Institutional Perspectives on Retailing: Rethinking the Adoption of Large-Scale Retailing in Finland
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Jarmo Seppälä Institutional perspectives on retailing: Rethinking the adoption of large-scale retailing in Finland Esitetään Jyväskylän yliopiston humanistis-yhteiskuntatieteellisen tiedekunnan suostumuksella julkisesti tarkastettavaksi yliopiston Historica-rakennuksen salissa H320 huhtikuun 13. päivänä 2018 kello 12. Academic dissertation to be publicly discussed, by permission of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of the University of Jyväskylä, in building Historica, auditorium H320, on April 13, 2018 at 12 o’clock noon. UNIVERSITY OF JYVÄSKYLÄ JYVÄSKYLÄ 2018 ISBN 978-951-39-7473-2 (PDF) Permanent link to this publication: http://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-951-39-7473-2 ABSTRACT Seppälä, Jarmo Institutional perspectives on retailing: Rethinking the adoption of large-scale retailing in Finland ISBN 978-951-39-7473-2 (PDF) This dissertation focuses on the adoption of the hypermarket in Finnish retailing and examines how major retail organizations experienced the transition from established practices into new logic of retail business, the large-scale retail trade. The research builds on DiMaggio and Powell’s (1983) analytical categorization of institutional isomorphic mechanisms, but utilizes more recent theorizations and insights of organizational institutionalism in the detailed theoretical framing. My research questions were as follows. How did Finnish retail organizations initially regard the hypermarket format? How did their stances change over time? To answer these questions, I examined the adoption of this format in terms of local decision-making, internal propaganda and corporate training. Each topic was discussed in a separate research article. The key findings of the research suggest Finnish retail organizations were initially strongly opposed to the hypermarket format and the principles of modern large-scale retailing in general. Key stakeholders of each organization resisted the hypermarket for different reasons, because the new practices did not fit the established lines of operation of the organizations and challenged their ideology- based principles. Thus, the top management worked actively to create support for the new practices and eventually for the adoption of large-scale retailing. Consequently, ideologically and structurally divergent organizations became increasingly similar (or isomorphic) as hypermarkets reached an institutionalized position. The findings demonstrate the significant role of individual actors in facilitating the increase of isomorphism, thus modifying the original idea of structural effects. Above all, the dissertation offers an alternative and complementary view of an important period in Finnish retail history. Keywords: hypermarket, large-scale retailing, business history, retail trade, neo- institutional organization theory, isomorphism, management and organizational history Author’s address Jarmo Seppälä Department of History and Ethnology P.O. BOX 35 (H), FIN 40014 University of Jyväskylä Finland Supervisors Professor Juha-Antti Lamberg Department of History and Ethnology University of Jyväskylä Professor Jari Ojala Department of History and Ethnology University of Jyväskylä Reviewers Researcher II, Ph.D. Espen Ekberg Department of Innovation and Economic Organization BI Norwegian Business School Professor Behlül Üsdiken Sabanci School of Management Sabanci University Opponent Researcher II, Ph.D. Espen Ekberg Department of Innovation and Economic Organization BI Norwegian Business School ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to begin by expressing my deepest gratitude to my supervisors for their guidance and support. They have in so many ways made it possible for this work to come to fruition. Professor Juha-Antti Lamberg’s role as the primary supervisor and instructor has been invaluable. I am extremely fortunate to have had him as a scholarly mentor. To my amazement, he has always known whether I needed a push, a morale boost or just a word of advice. My second supervisor, Professor Jari Ojala, has shared his valuable comments whenever I have needed them. Additionally, he was a major contributor in his position as the head of our department. My work would have been much harder without the department’s support in my daily work. It was a privilege to have Professor Behlül Üsdiken and Dr. Espen Ekberg as the preliminary examiners of the study. Their constructive and insightful comments helped me to revise and improve the manuscript into its final form. The Department of History and Ethnology has been an excellent working environment, not least due to the great colleagues that I have come to know and with whom I have discussed many facets of historical research, the realities of the researcher’s profession and life in general. I am particularly thankful for the discussions with Ilkka Nummela, Heli Valtonen, Jorma Wilmi, Janne Haikari, Olli Turunen, Juuso Marttila, Pasi Nevalainen, Miikka Voutilainen, Christian Stutz and Nooa Nykänen. This work would not have been possible without access to archives. Fortunately, I was able to obtain access to the places I wanted, where I also received help from many generous people. Therefore, I would like to thank the personnel of the Central Archives for Finnish Business Records and the Labour Archives. Moreover, I was also warmly welcomed into the corporate archives of the Co-operative Keskimaa, Kesko, S-Group, and Ava-Institute (Ava-instituutti). I am indebted to their staff. I also wish to thank the interviewees for their cooperation and insightful discussions. I acknowledge the financial support of the Finnish Cultural Foundation, Central Finland Regional Fund and the University of Jyväskylä’s Faculty of Humanities in the form of research grants. Furthermore, I am thankful for the travel grants of the Department of History and Ethnology along with the Finnish Doctoral Programme of History. Finally, my sincere thanks to my parents Leena and Veli and my brother Jarkko. Most importantly, my wife Heidi has provided more support and encouragement during these years than I could have wished for. She has also taken good care of our amazing son Urho. I am immensely grateful for all love and patience they have shown. It is now my turn to support them in their endeavors. And Urho – now the dissertation is finished. Karkkila, March 26, 2018 Jarmo Seppälä FIGURE Figure 1: Market shares in Finnish retail trade and format adoptions .................. 9 TABLES Table 1: Origins and outcomes of the institutional isomorphic mechanisms ....... 7 Table 2: Analytical research framework ................................................................. 10 Table 3: Main characteristics of focal organizations .............................................. 38 CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................. 7 1.1 Presentation of the articles .................................................................... 11 1.2 Research questions ................................................................................. 12 2 HISTORY OF RETAILING ............................................................................. 14 2.1 International context .............................................................................. 16 2.1.1 American origins......................................................................... 16 2.1.2 European development .............................................................. 20 2.1.3 New wave of large-scale retailing ............................................. 27 2.2 Finnish context ....................................................................................... 35 2.2.1 Focal organizations ..................................................................... 37 2.2.2 Self-service ................................................................................... 38 2.2.3 Logistic system ............................................................................ 40 2.2.4 Ownership and financing........................................................... 45 2.2.5 Supermarkets .............................................................................. 48 2.2.6 Hypermarkets ............................................................................. 50 3 THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE .................................................................... 54 3.1 Neo-institutional organization theory.................................................. 54 3.2 Old versus new institutionalism ........................................................... 56 3.3 Historical research in organizational institutionalism ........................ 58 3.4 Neo-institutional organization theory in historical research ............. 64 4 HISTORY AND ORGANIZATION THEORY .............................................. 68 4.1 Business history and its origins ............................................................ 68 4.2 Integration and separation of history and business administration .. 70 4.3 History of management ......................................................................... 72 4.4 Return of history in management and organization studies.............. 73 4.5 Management and organizational history ............................................. 77 5 SOURCES AND HISTORICAL METHODS ................................................. 83 5.1 Source materials ..................................................................................... 83 5.2 Benefits of historical research................................................................ 86 6 CONCLUSIONS AND CONTRIBUTIONS