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Retailing in the European single market 1993
Book reviews stressed. These roles are: multiplying knowledge, streamlining service, customizing and personalizing service, increasing reliability, facilitating communications, and augmenting the service. Powerful examples are provided for each of these roles. Competing for talent, developing and empowering the right people, conveying the theme that quality is a team sport, and finally using performance measurement and rewards for promoting an achievement culture. Competing for talent involves being a preferred employer, aiming high, segmenting the market and using multiple, creative recruiting and selection methods. Berry provides a number of practical insights on how to go about developing people. Competing for talent and developing people's service skills and knowledge are mutually reinforcing. Companies with a reputation for investing in employee development will have an edge in recruiting. Berry considers creating an empowered state of mind in an organization as a necessary condition of great service. He discusses how to make employees feel that they have control over their work, be aware of the context, be accountable for personal work, and be jointly responsible for unit and organizational performance. When discussing team work, Berry emphasizes that teamwork is not synonymous with teams. Teams are structural, and teamwork is values, attitudes, feelings and skills. He shows that teamwork is central to service excellence and shows ways how to achieve it by working across boundaries, unbounded communications, internal service pledges, and teaching teamwork. Finally, Berry discusses the role of performance measurement and reward systems in building a climate of achievement. Berry believes in rewarding excellence, using multiple types of rewards for individuals as well as groups. The book is based on a sound theoretical foundation. Berry himself, holding the J C Penny Chair of Retailing at Texas A&M University,
has had substantial input in research into service quality. His probably most widely known publications were together with Zeithaml and Parasuraman on the quality gaps model and its measurement tool SERVQUAL. Readers familiar with the services marketing literature will recognize many of the academic models used throughout the book. Berry has managed to write a business book that actually can be read from cover to cover. The style of writing is easy on the reader, with short sentences, concise and focused sections, and a clear roadmap for the entire book. Every item in Figure 1 represents a chapter in the book, and the reader can easily remind himself where exactly he is on the 'road to great service'. Furthermore, Berry has managed to effectively communicate his key messages clearly by illustrating virtually every point with a compelling real-life example. Apart from unambiguously demonstrating the key points to the reader, this spices up the book tremendously, and the reader learns about the practices of a number of true service champions. Overall, the book provides an excellent roadmap for moving a firm towards delivering great service. This book should be read by anyone who is involved in improving service quality, from top management to taskforces and customer-serving teams. The book has compelling messages for them! The book is also of interest for academics who teach services marketing, as it provides a good integrated perspective on the management and delivery of services, as well as ample excellent examples for classroom demonstration.
Jochen Wirtz National University of Singapore
Retailing in the European Single Market 1993 Eurostat Commission of the European Communities, Brussels (1993) 213 pp ISBN 92 826 5458 3 This is a very important and welcome publication.
The publication is intended to serve as a reference document; it is aligned with Eurostat's aim to create an efficient system of economic and statistical information on the trade sector in close collaboration with national statistical offices in the Member States and trade associations. The publication provides, for the first time, a systematic and comprehensive comparison of retail statistics for mostly the European Community but with some reference to the EFTA countries and central and eastern Europe. It also gives details on the individual member states and a series of definitions of retail terms. Inevitably there are weaknesses, as the challenge has been so great. There are major inconsistencies in the years for which data are reported for different countries. Despite the title of the report, this is not a document providing statistics for 1993. There are occasions when information for particular countries is dated 1992, but 1990 would be a more common average, dragged down by the paucity of data for the Mediterranean countries since 1988. So, too, the food retailing sector gets more coverage than the non-food trades, because of the presence of bigger companies in the former for which more statistics are generally available. There have been major problems in reconciling definitions between countries, but this has been resolved in the individual country profiles by adopting the domestic approach to the provision of information, with good footnotes for additional explanation. The report itself divides logically into two parts. Part 1 comprises five chapters of a comparative nature for the European Community and sometimes for the continent as a whole. Part 2 takes each EC country in turn. The subjects in Part 1 are, in my view, rather neatly dealt with. The first two are fairly obvious and self-chosen, in that they deal with the structural make-up of retailing across Europe, covering retail employment and sales in particular, and background socioeconomic circumstances. Chapter 3, however, provides a 'Panorama of EC retail trade', which looks at aspects 71
Book reviews such as ownership, levels of concentration, numbers of outlets and changes in retail sales over time. Chapter 4 deals with the 'Dynamism of the EC retail sector', providing a bold but potentially controversial 'life-cycle' analysis of different retail sectors, discussion of the growth of discounting, a league table of largest companies, observations about the strategic development of different sectors, and notes about internationalization and diversification. Then Chapter 5 talks about 'The challenge of a new Europe', where the references to the E F T A countries and central and eastern Europe come in. Generally, the statistical information for the E F T A countries is better than that for the 'East', of course; but the authors of this section of the report have been on a 'hiding to nothing' as far as trying to describe and discuss the fast changes occurring in the former socialist republics is concerned. The profiles for each country are a little more predictable. Each begins with a general section on the role of retailing in the national economy, followed by descriptions of the structure of retailing, in terms of number of establishments, sales and employment. Depending on the sources of information, there may then be analyses of different sizes of outlets, types of stores and league tables of biggest companies. Towards the end, there may be discussion of distinctive forms of retailing or recent trends in a particular trade sector. Finally, the sources of information drawn upon are described, and for some countries there are references to further reading. The statistics presented for Denmark, France and Germany are particularly rich. Those for Greece, Italy and Portugal are particularly poor. Nevertheless, for each of these latter countries there is interesting information about the recent growth of supermarkets and/or hypermarkets. For Denmark, special attention is given to the growth of discount shops; for France, there is discussion of the internationalization of many companies;
72
and for Germany, the progress of many Western companies in acquiring or merging with those in the East are reported upon. Other useful sections for other countries include: relatively fuller company profiles for Belgium; reference to the role of markets in Spain; and discussion of the growth of own-label products in the food sector. The report contains throughout a mixture of tables, charts and text. The text is quite extensive and is largely interpretative of the statistical information provided. The report has clearly been edited to a high standard. It will not be a publication that users will want to read from cover to cover. This is a factual manual to support research, produced in a fairly consistent way given the disparate sources that have had to be drawn upon. Let us hope that Eurostat will update it on a regular basis.
