Purpose – Advocates of the role of city‐regions in economic development seek lessons from other countries to boost the case. But processes of lesson learning raise many challenges and the purpose of this paper, therefore, is to argue that it is necessary to shift from descriptive comparison...

In the early 1980s Montgomery Ward, one of the most renowned names in American retailing, was showing large losses. Its historic emphasis on mail order had long since failed and its merchandising policy had become unfocussed. In 1985 they set about “revamping” the entire group. Mail order...