retailer internationalisation, Journal of Economic Geography, 2007, 7(4), 373-397
• The acceptance and adaptation of a foreign retail format: the case of the convenience store in Taiwan in the 1980s and 1990s, International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 2007, 4(1) 17-40 (with Florence Yuan-Huei Chang)
• Strategic issues in international retailing, Routledge, London 2006 (jointly edited with M Mukoyama and R Larke) 218 pp ISBN 0-415-34371-2
• International retailing plans and strategies in Asia, Haworth Press, Binghamton, 2005 (jointly edited with Jung-Hee Lee) 207pp ISBN 0-7890-2888-3
• International divestment of European grocery retailers, European Management Journal 2004, 22(5), 483-492 (joint author with Steve Burt and Leigh Sparks)
• Failure in international retailing; research propositions. International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research, 13(4), 355-373, 2003 (joint author with Steve Burt and Leigh Sparks)
• Towards a model of the impacts on retail internationalisation. In: J Dawson, M Mukoyama, S Chul Choi and R Larke (editors) The Internationalisation of Retailing in Asia, Routledge-Curzon, London, 189-209, 2003
• The internationalization of grocery retailing in Poland after 1989. In: M A Marinov (editor) Internationalization in Central and Eastern Europe, Ashgate, Burlington, 169-180, 2002 (joint author with John Henley)
• Risks and rewards in being an international retailer. British Retail Consortium Yearbook, 93-97, 2002
• Strategy and opportunism in European retail internationalization. British Journal of Management, 12(4), 253-266, 2001
• Internationalisation of Hypermarket Retailing in Poland: Western European Investments and its Implications, Journal of East-West Business, 5(4), 37-52, 2000 (joint author with John Henley)
• Internationalisation of retailing in Poland: Foreign hypermarket development and its implications. In: K. Jones (ed) The Internationalisation of Retailing in Europe. Centre for Study of Commercial Activity, Toronto, 22-27, 1999 (joint author with John Henley)
• Internationalisation of Retailing in Poland: The economics of scarcity. In: P Chadraba and R Springer (eds) Proceedings of 6th Annual Conference on Marketing Strategies for Central and Eastern Europe. Economics University, Vienna, 1998, pp 320-340 (joint author with John Henley)
• Recent developments and opportunities in retailing in Poland. In Proceedings of Conference, Structure and Practice in Trade and Services, Vilnius, October 30-31', University of Vilnius, 23-30 1998 (joint author with John Henley)
• Internationalization of retailing operations. Journal of Marketing Management, 10(4), 267-282, 1994
• L'internazionalizzazione del commercio al dettaglio inglese. Commercio, 40, 9-19, 1992

The convergence of information and communication technologies has had a big impact on almost all the processes involved in retailing. The management of information has enabled new relationships to be developed by retailers both with their customers and with their suppliers. Effective management of the information has also enabled the more efficient execution of processes involved with the internal functioning of retailing. Thus retailers are able to customise relationships and processes at the front of the shop whilst standardising processes at the back of the shop. This progression of customization and standardisation has facilitated the development of e-retailing, using individualised communication with customers supported by highly effective standardised logistics and buying. Research in this area was initially on IT impacts but more recently is moving into areas associated with consumer responses to e-retailing. A new project involves research on fuzzy applications in expert systems as related to retailing. The work is in association with researchers at ESADE, Barcelona.

There are as yet few academically rigorous studies of the processes of e-retailing, of the impacts and interactions of e-retailing with more traditional channels, and of optimal cost structures, marketing policies , service relationships, etc within multi-channel retail firms. Research into these, and related areas, needs to be undertaken so that a better understanding can be obtained of whether existing theory and practice is relevant to e-retail activity.

Publication is this area:

• Ranking Features by means of a Qualitative Optimisation Process (joint author with Xari Rovira, Yu-Chiang Hu, Monica Sanchez, Francesc Prats, Josep Sayeras)
• Forecasting customer's behaviour in the Spanish grocery industry: Identifying the customers who are going to buy online (joint author with Monica Casabayo and Nuria Agell)
• Comparing the impacts of internet technology and national culture on online usage and purchase from a four-country perspective, Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 2004, 11, 385-394 (joint author with Eric C C Shiu)
• Cross-national consumer segmentation of internet shopping for Britain and Taiwan, Service Industries Journal, 2002, 22(1), 147-166 (joing author with Eric C C Shiu)
• e-retailing in Europe. Paper to Marketing for e-commerce conferences, Barcelona, March and October, 2000

The retail sector has often been the poor relation in the provision of official statistics. There are many reasons for this not least those relating to the significant operational differences between manufacturing and retailing and to the rapidity of change in retailing that can render definitions obsolete before they are widely applied. The cultural specificity of retailing also poses particular issues for measurement and comparisons. Research in this area has encompassed studies of the statistical framework of retailing and recently ahs focuses on attempts to measure the concepts of competitiveness and customer service in a distribution context. A statistical series on retail sales in Scotland, sponsored for several years to 2007 by Royal Bank of Scotland, is published monthly. A project underway within the Centre for Study of Retailing in Scotland (www.csrs.ac.uk) explains the development of GIS methods in the study of retailing in Scotland. These techniques have been used in a study of access to healthy food items in Scotland. This study has been sponsored by Food Standards Agency Scotland and full and shortened reports are available from them.