Ross Davies Oxford Institute of Retail Management
Servicing International Markets: Competitive Strategies of Firms P J Buckley, C L Pass and Kate Prescott Blackwell Business, Oxford (1992) 336 pp £55 ISBN 0 631 18189 X This is a book to interest predominantly an academic audience, although many practising managers would benefit from at least half its chapters. Based on empirical findings from an ESRC-funded study, it combines some of the elements of a good textbook on competitiveness and the results of a major study of international firms over a number of sectors. The first three chapters give an overview of the key elements of the theory of competitiveness, and outline the nature of the industries and firms to be studied later. Fifteen manufacturing firms and 24 from
retail financial services were studied through in-depth interviews. All were British owned, although Chapter 3 provides the necessary international perspective. The study is based on the hypothesis that the competitiveness of British firms is a function of appropriate market servicing strategies and o t h e r variables. This is elaborated into the hypothesis that competitive performance, competitive potential and competitive process are functions of market-servicing strategies and other variables. Chapter 2 gives a concise summary of the meaning of competitiveness, and the way it can be measured in terms of competitive performance, competitive potential and management process. This 3 Ps theme subsequently forms the basis for the empirical work and the conclusions drawn from this research. Chapters 4 and 5 focus on the design of strategies for servicing foreign markets and the impact of those strategies on competitiveness. This is followed by a section on the impact of the Single European Market and a comparison of UK and overseas firms. There follows a series of seven chapters of global (or European) industry studies on the respective industries that have comprised the empirical research. Although some of these chapters may interest those with a penchant for any one of these industries, in general they seem to be more a series of appendices to the main work than an integral part of the book. This is a book that is essential reading for marketing students on an M B A programme as well as final-year undergraduates in marketing, business policy or any internationally focused business option. It is a pity that the publishers have only produced a hardback edition, this can only serve to confine its usage to library study or to wealthy students able to afford the £55 price tag.
T M Robinson
has had substantial input in research into service quality. His probably most widely known publications were together with Zeithaml and Parasuraman on the quality gaps model and its measurement tool SERVQUAL. Readers familiar with the services marketing literature will recognize many of the academic models used throughout the book. Berry has managed to write a business book that actually can be read from cover to cover. The style of writing is easy on the reader, with short sentences, concise and focused sections, and a clear roadmap for the entire book. Every item in Figure 1 represents a chapter in the book, and the reader can easily remind himself where exactly he is on the 'road to great service'. Furthermore, Berry has managed to effectively communicate his key messages clearly by illustrating virtually every point with a compelling real-life example. Apart from unambiguously demonstrating the key points to the reader, this spices up the book tremendously, and the reader learns about the practices of a number of true service champions. Overall, the book provides an excellent roadmap for moving a firm towards delivering great service. This book should be read by anyone who is involved in improving service quality, from top management to taskforces and customer-serving teams. The book has compelling messages for them! The book is also of interest for academics who teach services marketing, as it provides a good integrated perspective on the management and delivery of services, as well as ample excellent examples for classroom demonstration.
Jochen Wirtz National University of Singapore
Retailing in the European Single Market 1993 Eurostat Commission of the European Communities, Brussels (1993) 213 pp ISBN 92 826 5458 3 This is a very important and welcome publication.
