Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

CiteULike is a free service for managing and discovering scholarly references - click here to get started.

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
Space and Culture
This Article
Right arrow Abstract Freely available
Right arrow Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Right arrow Citing Articles via Scopus
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Värlander, S.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

The Role of Local Strategies on a Globalizing Market

An Exploration of Two Service Industry Cases

Sara Värlander

Stockholm University School of Business

Taking its stance in social embeddedness theory, this article questions the assumption that companies' adoption of the Internet implies a linear move from local embeddedness to placeless globalization. The aim of the article is to explore the role of local strategies in a multichannel service production context. In substantiating the argument, 20 in-depth interviews with managers representing the travel and banking industries are used. The article identifies six key roles of local strategies: developing a local market feel, exploiting employees' local explicit knowledge, exploiting employees' local implicit knowledge, developing relationships, using a local branding strategy, and applying a local branch design. This illustrates the way in which, in this context, the Internet has led to places being redefined and used for new strategic purposes, a process that, in the words of Lévy (1998), is referred to as a movement of reterritorialization.

Key Words: local strategies • deterritorialization • reterritorialization • globalization • Internet • production of space

References

  • Agnes, P. (2000). "End of geography" in financial services? Local embeddedness and territorialization in the interest rate swaps industry. Economic Geography, 76, 347-366.[CrossRef]
  • Bailey, J.P., & Bakos, Y. (1997). An exploratory study of the emerging role of electronic intermediaries. International Journal of Electronic Commerce, 1(3), 7-20.
  • Bartlett, C., & Ghoshal, S. (1989). Managing across borders. New York: Random House.
  • Batty, M. (1993). The geography of cyberspace. Environment and Planning B, Planning and Design, 20(6), 615-616.
  • Bekier, M.M., Flur, D.K., & Singham, S.J. (2000). A future for bricks-and-mortar. McKinsey Quarterly, 3, 78-85.
  • Berger, P.L., & Luckmann, T. (1991). The social construction of reality: A treatise in the sociology of knowledge. London: Penguin.
  • Bickman, L., & Rog, D.J. (1998). Handbook of applied social research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
  • Bitner, M.J. (1992). Servicescapes: The impact of physical surroundings on customer and employees. Journal of Marketing, 56, 57-71.[CrossRef]
  • Black, N.J., Lockett, A., Ennew, C., Winklhofer, H., & McKechnie, S. (2002). Modelling customer choice of distribution channels: An illustration from financial services. International Journal of Bank Marketing, 20(4), 161-173.[CrossRef]
  • Boden, D., & Molotch, H.L. (1994). The compulsion of proximity. In R. Friedland & D. Boden (Eds.), Nowhere. Space, time and modernity (pp. 257-286). London: University of California Press.
  • Boyatzis, R. (1998). Transforming qualitative information: Thematic analysis and code development. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
  • Clark, G.L., & O'Connor, K. (1997). The informational content of financial products and the spatial structure of the global finance industry. In K. R. Cox (Ed.), Spaces of globalization. Reasserting the power of the local (pp. 89-114). New York: Guilford.
  • Coelho, F., & Easingwood, C. (2003). Multiple channel structures in financial services: A framework. Journal of Financial Services Marketing, 8(1), 22-34.[CrossRef]
  • Couclelis, H. (2004). Pizza over the Internet: E-commerce, the fragmentation of activity and the tyranny of the region. Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, 16(1), 41-54.[CrossRef]
  • Cox, K. R. (Ed.). (1997). Spaces of globalization. Reasserting the power of the local. New York: Guilford.
  • Creswell, J.W. (1994). Research design. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
  • Eisenhardt, K.M. (1989). Building theories from case study research. Academy of Management Review, 14(4), 532-550.[CrossRef]
  • Ezzy, D. (2002). Qualitative analysis. Practice and innovation. London: Routledge.
  • Gadamer, H.-G. (1975). Truth and method. New York: Seabury.
  • Giaglis, G.M., Klein, S., & O'Keefe, R.M. (2002). The role of intermediaries in electronic marketplaces: Developing a contingency model. Information Systems Journal, 12(3), 231-246.[CrossRef]
  • Graham, S. (1998). The end of geography or the explosion of place? Conceptualizing space, place and information technology. Progress in Human Geography, 22(2), 165-185.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  • Granovetter, M. (1985). Economic action and social structure: The problem of embeddedness. American Journal of Sociology, 91(3), 481-510.[CrossRef]
  • Grant, R.M., & Bakhru, A. (2004). The limitations of internationalization in e-commerce. European Business Journal, 16(3), 95-104.
  • Hall, R., & Andriani, P. (2003). Managing knowledge associated with innovation. Journal of Business Research, 56(2), 145-152.[CrossRef]
  • Johannessen, J., & Olaisen, B. (2001). Mismanagement of tacit knowledge: The importance of tacit knowledge, the danger of information technology, and what to do about it. International Journal of Information Management, 21(1), 3-20.[CrossRef]
