Competitive advantage through after-sales: A cross-cultural comparison of emerging and established markets.

In recent literature researchers have addressed the creation of competitive advantage for retail firms in the context of home appliances. However, based on a review of the literature the researcher believes that research related to after-sales services in the context of home appliances provides a particular focus on the creation of competitive advantage for small-medium retail firms in emerging markets. Furthermore, the researcher believes that addressing the impact of culture on the creation of relationships and adopting method of communication still at a preliminary stage. This thesis aims to examine the role SME retail firms play in the creation of competitive advantage by delivering after-sales services in emerging markets. The thesis also addresses the impact of societal culture on the adoption of communication methods whilst SME retail firms process after-sales in emerging markets and established markets. This research developed a stable framework to create a competitive advantage for SME retail firms in emerging markets in the context of retailing of home appliances (denoted ASSC). An interpretivist approach and qualitative methodology has been adopted in this research. The main methods for data collection employed in this research are interviews and observations in SME retail firms in emerging and established markets. This research is an addition to the rare academic studies that address the role SME retail firms play in the creation of a competitive advantage in the emerging markets. Although SME retail firms have limited resources and lack human skill, the findings of this research indicate that SME retail firms still play an important role in the creation of a competitive advantage by focusing on developing relationships with other participants of ASSC and adopting communication methods that suit the culture in each emerging market. The research also found that broader societal culture has more influence on the creation of relationships of both sides of ASSC. The methodological contribution of this research is apparent in the exceptional effort to tackle the inevitable obstacles and challenges that the researcher faced due to messiness in the field work.