Discussion and Implications

Following on from the cross-case analysis and results presented in Chapter 6, this chapter will first review the research questions, examine the results presented, and discuss how the results answer the research questions. Next, it will discuss research contributions and how the objectives of this study have been achieved. Then, it will discuss the theoretical and managerial implications of this study and analyse the future market. Finally the chapter will demonstrate research limitations and suggest future research before the final conclusions are drawn. The discussion in this chapter is based on the six factor categories identified from the results. In particular, the theoretical implications focus on how the results are related where appropriate to the retail internationalization process literature and international business literature. Managerial implications focus on how existing foreign retailers can expand more effectively in China, from a management practice perspective.