Publication Type
Journal Article
Version
acceptedVersion
Publication Date
7-2012
Abstract
Entry into international markets is a challenging process that fundamentally tests existing capabilities. During this entry process, capability gaps arise that need to be bridged to exploit the commercial opportunity and grow the business. Using a global retailer, Tesco plc, as a case study and employing grounded theory development techniques, we find that to achieve growth, two organizational attributes become critical—structural coherence of the firm’s capabilities and organizational identity. We identify three processes of capability development during market entry—transference, splicing and enhanced imitation. Further, actions and processes that maintain or adapt organizational identity serve as moderators of the relationship between these processes and the capability deployment and internalization necessary for entry into international markets. We discuss the study’s implications for theories of capability development, organizational identity and foreign market entry.
Keywords
Capability development, retail, strategy, Tesco
Discipline
Business | International Business | Strategic Management Policy
Research Areas
Strategy and Organisation
Publication
Journal of Economic Geography
Volume
12
Issue
5
First Page
1021
Last Page
1054
ISSN
1468-2702
Identifier
10.1093/jeg/lbs016
Publisher
Oxford University Press
Citation
LOWE, Michelle; GEORGE, Gerard; and ALEXY, Oliver.
Organizational Identity and Capability Development in Internationalization: Transference, Splicing, and Enhanced Imitation in Tesco’s US Market Entry. (2012). Journal of Economic Geography. 12, (5), 1021-1054.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/lkcsb_research/4659
Copyright Owner and License
Authors
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Additional URL
https://doi.org/10.1093/jeg/lbs016