Barcode Empires: Politics,Digital Technology,and Comparative Retail Firm Strategies |
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Authors: | Bartholomew C Watson |
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Institution: | (1) Charles and Louise Travers Department of Political Science, University of California, Berkeley, 210 Barrows Hall #1950, Berkeley, CA 94720–1950, USA |
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Abstract: | Like other service sectors, information technology has dramatically altered the growth and character of the retail trade sector
in the affluent economies. Nevertheless, significant variation exists in the typical strategies of retail firms in different
countries. This article explores this variation and proposes an explanation for why retailers achieved scale and solved their
make, buy, and partner decisions along such different trajectories. It argues that national bases for scale retailing were
shaped by a series of political negotiations starting in the 1960s and 1970s. This demonstrates once again that technology
implementation is rarely determined by the technology itself, but more often by social and political rules. Future technology
platforms, such as web-based or mobile commerce, should be expected to follow similar political logics. As multinational retailing
firms spread around the globe, this has important implications for national competition policy. |
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