Anna Jonsson

Knowledge and knowledge sharing in retail internationalization: IKEA's entry into Russia

Abstract Research on retail internationalization and internationalization in general acknowledges the relevance of knowledge management and organizational learning, even though there is a lack of discussion about the specific constructs and approaches that would be most fruitful. The central role of knowledge sharing in the internationalization process is rarely stressed. Furthermore, the specificities of retailing are likely to require special considerations if we are to be able to develop a theoretical as well as a practical understanding of knowledge and knowledge sharing in the internationalization process. The aim of this paper, therefore, is to develop a tentative approach to knowledge and knowledge sharing in international retailing based upon previous literature about knowledge sharing and the internationalization process and a case study of IKEAs entry into the Russian market.

A transnational perspective on knowledge sharing: Lessons learnt from IKEAs entry into Russia, China and Japan

When adopting the view of the multinational corporation (MNC) as a transnational corporation, subsidiaries become strategic partners. It is important to recognize that within the MNC knowledge may originate also from subsidiaries and thus flow in different directions. The aim of the article is to understand the role of multiple knowledge flows when international retail firms enter new markets. A qualitative case study of IKEA is reported which focuses on lessons learnt from entering Russia, China and Japan. The discussion centres on forward, reverse and lateral knowledge flows within the IKEA world. Taking a transnational perspective stresses the need to understand multiple knowledge flows in order to secure both differentiation and integration.

Challenges to knowledge sharing across national and intra-organizational boundaries: Case studies of IKEA and SCA Packaging

The aim of this article is to increase the understanding of how institutional forces and organizational context, in parallel with cognitive issues, impact knowledge sharing within multinational corporations (MNCs). Furthermore, the aim is to elaborate on differences between industries by comparing and contrasting a retail firm with a manufacturing firm. The focus is on IKEA and SCA Packaging and their efforts to share knowledge across national and intra-organizational boundaries. Despite differences between these two MNCs, the case studies illustrate that the will to share and absorb knowledge is very much influenced by institutional forces, as well as by the ways in which organizations are structured and controlled.

Beyond knowledge management – understanding how to share knowledge through logic and practice

The aim of this paper is to develop our understanding of how knowledge is shared within a professional service firm. Insights from a 1-year ethnographic study suggest that it is important to go beyond the ‘theoretical limitations’ of knowledge management in order to understand how to manage knowledge within a firm. From the analysis of how knowledge is shared in practice, three logics emerge that help us understand not only how, but also why knowledge is shared among professionals within a professional service firm. A conceptual framework regarding how to better understand sharing, handling and developing knowledge within an organization is discussed, and implications for managers and future research are outlined.

A thematic analysis of research on global sourcing and international purchasing in retail firms

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to offer a thematic analysis of global sourcing and international purchasing issues in international retail firms. Design/methodology/approach – We review literature that addresses purchasing/sourcing activities of retail firms in foreign markets. We categorize this literature into different themes and analyse how these themes are conceptually or empirically linked to performance. We then use the thematic analysis as a foundation for suggesting potential avenues for future research. Findings – Four distinct themes emerge from our literature review. Originality/value – There is a lack of research that addresses how retail firms can extract value from global sourcing and international purchasing activities. A thematic review, along with a careful classification of different themes, could lead to an enhanced understanding of the processes and objectives that underpin global sourcing and international purchasing activities in retail firms.

The bumpy road to exercising leadership: Fragmentations in meaning and practice

The present study focuses on a manager’s understanding of leadership and how this guides – or does not guide practice. The paper reports an empirical in-depth study of a middle manager in an international manufacturing company. We link our discussion to both – the mainstream leadership studies, which assume that managers have a solid type of leadership behavior, and authors with a meaning-oriented, linguistic approach to leadership, in which language, self-awareness, and behavior are linked. The present study suggests that leadership attempts can vary, be divisive, and that a manager’s advocacy efforts are driven by a multitude of different, partly opposing, forces, meaning a decoupling of ideas and behavior in leadership practice. The paper raises the question of whether managers’ meanings of leadership correspond with what they do in practice.

The Influence of a Retail Firm’s Geographic Scope of Operations on Its International Online Sales

ABSTRACT While previous research has advocated the use of online sales channels as a driver for international expansion, the nature of the relationship between e-commerce and international sales is still unexplored. The purpose of this paper is to create a parsimonious model where we investigate whether, and to what extent, strategies pertaining to the geographical scope of international operations moderate the effect that online sales channel adoption has on international sales of retail firms. Based on a sample of 562 Swedish retail firms, using a multiple regression method, we are able to demonstrate that online sales channel adoption has a positive effect on international sales. The effect is, however, negatively moderated by geographical export scope. The study contributes to research focusing on e-commerce in internationalizing retailing firms by specifically demonstrating that strategic considerations related to the geographical scope of operations are likely to have significant effects on their international sales performance.

Professional blinders? The novel as an eye-opener in organizational analysis

ABSTRACT Scholarly textbooks often follow a logic where suitable empirical cases are selected to illustrate the theoretical and analytical points that we as scholars want to make. But what would happen if we would do the opposite: build a textbook on a novel written by a novelist for such purpose and let the theories explain the actions and emotions of fictional characters? In this article, we share and reflect upon our experiences of co-authoring a textbook in organization theory together with a professional novelist. We argue that the novel can function as an eye-opener in organizational analysis, forcing us to look beyond more static and rationalistic perspectives on organizations as well as the stereotypes of such. We build and relate our experiences to the growing literature about using fiction in scholarly work and discuss the potential of such genre-bending work when we bring in flesh and blood into the analyses.

Dragons with Horsepower: Learning about the Internationalization Process of Emerging Market Firms

While there are many examples of large multinational enterprises (MNEs) that have acquired local national firms in markets where they want to enter or further expand, there is less research focusing on how local and national firms choose to acquire large MNEs as a strategy for internationalization. To be able to compete in emerging markets and to internationalize out of these, firms make strategic choices that are different from those prescribed in traditional behavioral models of MNEs (Aulakh and Kotabe 2008; Lu et al. 2014; Meyer et al. 2009). Supposedly new categories of internationalized firms emerge in relation to traditional explanations and the current understanding of international business is challenged (Xu and Meyer 2005). For instance, through the acquisition strategy, where local firms from an emerging market acquire an existing internationalized firm, a new dimension to Johanson and Vahlne’s (2009) concept of “liability of foreignness” and “liability of outsidership” arises. This is especially so when the acquisition relates to an internationalized firm from a developed market.