Editorial
Over the last 25 years there has been a major international growth of academic research into issues relating to retailing. The emphasis of this research undertaken shows that certain areas are dominant. For example, major areas for research themes include, inter alia, work on internationalisation (Burt et al., 2002, 2003, 2004; Hutchinson et al.,2005), branding (Collins and Burt, 2006; Burt and Mavrommatis, 2006; Burt et al., 2007) logistics (Fernie and Staines, 2001; Fernie and McKinnon, 2003;Fernie and Sparks, 2004; Gustafsson et al., 2006), fashion (Birtwistle and Tsim, 2005; Siddiqui et al., 2003; Moore and Birtwistle, 2004, 2005;Moore et al., 2004; Wigley et al., 2005). Throughout the years that retailing has been regarded as an academic research area there has been relatively little written on employment issues within the sector. In this themed issue of “Retail insights” we address this imbalance by reporting on some of the recent work undertaken in the UK on employment matters in the retail sector.
The first paper reports on the findings from research I undertook with UK retail managers to explore the issues they perceived had influenced their career development. It adopted a pluralistic methodological approach and the main results presented here are from the questionnaire survey with 286 male and female UK retail managers. What was found was that managers generally reported satisfaction with their current jobs and were highly ambitious to develop their careers. They particularly believed that the factors facilitating their careers to date were down to their own efforts and attitudes towards their work, while they associated any problems in their careers to date to factors outside of their direct control. The findings established that the culture of retailing is still perceived to be dominated by male norms and values and this has implications for the way in which male and female managers experience their jobs and career opportunities. In conclusion, it was recommended that in addition to re-examining their organisational cultural attitudes and practices, retail companies should provide meaningful mentoring relationships for their employees and make available, and value, different career developmental opportunities, as well as embrace true flexible working arrangements at all levels of the management hierarchy.
The second paper written by Carley Foster, Paul Whysall and Lynette Harris from Nottingham Trent Business School has adopted a similar approach to my own,although their research was distinct in several respects: it was confined to one UK regional area; it included non managerial employees and it also included ten SME independent retailers. Where the two studies are similar is in the methodological approach undertaken and the exploration of the factors that limit and facilitate female career progression. Their study centred on examining the extent to which gender segregation impacts upon women's career progression in retailing within the East Midlands. Their findings led them to argue that the issues impacting on women's career progression are a “dynamic and complex interaction of personal and job related factors”. Their analysis enabled them to categorise female respondents into three discrete groups: those uninterested in pursuing a career in retail; those who are interested but are unable to pursue a retail career because of their non-work circumstances; and those who have actively pursued a career in retailing. Factors they found that impacted on respondents' experiences and the pursuit of their careers included a loyalty to the colleagues and customers in the branch in which they worked(something valued more importantly with female than male staff); part-time working, with staff in these positions (mainly women) being regarded as “disadvantaged”in terms of their career progression; and personalities, with confidence,self-belief and assertiveness being highlighted as particularly desirable traits(and something that women have been found by more general research studies(Singh et al., 2006; Women and Work Commission, 2007) on gender in management as lacking compared with their male counterparts). The influence of role models and home support networks were additionally identified as potential enablers in respondents' careers. In conclusion, the authors call for retailers to embrace more inclusive career models that include career development opportunities and supportive HR policies to be accessible by all staff,regardless of their personal circumstances.
The similarities and differences that our two independent research projects revealed have enabled us to propose some future research directions in this important area of research. What was striking from the initial reading of the papers were the commonalities that were apparent in several areas, namely:
the emphasis on satisfaction with (some) working relationships;
the need for confidence and self belief to progress;
the importance of mentors;
the need for different career models for retail employees;
the importance of the home infrastructure to facilitate career progression;
the difficulties of maintaining balance between family and home; and
the inflexibility of career progression provisions.
A thread running through several of these findings is the importance of others in career development, whether it is in working relationships, the influence of mentors or the support infrastructure required to enable child/elder care and other family responsibilities. This is something that we want to pursue in more detail and we are currently in the process of developing a joint research project to extend this area of work.
Building on a previous research project (Broadbridge et al., 2007),the third paper in this themed issue on retail employment reports some preliminary findings of a study that examines Generation Y and their attitudes towards a career in retailing. Drawing on a questionnaire survey with 340 undergraduate business students from Glasgow Caledonian University and the University of Stirling who have retail employment experience, we report on the perceived experiences and the attractiveness of the industry to them once they graduate. We then provide a brief overview of some of their expectations for their future careers. We found that the majority of students had encountered positive experiences of their employment in retailing, and a quarter of them consider it a quite or very attractive future career option. They want to enjoy their future graduate employment, and are concerned about issues of fairness,equality and tolerance. Similar to some of the findings in the first paper presented in this issue, the students believe personal career development factors to be crucial to their future career success (e.g. determination to succeed; meeting personal goals; taking personal responsibility for their careers, self development; having clear career goals, etc.). The findings reported here are from the initial analysis of the data set. We are currently analysing the data in more depth and look forward to reporting further findings from this research project in due course. The qualitative and quantitative research we have conducted with Generation Y students will form the backdrop to a longitudinal research project which examines the future career expectations of students before they embark on their graduate careers. It will then trace their career development, over a period of time exploring the factors facilitating and hindering their careers, so as to build up as clearly as possible, the career development process for Generation Y.
I hope you enjoy this themed issue of Retail Insights. Some of the research explores the gender issues in retail employment and careers. For those interested in this area more generally, have a look at the poster at the end of these articles. This outlines the “Gender in Management Special Interest Group” that has been set up and is affiliated with BAM (www.gimsig.ac.uk)
Adelina BroadbridgeUniversity of Stirling, UK
