With the Japanese economy going through a period of prolonged stagnation many of its established institutions have to redefine themselves. Among these are General Trading Companies (sôgô shôsha), which have traditionally occupied a prominent place in the Japanese economy and are currently...

Presents the results of an exploratory study on Japanese tourists′ perceptions of service quality in Australian shops. Eight areas of service were examined: the shop assistants′ friendliness, politeness, information giving, helpfulness, concern about customers, ability to speak Japanese,...

Argues that, by the early 1990s, an estimated half of all non‐restaurant food sales in Hong Kong went through supermarkets. Local independents and small local chains cater to the lower end of the market. Two large local chains focus on Hong Kong′s broad middle class and control over half of...

This paper attempts to study the motives behind a Hong Kong‐Japanese joint venture between two retailers from the perspectives of firm‐specific advantages provided by both partners of the international joint ventures (IJVs). The analysis focuses on the local partner’s motives and how the...

The Japanese retail environment is of interest to businessmen, politicians and academics. Different observers tend to base their views on their own vested interests and national expectations, Japanese observers included. There is a need for more objective, unbiased research into Japanese...

Purpose – This paper aims to conduct a hypothetical dictator game with social distance and time delays using conjoint analysis. Design/methodology/approach – Responses from 1,347 Japanese adults are collected through an online survey, and their responses are analyzed using a random parameter...