Publications in this area:

• Monthly Retail Sales Monitor for Scotland. Produced jointly with Jake Ansell. Published in association with Scottish Retail Consortium.
• Accessing Healthy Food: A Sentinel Mapping Study of Healthy Food Retailing in Scotland (Food Standards Agency Scotland, Aberdeen) 2 volumes and summary (jointly with D Marshall, M Taylor, S Cummins, L Sparks and A Anderson) 127pp, 90pp and 28pp, 2008
• The CRM process in retail and service sector firms in Japan: Loyalty development and financial return, Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 15(5), 375-385, 2008 (with Chieko Minami)
• The development of a healthy eating indicator shopping basket tool (HEISB) to assess food access - concepts and practicalities, Public Health Nutrition 10(12), 1440-1447, 2007 (with D Marshall, M Taylor, S Cummins, A Anderson and L Sparks)
• Output considerations in retail productivity, International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research, 15(3), 337-349, 2005
• Employment and competitiveness. In: Commerce 99. Office for Official Publications of European Communities, Luxembourg. 2000, pp 43-54
• Distribution. Volume 29, Reviews of United Kingdom Statistical Sources, Chapman and Hall, London, 1992 274pp (jointly with C Moir)

Retailing is a response to culture at micro and macro levels. Whilst there is communality across cultures in respect of technical systems used in retailing there are major differences in managerial style and consumer needs and perceptions that relate to cultural nuances. This is very evident at macro level in the different approaches to retailing in Asia and Europe and at micro level with these two major culture realms. Research undertaken on this topic has been mainly on Japanese retailing and the intention is to broaden out this research to explore contrasts within and between national cultures. Whilst work on this topic went into abeyance during the 1990s, following some studies in Japan and several doctoral dissertations on Malaysia, it is planned to develop this theme in coming years. The creation of the Society for Asian Research in Distribution, based in The University of Marketing and Distribution Sciences, Kobe, will encourage more research in this area through its regular research meetings and conferences.

Publications in this area:

• The acceptance and adaptation of a foreign retail format: the case of the convenience store in Taiwan in the 1980s and 1990s. International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 4(1) 17-40, 2006 (with Florence Yuan-Huei Chang)
• The role of medium-sized firms in retail change in Japan. International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research, 15(4), 401-422, 2005 (joint author with Roy Larke)
• International retailing plans and strategies in Asia. Haworth Press, Binghampton, (jointly edited with Jung-Hee Lee) 207pp 2005
• New cultures, new strategies, new formats and new relationships in European retailing: Some implications for Asia. Journal of Global Marketing 18(1/2), 73-97 2005
• Japanese retailing through the 1990s: Retailer performance in a decade of slow growth. British Journal of Management, 15(1), 73-94, 2004 (joint author with Roy Larke)
• The Internationalisation of Retailing in Asia. J Dawson, M Mukoyama, S Shul Choi and R Larke [editors]. Routledge-Curzon, London, 2003
• Cross-national consumer segmentation of internet shopping for Britain and Taiwan. Service Industries Journal, 22(1), 147-166, 2002 [joint author with Eric Shiu]
• The applicability of cyclical and conflict models of retail change to Taiwan: A preliminary exploration. Journal of Asia-Pacific Business, 4(1), 67-81, 2002 [joint author with Eric Shiu]
• Demographic segmentation of shoppers at traditional markets and supermarkets in Taiwan. Journal of Segmentation in Marketing, 4(2), 69-85, 2001 [joint author with Eric Shiu]
• Japanese retailing through the 1990s: Retailer performance in a decade of slow growth. In: H J Gianotten, R A Thurik and W J M Reijnders [editors] Proceedings of 11th International Conference on Research in the Distributive Trades, Tilburg University, 2001, 14pp. [joint with R Larke]
• Cross national consumer segmentation of internet shopping for Britain and Taiwan. In: Proceedings International Conference on Service Management, Université d'Angers, 2001, 409-424. [joint with E Shiu]
• Japanese retailing in a decade of slow growth. In :E.Ortega et al [editors] Applications of Science Technology and Art in Marketing, Universidad Complutense, Madrid, 151-160 [with R Larke]
• Japanese retailing : movement to the post-traditional stage. Journal of Japanese Trade and Industry, 8(2), 54-55, 1989
• Japanese distribution. In : G Bull [editor] The Japanese Market. Anglo-Japanese Economic Institute, London, 10-27, 1989
• Japanese retailing. Retail, 7(2), 42-43, 1989) (reprinted and translated in Journal of Consumer Co-operative Institute, 5(9), 65-70, 1990)

A full list of publications is available on request - please e-mail me.