The publication is intended to serve as a reference document; it is aligned with Eurostat's aim to create an efficient system of economic and statistical information on the trade sector in close collaboration with national statistical offices in the Member States and trade associations. The publication provides, for the first time, a systematic and comprehensive comparison of retail statistics for mostly the European Community but with some reference to the EFTA countries and central and eastern Europe. It also gives details on the individual member states and a series of definitions of retail terms. Inevitably there are weaknesses, as the challenge has been so great. There are major inconsistencies in the years for which data are reported for different countries. Despite the title of the report, this is not a document providing statistics for 1993. There are occasions when information for particular countries is dated 1992, but 1990 would be a more common average, dragged down by the paucity of data for the Mediterranean countries since 1988. So, too, the food retailing sector gets more coverage than the non-food trades, because of the presence of bigger companies in the former for which more statistics are generally available. There have been major problems in reconciling definitions between countries, but this has been resolved in the individual country profiles by adopting the domestic approach to the provision of information, with good footnotes for additional explanation. The report itself divides logically into two parts. Part 1 comprises five chapters of a comparative nature for the European Community and sometimes for the continent as a whole. Part 2 takes each EC country in turn. The subjects in Part 1 are, in my view, rather neatly dealt with. The first two are fairly obvious and self-chosen, in that they deal with the structural make-up of retailing across Europe, covering retail employment and sales in particular, and background socioeconomic circumstances. Chapter 3, however, provides a 'Panorama of EC retail trade', which looks at aspects 71
Book reviews such as ownership, levels of concentration, numbers of outlets and changes in retail sales over time. Chapter 4 deals with the 'Dynamism of the EC retail sector', providing a bold but potentially controversial 'life-cycle' analysis of different retail sectors, discussion of the growth of discounting, a league table of largest companies, observations about the strategic development of different sectors, and notes about internationalization and diversification. Then Chapter 5 talks about 'The challenge of a new Europe', where the references to the E F T A countries and central and eastern Europe come in. Generally, the statistical information for the E F T A countries is better than that for the 'East', of course; but the authors of this section of the report have been on a 'hiding to nothing' as far as trying to describe and discuss the fast changes occurring in the former socialist republics is concerned. The profiles for each country are a little more predictable. Each begins with a general section on the role of retailing in the national economy, followed by descriptions of the structure of retailing, in terms of number of establishments, sales and employment. Depending on the sources of information, there may then be analyses of different sizes of outlets, types of stores and league tables of biggest companies. Towards the end, there may be discussion of distinctive forms of retailing or recent trends in a particular trade sector. Finally, the sources of information drawn upon are described, and for some countries there are references to further reading. The statistics presented for Denmark, France and Germany are particularly rich. Those for Greece, Italy and Portugal are particularly poor. Nevertheless, for each of these latter countries there is interesting information about the recent growth of supermarkets and/or hypermarkets. For Denmark, special attention is given to the growth of discount shops; for France, there is discussion of the internationalization of many companies;
72
and for Germany, the progress of many Western companies in acquiring or merging with those in the East are reported upon. Other useful sections for other countries include: relatively fuller company profiles for Belgium; reference to the role of markets in Spain; and discussion of the growth of own-label products in the food sector. The report contains throughout a mixture of tables, charts and text. The text is quite extensive and is largely interpretative of the statistical information provided. The report has clearly been edited to a high standard. It will not be a publication that users will want to read from cover to cover. This is a factual manual to support research, produced in a fairly consistent way given the disparate sources that have had to be drawn upon. Let us hope that Eurostat will update it on a regular basis.
Ross Davies Oxford Institute of Retail Management
Servicing International Markets: Competitive Strategies of Firms P J Buckley, C L Pass and Kate Prescott Blackwell Business, Oxford (1992) 336 pp £55 ISBN 0 631 18189 X This is a book to interest predominantly an academic audience, although many practising managers would benefit from at least half its chapters. Based on empirical findings from an ESRC-funded study, it combines some of the elements of a good textbook on competitiveness and the results of a major study of international firms over a number of sectors. The first three chapters give an overview of the key elements of the theory of competitiveness, and outline the nature of the industries and firms to be studied later. Fifteen manufacturing firms and 24 from
retail financial services were studied through in-depth interviews. All were British owned, although Chapter 3 provides the necessary international perspective. The study is based on the hypothesis that the competitiveness of British firms is a function of appropriate market servicing strategies and o t h e r variables. This is elaborated into the hypothesis that competitive performance, competitive potential and competitive process are functions of market-servicing strategies and other variables. Chapter 2 gives a concise summary of the meaning of competitiveness, and the way it can be measured in terms of competitive performance, competitive potential and management process. This 3 Ps theme subsequently forms the basis for the empirical work and the conclusions drawn from this research. Chapters 4 and 5 focus on the design of strategies for servicing foreign markets and the impact of those strategies on competitiveness. This is followed by a section on the impact of the Single European Market and a comparison of UK and overseas firms. There follows a series of seven chapters of global (or European) industry studies on the respective industries that have comprised the empirical research. Although some of these chapters may interest those with a penchant for any one of these industries, in general they seem to be more a series of appendices to the main work than an integral part of the book. This is a book that is essential reading for marketing students on an M B A programme as well as final-year undergraduates in marketing, business policy or any internationally focused business option. It is a pity that the publishers have only produced a hardback edition, this can only serve to confine its usage to library study or to wealthy students able to afford the £55 price tag.
T M Robinson