Internationalization Process of Retailing and Distribution in Asia

本研究旨在了解亚洲零售与分销国际化进程的相关事实，并构思零售与分销的本土化模式。在20世纪90年代的十年里，从沃尔玛到宜家，全球零售商掀起了一波国际活动浪潮。这一波比以往任何一次都要大得多。一种回应是学术界对零售和分销国际化的兴趣激增。我们的目的是提供亚洲领先零售商国际化现状的概述，并探索这些趋势对当地市场零售扩张过程和制约因素的启示。本地化进程的类型学有助于我们评估不同公司的做法，并找到未来可能发生的一些迹象。首先，我们发现，零售商国际化的结果在不同的进入市场有所不同。零售商在一个市场上成功，在另一个市场上失败的原因，除了一般的组织能力外，很大程度上取决于进入方法和进入时机。第二，国内市场与各进入市场形成的国际网络影响零售国际化的绩效。管理知识的有效和快速的转移有助于在新进入的市场中顺利本地化。然而，关于市场之间复杂的相互作用，仍有比曝光更多的未知之处。第三，零售业国际化是一把双刃剑。一方面，它显然是一个重要的销售扩张工具，有可能提高市场地位和财务回报。另一方面，文化错配和经营风险增加等国际扩张问题表明，有必要从更知情的角度来看待国际增长。

The purpose of this research is to find out the facts on the internationalization process of retailing and distribution in Asia and conceptualize the localization pattern of retailers and distributors. The decade of the 1990s saw a wave of international activity by global retailers from Wal-Mart to IKEA. This wave was much larger than anything which had gone before. One response has been a surge of academic interest in retail and distribution internationalization. We intended both to provide an overview of the current situation of leading retailers' internationalization in Asia and to explore what the trends tell us about the processes of, and constraints upon retail expansion in the local markets. A typology of localization process helps us assess different companies' approaches, and find some indications of what may happen in future.First, we found that the outcomes of internationalization by a retailer differ among the entry markets. The reasons why a retailer succeeds in one market and fails in another market can be thought of as being much determined by entry method and entry timing in addition to the organizational capability in general. Second, the international network formed by the home market and various entered markets influences the performance of retail internationalization. The effective and quick transfer of management know-how contributes to the smooth localization in the newly entered markets. However, in regard to the complex interaction between markets, there are more things still unknown than came to light. Third, internationalization in retailing is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it is clearly a vital sales expansion vehicle, potentially capable of enhancing market position and financial returns. On the other hand, problems of international expansion such as culture mismatch and increased operation risks point to the necessity of approaching international growth from a better-informed perspective.