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Alexander & Doherty: International Retailing

Chapter 03

  1. Choose ten retail companies that are currently operating internationally. Using Treadgold’s classification system (1988), categorize each of the retailers. You may need to identify the different fascias used by an individual company and treat them as sub-units.

    (a) Place the companies you have shown onto Treadgold’s matrix (1988). Are Treadgold’s clusters still relevant within the contemporary environment or have new clusters emerged? If you have identified new clusters, name them and describe their characteristics. Go to the wiki activity and upload the positions of your ten retailers. Do your findings agree with the findings of students from other universities?

    (b) Assess the usefulness of the classification system and outline the problems you encountered using the system.

    (c) How would you improve the classification system to reflect current conditions?


  2. Choose a specialist retail operation with which you are familiar that does not have international retail outlets. Using Simpson and Thorpe’s PLIN model (1995), assess the company’s international viability.

    (a) Provide a report using the four factors identified in the model.

    (b) Assess the ability of the four factors contained within the model to provide you with a framework for your assessment.

    (c) Using Alexander’s matrix (1995a), describe where your company sits within the matrix and how this might influence the company’s prospects of success in the international environment.