A firm’s driving force to implement and incorporate a business philosophy into its current business activities: the case of ECR

Focuses on a business philosophy, usually labelled efficient consumer response (ECR), applied in the retail industry. Its application in a firm’s current business activities may lead to the achievement of substantial business potentials but there can be problems in its implementation. Explores and describes the perceived potentials and obstacles in the implementation of ECR in the Swedish retail industry and introduces a model of a firm’s driving force to implement and incorporate ECR in its current business activities. A firm’s driving force may be in part analysed, if ECR’s achievable and non‐achievable potentials, as well as ECR’s probable and non‐probable obstacles, are simultaneously taken into consideration. Furthermore, a model is introduced in order to analyse the driving force of a business philosophy in a specific firm. The models may be applicable also in the context of classifying, measuring, and evaluating a firm’s driving force to implement and incorporate any other business philosophy.