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To retrench or invest? Turnaround strategies during a recessionary time

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  • Mann, Manveer
  • Byun, Sang-Eun

Abstract

By analyzing retail news published between 2008 and 2011, we examined retrenchment and investment strategies employed by retailers in the U.S. in response to the Great Recession. We found four categories of retrenchment (store closings, buyouts, bankruptcies, and pull backs) and five categories of investment (market expansion, product development, service development, strategic partnerships, and corporate social responsibility). Retrenchment decisions were constrained by retailers' financial strength, whereas investment decisions varied with firms' strategic orientations and resource capabilities. Findings of this study enhance theoretical understanding of underlying factors of specific retrenchment and investment decisions that retailers pursued during a challenging economic time.

Suggested Citation

  • Mann, Manveer & Byun, Sang-Eun, 2017. "To retrench or invest? Turnaround strategies during a recessionary time," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 24-34.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:80:y:2017:i:c:p:24-34
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2017.06.018
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    Cited by:

    1. Joel Isabirye, 2021. "A Thematic Review of the Efficacy of Firms' Responses to Economic Crises: A Ugandan Perspective," Technium Social Sciences Journal, Technium Science, vol. 19(1), pages 311-323, May.
    2. Lukason, Oliver & Laitinen, Erkki K., 2019. "Firm failure processes and components of failure risk: An analysis of European bankrupt firms," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 380-390.
    3. Rafael Barreiros Porto & Gordon Robert Foxall, 2022. "The marketing‐finance interface and national well‐being: An operant behavioral economics analysis," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(7), pages 2941-2954, October.
    4. Knudsen, Eirik Sjåholm, 2019. "Bad weather ahead: Pre-recession characteristics and the severity of recession impact," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 118-130.
    5. Halil D. Kaya, 2021. "The Impact Of Business Conditions On Retailers And Wholesalers: Does Leverage Matter?," Annals - Economy Series, Constantin Brancusi University, Faculty of Economics, vol. 4, pages 72-83, August.
    6. Efstathios Magerakis & Konstantinos Gkillas & Christos Floros & George Peppas, 2022. "Corporate R&D intensity and high cash holdings: post-crisis analysis," Operational Research, Springer, vol. 22(4), pages 3767-3808, September.
    7. Byun, Sang-Eun & Han, Siyuan & Kim, Hyejeong & Centrallo, Carol, 2020. "US small retail businesses’ perception of competition: Looking through a lens of fear, confidence, or cooperation," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    8. repec:thr:techub:10019:y:2021:i:1:p:311-323 is not listed on IDEAS

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