Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/11718/23956
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dc.contributor.authorPathak, Atul Arun
dc.contributor.authorKandathil, George
dc.date.accessioned2021-05-31T03:33:42Z
dc.date.available2021-05-31T03:33:42Z
dc.date.issued2020
dc.identifier.citationPathak, A. A., & Kandathil, G. (2020). Strategizing in small informal retailers in India: home delivery as a strategic practice. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 37, 851-877. doi:https://doi.org/10.1007/s10490-019-09662-4en_US
dc.identifier.issn02174561 (Print)
dc.identifier.issn15729958 (Online)
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11718/23956
dc.description.abstractSmall informally organized family-owned grocery retailers—kiranas—are ubiquitous in India and have retained market dominance while facing increasing competition from large formally organized retailers (FORs). Yet, strategy literature has under-explored such informal businesses. We explore kiranas’ distinct strategic practices that give them competitive advantage over FORs, generating kiranas’ sustained market dominance. To explore kiranas’ informal strategizing, grounded theoretic analysis of our multi-year case study suggested the employment of strategy as practice (SAP) framework, enriched with the social exchange theory (SET) concepts of trust and reciprocity. We find that the kiranas’ sustained enactment of strategic practice such as free-of-charge home-delivery significantly depends on contextually rich, reciprocity-based social exchange relationships with customers which evolve through praxes involving continuous exchange of trust. The practice enactment and exchange relationships constitute strategy-practitioner’s emerging dual-identity, which in turn reinforces the practices, generating a self-reinforcing cycle of practice enhancement. Within this cyclic relationship, an inimitable enactment of a strategic practice can be a key source of competitive advantage for informally organized small retail retailers over large FORs. By linking two unconnected prominent approaches to understanding patterns of workplace interactions, namely SAP and SET, the study opens theoretical avenues for exploring strategizing of informal businesses.en_US
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherAsia Pacific Journal of Managementen_US
dc.subjectIndian retailen_US
dc.subjectStrategy-as-practiceen_US
dc.subjectSocial exchange relationshipen_US
dc.subjectTrusten_US
dc.subjectReciprocityen_US
dc.subjectStrategy practitioneren_US
dc.subjectInformally organized small businessen_US
dc.subjectCompetitive advantageen_US
dc.titleStrategizing in small informal retailers in India: home delivery as a strategic practiceen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US
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