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Variety engineering in the changing competitive environment of Japanese retail distribution
Author(s) -
Benton Caroline,
Kijima Kyoichi
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
systems research and behavioral science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.371
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 1099-1743
pISSN - 1092-7026
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1099-1743(199801/02)15:1<3::aid-sres118>3.0.co;2-2
Subject(s) - variety (cybernetics) , context (archaeology) , marketing , consciousness , business , distribution (mathematics) , government (linguistics) , perspective (graphical) , industrial organization , economic bubble , economics , computer science , geography , finance , mathematical analysis , philosophy , linguistics , mathematics , archaeology , epistemology , artificial intelligence
The authors propose to define the revolution occurring in Japanese retail distribution from a systems‐theoretic perspective, and to identify factors leading to the success of certain types of retailers and the decline of others. It is proposed that large general merchandising stores and national supermarkets are meeting the increased variety of the environment brought on by the bursting of the Japanese economic bubble, increased price consciousness of consumers, government deregulations and appreciation of the yen. These retailers are redefining their functions to enhance their internal variety, leading to greater efficiency and lower consumer prices. In contrast, traditional retail outlets, such as department stores and small individually‐owned stores, have not been able to review their operations within the context of the changing environment and are trapped within their traditional business paradigms and reference models. As a result, they are facing decline. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.