Strategizing in Indian informal business settings: a case study of kirana shops in India.

Abstract

Small, informally organized retail grocery shops called kirana shops are ubiquitous in contemporary India and have historically existed as a dominant form of organizing in the Indian retail context. Despite increased competition from the relatively recent emergence of organized retail, kirana shops still hold an everwhelmingly large share of the Indian food and grocery market. Using a strategy as practice (s-as-p) approach, and focusing on the home delivery and informal customer credit as illustrative strategic practices, this qualitative case study examines how the strategy actors in informally organized business settings practise strategy. The study reveals the cultural embeddedness of the enactment of the two practices. We argue that this embeddedness gives kirana shops a sustained competitive advantage over organized retail stores.