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Mass Merchandisers & Small Retailers

The purpose of this research paper is to provide an analysis of the interaction between mass merchandisers and small independent retailers and to investigate the nature of the impact depending on the type of industry that these organizations are involved in. In many instances, independent retailers have often pioneered an industry only to have the mass merchandisers seize the market after many years of hard work by the small entrepreneur. Companies such as Blockbuster Video, Home Depot, Staples, and Walmart are prime examples of this phenomenon. Issues such as the ability of the small retailer to adapt, the ethics of the competition, the economies of scale of the competitors, and the nature of the market or the product all become relevant when investigating the interaction between two seemingly adversarial types of organizations.

Mass merchandisers, from a historical point of view, are traditionally driven by only one motive: to make a profit. As was aptly described by Finn (1969), insofar as the corporate entity emerged in the twentieth century, public benefit was considered discretionary at best. Citizens no longer had any right to judge the activity of any particular corporation; it was free to engage in any business activity it wanted. The only criterion which remained as a measure of the corporate manager's performance was how much money he or she made for the stockholders.

In the 1960s, there was a marked shift from the simple notion of profit only, to adequate return on investment, which allowed for the substitution of profit centers for value centers. This in turn allowed companies to provide increasing public

value, that is, an increasing abundance of commodities, structures, systems and services that minister to human needs and support human aspirations (Finn, 1969, p. 295). Nevertheless, in order to provide these values, companies had to maintain and sustain a level of profitability acceptable to their stock...

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Mass Merchandisers & Small Retailers. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 09:41, March 29, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1692396.html