Changes in the Governance of UK Supermarket Store Estates: 1965-1990
- When?
- Wednesday 18 January 2012, 16:15 to 17:00
- Where?
- 72MS03
- Open to:
- Students, Staff
- Speaker:
- Professor Andrew Alexander
Contextualised in the multi-disciplinary debate on the emergence of ‘modern’ retailing systems in Western Europe and North America in the early post war decades, this paper explores the growth of supermarket retailing in the UK. An introduction to the current debate reveals an emphasis on describing the uneven development of the format, and its impact on so-called ‘cultures of consumption’. In contrast, this paper focuses on some of the implications of the rapid growth of supermarket retailing for retail management practices, particularly those related to matters of knowledge transfer. It does so through two perspectives: first, the role of inter-locking directorates in enabling the transfer of knowledge fundamental to the success of the earliest supermarket retailing operations; second, the changing characteristics of retailers’ governance of their supermarket store estates as the format became more firmly established in the UK retail market.
Biography
Andrew Alexander is Professor of Retail Management in The Surrey Business School, where he was previously Senior Lecturer and Reader. He joined the University of Surrey following appointments at the University of Exeter and the Manchester Metropolitan University. Andrew completed an ESRC-funded PhD at the University of Exeter in 1994, and holds a Postgraduate Certificate in Education and BA (Hons) degree (University of Wales). Andrew’s areas of research expertise include the long–term development of retail systems and the marketing and management of town centres. He has received research project funding for this work from organisations including the AHRC, the Leverhulme Trust, the Nuffield Foundation, the British Council and the Canadian High Commission, and from the retailer Somerfield. Included among his most recent projects is the AHRC-funded study ‘Reconstructing Consumer Landscapes’, an exploration of consumers’ reactions to the early post war supermarket (in association with the University of Exeter). He is the author and co-author of more than 50 journal papers, book chapters and research reports, and his work has been widely profiled in the local, national and international media (including the BBC and the Economist). His recent activities include as guest speaker to the international seminar of the Korean Traditional Markets Administration, and organising a series of workshops for managers of the Japanese retailer Seicomart visiting the UK on fact-finding missions.