  • Karjaluoto, H., Mattila, M., & Pento, T. (2002). Electronic banking in Finland: Customer beliefs and reactions to a new delivery channel. Journal of Financial Services Marketing, 6(4), 346-361.[CrossRef]
  • Kimber, C. (2001). Strategic integration of customers and channels. Journal of Financial Services Marketing, 5(4), 332-336.[CrossRef]
  • Laing, A., Lewis, B., Foxall, G., & Hogg, G. (2002). Predicting a diverse future, directions and issues in the marketing of services. European Journal of Marketing, 36(4), 479-494.[CrossRef]
  • Lefèbvre, H. (1991). The production of space. Oxford, UK: Blackwell.
  • Lévy, P. (1998). Becoming virtual: Reality in the digital age. New York: Plenum.
  • Lewis, I., & Talalayevsky, A. (1997). Travel agents: Threatened intermediaries? Transportation Journal, 36(3), 26-30.
  • Malone, T., Yates, J., & Benjamin, R. (1987). Electronic markets and electronic hierarchies. Communications of the ACM, 30(6), 166-172.
  • McCracken, G. (1988). The long interview. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
  • Miles, M.B., & Huberman, A.M. (1994). Qualitative data analysis. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
  • Minzberg, H., & Waters, J.A. (1985). Of strategies, deliberate and emergent. Strategic Management Journal, 6(3), 257-272.[CrossRef]
  • Morrison, P.D., & Roberts, J.H. (1998). Matching electronic distribution channels to product characteristics: The role of congruence in consideration set formation. Journal of Business Research, 41(3), 223-229.[CrossRef]
  • Negroponte, N. (1995). Being digital. New York: Knopf.
  • O'Brien, R. (1992). Global financial integration: The end of geography. London: Royal Institute of International Affairs.
  • Pitt, L., Berthon, P., & Berthon, J.P. (1999). Changing channels: The impact if the Internet on distribution strategy. Business Horizons, 42(2), 19-28.
  • Polanyi, M. (1969). Knowing and being. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
  • Price, L.L., & Arnould, E.J. (1999). Commercial friendships: Service provider—client relationships in context. Journal of Marketing, 63(4), 38-56.[CrossRef]
  • Rayport, J.F., & Sviokla, J.J. (1995). Exploiting the virtual value chain. Harvard Business Review, 73(6), 75-85.
  • Reynolds, J. (2002). Charting the multi-channel future: Retail choices and constraints. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 30(11), 530-535.[CrossRef]
  • Sarkar, M.B., Butler, B., & Steinfield, C. (1995). Intermediaries and cybermediaries: A continuing role for the mediating players in the electronic marketplace. Journal of Computer Mediated Communication, 1(3). Retrieved July 1, 2007, from http://shum.huji.ac.il/jcmc/vol1/issue3/vol1no3.html
  • Schmitz, S.W. (2000). The effects of electronic commerce on the structure of intermediation. Journal of Computer Mediated Communication, 5(3). Retrieved July 1, 2007, from http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol5/issue3/schmitz.html
  • Shah, J., & Murtaza, M.B. (2005). Effective customer relationship management through Web services. Journal of Computer Information Systems, 46(1), 98-109.
  • Shields, R. (2003). The virtual. New York: Routledge.
  • Spender, J.C. (1995). Organizational knowledge, collective practice and Penrose rents. International Business Review, 3(4), 353-367.[CrossRef]
  • Statistics Sweden. (2004). Use of computers and the Internet by private persons in 2004. Stockholm: Statistiska Centralbyrån.
  • Steinfield, C., & Klein, S. (1999). Special section: Local vs. global issues in electronic commerce. Electronic Markets, 9(1/2), 45-50.[CrossRef]
  • Storper, M. (1997). Territories, flows, and hierarchies in the global economy. In K. R. Cox (Ed.), Spaces of globalization. Reasserting the power of the local (pp. 19-44). New York: Guilford.
  • Uzzi, B. (1997). Social structure and competition in interfirm networks: The paradox of embeddedness. Administrative Science Quarterly, 42(1), 35-67.[Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
  • Uzzi, B., & Gillespie, J.J. (2002). Knowledge spillover in corporate financing networks: Embeddedness and the firm's debt performance. Strategic Management Journal, 23(7), 595-618.[CrossRef]
  • Värlander, S., & Yakhlef, A. (2006). The interplay of service complexity and spatial layouts. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 34(10), 722-741.[CrossRef]
  • Wigand, R. (1997). Electronic commerce: Definition, theory and context. Information Society, 13, 1-16.[CrossRef]
  • Woolgar, S. (2002). Virtual society? Technology, cyberbole, reality. New York: Oxford University Press.
  • Yakhlef, A. (1999). The Internet as an opportunity to rethink the role of the intermediary. Consumption Markets and Culture, 4(1), 39-56.
  • Yakhlef, A. (in press). Virtual organisation as spatial and temporal innovations. Space and Culture.
  • Yanow, D. (2004). Translating local knowledge at organizational peripheries. British Journal of Management, 15(1), 9-25.[CrossRef]
  • Yin, R.K. (2003). Case study research design and methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
  • Yip, G.S. (2000). Global strategy in the Internet era. Business Strategy Review, 11(4), 1-14.

Space and Culture, Vol. 10, No. 4, 397-417 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/1206331207305830
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?



This Article
Right arrow Abstract Freely available
Right arrow Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Right arrow Citing Articles via Scopus
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Värlander, S.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?