Abstract/Summary

To enter foreign markets in unfamiliar countries and succeed, transnational retailers (TNRs) should focus on addressing various questions such as when, why, where and how to enter host countries in sequential staged processes: pre-entry, entry and post-entry (expansion and embedding stages). This study has following objectives: To identify the main factors and general strategies for long-term performances in different stages; To suggest differential strategies for catching-up with and overtaking indigenous retailers; To determine the reasons for exit and divestment of Walmart and Carrefour in 2006, and TESCO in 2016 from South Korea, and the reasons for the entries and losses of E-Mart and Lotte-Mart in China. This Ph.D. thesis examines and demonstrates the relationship between various selections and long-term performance of retailers in four chapters for verifying the study purposes. There still exists a lack of empirical research in the sequential corporate real estate (CRE) path of expansion in pre-entry, entry, expansion, and embedding stages. Chapter 3 aims to verify the relationships between LERs and time selection of retailers and stores, and discusses the time selection and late entrant advantages (LEAs). The survival of LERs and stores is influenced by the time selection in the pre-entry stage. Chapter 4 is analyzes the subject of market share influenced by the paths of CRE expansion of TNRs in the subsequent stage and identifies TNRs' reasons and motives to enter a host country in the entry stage. Chapter 5 verifies and analyzes how this survival is influenced by the location selection and CRE expansion in the expansion stage. The results of hypotheses testing in this study show the following relationship both survival long-term performance and CRE expansion of TNRs in the expansion stage. Chapter 6 has verified what influence that retailer's store choice paths have on the CRE values in the embedding stage and also determines the reasons for sample retailers' exit and losses from host countries. This dissertation has contributed to CRE path analysis and CRE expansion of retail internationalization theories in terms of OLI model and CREM. This work focuses on (1) CRE path analysis, (2) business decisions including those related to early or late entry into the market and channel strategy, (3) sequential CRE expansion: pre-entry, entry and store choice, expansion, settling and embedding stages, and (4) exit strategies. This study attempted to identify various aspects of TNRs' events and chapters added to our knowledge regarding international retail business expansion, survival of TNRs, and eventually how to catch up with indigenous retailers in the local markets. For overcoming their own disadvantages, retailers should choose, match, and focus on the most important selection factors: time, location, and management.